Kudzu picking permit
If you live near or south of the Mason Dixon line, you are likely to be familiar with kudzu. You know, it's that stuff that, when you're driving down the highway, sort of looks like a big green blob, covering fields, trees, houses--anything in it's path! Kudzu is a good idea gone bad. It was brought into this country in the 1800's, and was promoted as a fast growing, low maintainance, privacy fence. Growing more than 18 inces a day in the summertime heat, it lived up to expectations. By the 1920's, farmers were trying to grow it as livestock feed. Someone else decided to grow it for erosion control. Lumber companies even tried to grow it as a cover crop! In short, kudzu was planted from Pennsylvania to Texas, and is covering everything in its path. Many states now consider kudzu an invasive species --others, a noxious weed, and have forbidden planting it under most circumstances. Recently, I tried picking kudzu in Hot Springs National Park. I was stopped by a ranger who asked me what I was doing. After explaining that am a weaver, baskets, blah, blah, I was told that I need to apply for a permit to pick kudzu in the park...that a certain percentage of my profits from weaving would be given to the park...WHAT??? for a noxious weed? I guess I'll let that little patch of kudzu be their problem...someday it may eat the whole park!
posted by Neil at 9:59 AM
4 Comments:
hi,
iam entering the philadelphia flower show and want to make my container out of vines .. i was wondering if you could advise me on willow or grapevine... should i boil these also
No! Don't boil them.
If you are picking grapevine this time of year, and using them fresh, they probably don't even need soaking. What you should consider is shrinkage, because the vines will lose the sap they contain. You could weave extra tight, to allow for drying, or let it dry and weave a little more in later.
The willow may bloom out into pussy willow type things...it might be a nice effect. Again, willow shrinks when it dries.
It's best to dry willow before using it, and then hydrate it enough to make it pliable with hot wet towels or a short soaking. I never actually did this, I always wove fresh willow, let it dry, and weaved more in later.
Coax the willow around your thumb, back and forth, before making tight bends with it.
Your basket will be beautiful no matter what. They always are!
I'm a national parks person -- have visited a dozen of them. All national parks prohibit the removal of any natural materials -- a rock, a dried branch, a cupful of sand and even kudzu. So the ranger didn't target you, he was just enforcing the rules. If each visitor left with just a piece or two of the landscape in his or her pocket, the parks would be denuded in no time. But don't give up on the kudzu! Like bamboo, it's a fast re-grower and has lots of potential for baskets and all kinds of other uses. Next time you're in the south, you might just stop on the side of the road and cut some.
The OP's post illustrates the importance of getting permission before you remove plants from any property unless it's yours. Even wooded land on the side of the road belongs to someone, and if it's not yours then you know you are trespassing and taking something that doesn't belong to you. The last comment advising the OP to just pull over and take some from the side of the road is ill-advised. I live in the south on 8 1/2 wooded acres and I can assure you that if you helped yourself to anything on my property, I'd press charges and let you explain your intentions to the judge later. If that sounds hostile, consider how aggressive and hostile it would seem to the owner of the property to see a stranger trespassing on their land and taking plant life out. If you dont own property, consider how violated you would feel if someone showed up at your apartment and helped themself to your welcome mat or a potted plant from your patio, or anything of yours left outside - just because they saw it and wanted it.
That said, if you simply knocked on my front door first and explained what you wanted and what you planned to use it for, I'd not only grant you permission, I'd also help you gather some, and invite you back as well.
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