Maybe we need to rethink invasive species???

Hi. As the writer of the post and feel that I need to clarify something. I do not advocate the planting of invasive species.

The point that I'm trying to make, and clearly didn't, is that perhaps we should be thinking about an invasive species in a different light. Apples, figs and other crops are clearly non native to America and Europe but are widely cultivated because they have use to humans as a food source, animal feed, etc.

Kudzu is an edible plant and although it is clearly harmful can it be used someway by humans? It's a food source, it's been used as a cloth and is showing some use as a building material. All I'm trying to do is to create discussion on how we can use invasive plants in new ways.

 

It's mid April here in Western Pennsylvania and so far it's been warm and wet.  The buzz of lawnmowers fill the air as I gallivant through my back yard collecting dandelions to make some tea and bread with them.  I had always known that they were edible, but up until a year or so ago had never really considered them anything other than something to add to a salad.

The diversity of the dandelion as a food source and the shear amount of recipes that I had found got me wondering what else I had missed, and that I really should get a good edible wild plant identification book or app on my phone to do a better job of foraging and diversifying our diets.  Wasn't that one of the reasons I planted sunchokes last year?

However a few conversations with a friend from work and an article on cooking and eating Kudzu, often referred to as the plant that ate the American south, got me thinking about a few things in a slightly different way.

Kudzu was originally introduced to America from Japan as an ornamental plant due to it's sturdy vines and sweet smelling flowers.  During the 1930's through the 1950's it was used to control erosion throughout the American south.  However since it can grow up to a foot a day it quickly out competed native species and  soon took over huge swaths of land.

At one time, if you drove through the rural south, Kudzu would seem to be everywhere as it climbed trees, and swallowed buildings whole creating a green otherworldly landscape.   There are concerns that as our planet warms, that Kudzu will return as invasive as it was before after decades of trying to eradicate it.  

What's interesting to me is that Kudzu in not only completely edible by humans but it shows potential as a building material in that the stems are made of a hard, fibrous material which is easy to build with and process.  It's currently being researched as a replacement for carbon fibers and as a possible alternative to drywall and sheet rock in building structures.  It's been estimated that up to 37% of global emissions are from the construction industry.   Producing and using cement, steel, and aluminum have a significant carbon footprint.

We have always used natural materials in building, so why not turn an invasive species into something useful?

There is evidence that the Japanese were making cloth out of Kudzu fibers for thousands of years and that certainly means we can use that technology to make new clothing today.

Now what does this have to do with me and my small plot of land?  I have not lived in the south for some time and I want to leave some sort of legacy of fruit trees and an edible yard for some future wandering soul to forage, am I thinking about this in the right way? 

Yes, I can grow apple trees and replant some wild onion but generally speaking humans eat very little that they don't know personally.  The Kousa dogwood I have growing in my front yard is not native to Pennsylvania but is edible, and I am looking forward to its first fruits to try it.   Stinging nettle, another native plant, has high amounts of amino acids, flavonids, vitamins and minerals as well as proven medical benefits, yet most people would simply bypass it as "another weed."

Western Pennsylvania is only going to get wetter and warmer as our climate changes.  According to the Department of Environmental Protection, we can expect our  annual temperature to increase by 6 degrees Fahrenheit.  How this is going to effect native species has yet to be determined but that increase in temperature will allow for a influx of non native species.  

In other words, a wetter hotter environment is going to change Pennsylvania in unforeseen ways.  Would it be better to try and plant species of plants that would be better suited for this future?  Or should we continue to plant native species? Would a diverse yard make more sense as I want to give my future forager something to eat year round....or would they simply chop down a tree they don't know for wood?

 A native species is a plant that has adopted to a particular rhythm of the seasons.  Change that rhythm in a significant way and they will either adapt, or die.  That's the nature of nature.  

At the end of the day planting native species is the better choice for me personally but I'm not so sure I'll be able to keep the invasive species out.

While I am still working towards planting mulberry, American plums and persimmon eventually (all native to Pennsylvania), I can't help but wonder if maybe I should consider a fig tree?  Figs can be grown in our region but require protection from the cold every winter, as those winters get milder then they would require less protection.  Figs are however a plant that requires a bit of tender loving care but can live to be over 200 years old in some cases.  They also have various health benefits.

However figs are technically an invasive species even though they are widely planted and fig production is a 1.3 billion dollar industry in the US.   

With the proper management and thinking we can use invasive plants and animals to our advantage as food sources, as building materials and even as clothing.  If we are going to move to a more greener world where innovation, technology and nature coexist then we have to start thinking a little differently.  We simply have to diversify.

We need to work with what nature gives us even if that means rethinking our concepts of what to eat, what to build with and what to wear.  While I wholeheartedly agree that we should be removing invasive species where we can, I can not help but think that maybe we should also be looking at their potential as well.

It's an uphill journey but one that must be made.