The Bug That's Eating the South

Originally posted by NotApplicable
I did a speech in college about Kudzu, here are some quick facts for your thread

The Kudzu root can weigh up to 500lbs and can be as big as a person
It's often called the foot-a-night plant because it literally can grow a foot in one day under good conditions
Kudzu is edible! There's the solution

lets make use of it!

Well, if its edible, I would be willing to bet it would be an even more efficient biofuel than corn ethanol. That is something that subsidies should be handed out for.

I just love it when the government not only thinks that we can't take care of ourselves, but that Mother Nature is also incapable of taking care of herself.

You always think there has to be an end to the arrogance, then they pull another rabbit out of their hat!

May I suggest ducks! My ducklings will practically beat each other up to eat these horrible pests. The chickens avoid them and the guineas avoid them but the ducks think they're candy! I've fenced in my gardens so I can move the ducks from garden to garden.
The two turkey peeps (only 9 days old at the moment) also seem seriously interested in the stink bugs. I'll be watching them as they grow to see if (when they're big enough to actually eat them) that turns into the voracious appetite for stink bugs that my ducks have.
The ducks are rouen/khaki campbell cross and pekin, though I'm not sure breed has anything to do with their appetite for those nasty bugs : ).

The best cure for kudzu is to get some goats and a hog or two.

I know the stuff is edible but I don't have a good recipe.

We had some at a place I rented years ago, so I got some young goats. Put collars and chians on them and moved them around until the had eaten the kudzu down to the ground.

I have a recipe for bar-b-quing goat.

Next I did the same with some pigs, they rooted up and ate the roots until the whole place looked like a plowed field.

I also like pork, any way you fix it.

That was more years ago than I really like to remember, but the kudzu has not come back.

The ducks also sounds good for treating the bug problem. I also like duck.

Truely you can tell I am from the south. If it ain't moving - it must be groceries.

It also appears that kudzu vines produce air pollution. Evidently, these plants produce high levels of ozone.

I'm not as worried about the bugs eating soybeans, since most of the soybeans are genetically modified filth that shouldn't be fed to the bugs in the first place.