Sunday 9/4/11 Beach Report

We had a bunch of old wood, some of it bug eaten and light, and some of it just hard to stack, so we brought it down to the beach for people to make fires with in the fire pits.

Another nice morning for a walk.  High 70s, no breeze to speak of, and just a little excess humidity (it's supposed to be creeping up).

A few other beach goers were out and about; this woman was also hunting for shells and fossils (it was a terrible day for fossils).

Some Pokeweed (also locally called inkberry) growing down out of the Kudzu.  Remember the song "Poke Salad Annie"?  I always liked it.  Anyway, apparently, you can eat it, but it's difficult to process because it's quite toxic.

All parts of pokeweed are toxic including the raw aboveground leaves sprouting in the early spring. The poisonous principles are found in highest concentrations in the rootstock, less in the mature leaves and stems, and least in the fruits. (Green fruits are slightly more toxic) Young leaves, if collected before acquiring a red color, are edible if boiled for 5 minutes, rinsed, and reboiled. Berries are toxic when raw but cooked juice is edible (the seeds remain toxic after cooking). However, it may be difficult to identify exactly when leaves have no red color whatsoever; an incorrect picking may result in a poisoning. In a traditional Cherokee recipe for fried poke stalks, young stalks are harvested while still tender, peeled to remove most of the toxin, washed, then cut into pieces and fried like okra with cornmeal.

A close up of the Poke Berries. 

Young pokeweed leaves can be boiled three times to reduce the toxin, discarding the water after each boiling. The result is known as poke salit, or poke salad, and is occasionally available commercially.[9] Many authorities advise against eating pokeweed even after thrice boiling, as traces of the toxin may still remain. It should never be eaten uncooked. For many decades, poke salad has been a staple of southern U.S. cuisine, despite campaigns by doctors who believed pokeweed remained toxic even after being boiled. The lingering cultural significance of Poke salad can be found in the 1969 hit song "Polk Salad Annie," written and performed by Tony Joe White, and famously covered by Elvis Presley, as well as other bands including the El Orbits of Houston, Texas. Pokeberry juice is added to other juices for jelly by those who believe it can relieve the pain of arthritis. There are currently four known poke sallet festivals held annually. They are in Gainesboro, Tennessee; Blanchard, Louisiana; Harlan, Kentucky; and, Arab, Alabama.

Once we got back to the start of the walk, Skye apparently decided it was not a long enough, and followed some friendly women back down the beach.  Wandering is a known Siberian Husky "flaw", and we consider ourselves lucky to be able to let her off the leash.  I had to go chase her down, and persuade her to come back.

"Just one more dip before we go home, Dad."