March 25 2026 - Garfield Avenue Station, Jersey City, NJJapanese knotweed.
Invasive. Brutal. Aggressive.
And culinarily enchanting (as BA reported on a decade ago.)
One of the most aggressive invasive plants in the region, Japanese Knotweed is hard to ignore and even harder to eradicate. We’re exploring practical uses for a plant that already dominates roadsides, riverbanks, vacant lots, and disturbed urban ground.
Instead of waste (or inciting the wrath of gardeners and land owners) knotweed can be consumed as seasonal, edible shoots. It can also be used for dense compostable greens, hollow canes, and fibrous stalk material with potential for fill, mulch, pulp, and other craft application.
This season, we’ll be focusing on harvesting young shoots for culinary use, late-season stalks for fiber fill trials and craft. Its flavor has been described as “gamey rhubarb” and often serves as a substitute for springtime rhubarb.
Although it grows aggressively, well, everywhere, we’ll be foraging our edible ones from dense wooded areas far from roadsides.
