Join us this weekend for our next installment of Community Through Kudzu:
An Educational Greenway Maintenance Initiative

Saturday April 2 + Sunday April 3
1 – 4pm daily

Worksite is located along Reed Creek Greenway, at the intersection of Cauble and Broadway Streets

Join Kudzu Culture, Montford Neighborhood Association, Urban Forest Alliance, City of Asheville Parks and Recreation, and Smart Feller Tree Works in this collaborative and educational maintenance initiative.

Be an ecological ally in our community!

ROOT CROWN ID and REMOVAL
KUDZU SHOW+TELL
HANDS-ON DEMONSTRATIONS
KUDZU TEA+SNACKS

Please bring: gloves, hand pruners, mattocks, shovels

Contact: kudzuculture@gmail.com

#kudzu #kuzu #kudzuculture #communitythroughkudzu #eatingthevinethatatethesouth #climatechange #anthropocene #invasivespecies #understandinginvasivespecies

Hello Friends of Kudzu Culture,

We are thrilled to share that we are officially a 501(c)(3) nonprofit! Collectively we have been working on kudzu research, experimentation, and education for over a decade here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We look forward to continuing this work for years to come, while vitalizing creative economies that utilize abundant species.

One aspect of our current work is that we are measuring effectiveness/viability of harvesting and processing fresh kudzu root from clean mountainside sites into shredded, dehydrated matter that can be used in various culinary and herbal applications. Wintertime is when the vines and leaves are dormant, and the roots are most vibrant. We are in the midst of our Winter 2022 harvest; fresh and dried root is available for purchase, and will be shipped in late March. Funds from selling fresh and dried root help sustain our work.

Fresh and dried kudzu root is available for purchase on our Etsy Page. If you are an herbalist or community practitioner, and would like a discount or donation, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/DLNH4QBhi8NHSb3i8

Join Kudzu Culture, Montford Neighborhood Association, Urban Forest Alliance, and City of Asheville Parks and Recreation in this collaborative and educational maintenance initiative. We will hear the story of kudzu, identify and remove root crowns, and taste kudzu treats and tea.

Become an ecological steward in your community!

Bring (if you have, but not necessary):

• Work gloves
• Hand-digging tools
• Mattocks
• Tarps
• Buckets

*** Please wear warm clothes/shoes, and bring a mask for indoor portion of workshop and maintain social distance in outdoor spaces. ***

This workshop is free to the public and no registration is required.

Email LB at kudzuculture@gmail.com with any questions

August 21-22, 2021 in Marshall, North Carolina

Kudzu Culture + Fiberhouse Collective are partnering for an experimental, collaborative gathering of artists, foresters, farmers and makers. We will learn the traditional methods of kudzu vine fiber processing and develop new methods together.

August 21-22, 10am – 4pm daily; join us on both days, or one, with the option to camp overnight at the site in Marshall, NC.

Please fill out this form https://forms.gle/MoWYmEb58eoST3Nq6 or email kudzuculture@gmail.com to register.

Suggested donation $50; no one turned away!

Last week, on the same day the World Health Organization declared the spread of Covid-19 a global pandemic, the Kudzu Culture team was unpacking our cars and trucks among scurrying groundhogs and blooming daffodils at our 9th annual Kudzu Root Camp.

Dissonant as it felt to be digging roots on a quiet hillside while the whole human world was plunging into crisis, it turns out we’re in just the right place for this moment: very recent research being carried out in China, as well as recommendations from a prominent Western herbal researcher, are pointing to none other than kudzu root as a key ingredient in herbal preparations for treating Covid-19.

Below are links to some of this recently emerging information on kudzu and Covid-19 and related research (Some of the links are to non-English sources – if you’re using Chrome, you should be prompted with an option to translate. If not, you can try to right-click the page and look for the ‘translate’ option). We’ll update this post with more links as we come across them.

• HERBAL TREATMENT FOR CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS
• Zhong Nanshan’s team prescribes a new crown pneumonia prevention herbal tea
• Fermented Pueraria Lobata extract ameliorates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines and recovering intestinal barrier function
• Evaluation of antidiabetic potential of selected traditional Chinese medicines in STZ-induced diabetic mice
• Traditional Chinese Medicine Remedy for SARS
• Analysis on the feasibility of Gegen Qinlian Pill in the treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia
• Notice on the role of Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of pneumonia caused by new coronavirus infection

 

Kudzu Culture’s 9th annual Kudzu Root Camp will be focused on process R&D and cooperative business development. We intend to scale up our processing and increase our capacity by bringing other harvesters and workers into the group. Our aim is to train workers in harvesting and processing and to develop a business which will purchase raw kudzu materials from these workers and possibly employ them in processing and marketing products.

***We are seeking participants who are interested in collaborating with Kudzu Culture in this way. We are still in the early stages of developing the business and are not making any promises about how it will grow. If you decide to participate in Kudzu Camp, you will receive in-depth education and training in kudzu harvesting, processing and use. In exchange, we request that you agree to explore collaboration with us as we move forward. ***

We believe it’s possible in the near future to provide living-wage, seasonal work for several, perhaps dozens, of kudzu harvesters and processors. We have been working on customer discovery, product development, processing improvements, and all the other aspects of business development necessary for this to materialize. This year, one of our goals is to begin training the work force that will be at the heart of a thriving, regenerative kudzu economy in the Southeast region. Our vision is that this work will give communities the keys to unlock kudzu as the significant, abundant resource it is (for food, medicine, fiber, and much more), while bringing kudzu into ecological balance (control via harvest, opportunities for reforestation), and providing opportunities for income.

If that excites you and you’re interested in playing along, please fill out this form. We’ll follow up with you soon via email about the next steps.

If you have been a participant in past Kudzu Root Camps and are interested in collaborating, please drop us a line.

If you have questions about the form and process, please email us at KudzuCulture@gmail.com

We recently sat down with Josephine McRobbie, a reported with Earth Eats, a show on the NPR syndicate Indiana Public Media. Here’s the link to the episode.

This year, we did our 8th annual Kudzu Root Camp a little differently. Instead of including an educational workshop in with the harvesting, processing, and celebrating of kudzu, we focused on research and development of our processes, mechanizing some steps and quantifying inputs and yields. And develop the processes we did! We were able to clean, shred, and rinse the starches out of the roots all using cheap and widely available electric tools. We’ll report back soon in more detail and share some photos.

Besides making leaps and bounds in our efficiency, we also got a better sense of the commercial viability of a variety of kudzu products we’ve been working with, and a sense of the potential. We measures out a 150 sq. ft. area and tracked the root yield from this section of the patch: it came out to about 300lbs of roots. That’s 2 lbs per square foot!

You can find some photos and follow a bit of what we’re up to on our Instagram: @kudzuco_op

Our newly forming Kudzu Collective and Local Cloth are excited to facilitate a workshop that explores the ancient processes of harvesting, cooking, retting, and rinsing kudzu vine fiber. This lustrous, dynamic fiber has been used for thousands of years in various parts of Asia to make rope, cloth, and paper. Kudzu is so abundant in our bioregion, and the Kudzu Collective is committed to promoting this culture of use. Join us in exploring the vast story kudzu has to tell us, and bring your ideas of how its fibers can be used for fiber art!

 Instructors Justin Holt, Zev Friedman, and Lauren Bacchus, along with kudzu co-conspirators, will guide workshop participants in hands-on kudzu vine processing throughout the morning. We will begin the day harvesting in a nearby urban kudzu patch, and then work together to rinse already retted fiber (retted means “rotted,” so prepare for a stink!). Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet and a little messy.

During lunchtime we will hear the story of kudzu, an intriguing tale of many layers, and introduce the group to the culinary and medicinal benefits of kudzu root starch, another valuable co-product of this useful plant. Participants will also get to try samples of dishes crafted with our own, locally made kudzu starch!

Throughout the afternoon, we will then work with processed kudzu fibers to explore how the material responds to various manipulations. Pre-processed fibers will be provided for participants to make a woven bookmark or bracelet on a d.i.y. cardboard loom. Feel free to bring a small loom or other spinning and weaving equipment to experiment with. Additional pre-processed fibers will be available for purchase.

 Don’t miss this unique workshop that encompasses ecology, sustainability, anthropology, fiber art, and so much more!

 Cost: $50

Date: Saturday, July 21

Hours: 9am – 6pm (lunch and Story of Kudzu 12:30 – 2pm)

Instructions for Participants: Please pack a lunch, bring clothes that can get a little wet and messy, hand pruners if you have them, gloves, hat/sunscreen/water bottle. Tea, coffee, and light snacks will be provided.

Register here at Local Cloth’s website