The story of kudzu in America is about our entangled love and hate for an alien vine. The end of the story has yet to be written. My bet is that if someone finds a way to turn kudzu into cash, then hate will be transformed back into love in a heartbeat.
Being an optimist, I am convinced that somewhere in our great land there is a brain that will do for kudzu what Bill Gates did for computers.
Could that someone be you, or someone you know?
This book tells the kudzu story with thoroughly researched facts, over 150 photographs and illustrations, and stories that reflect American experiences with kudzu.
Japan brought the first kudzu vine to America as a gift to help celebrate our first century as a country. They planted it on the grounds of the Japanese Bazaar at the United States Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in the spring of 1876.
Many of the Americans who saw and heard about the "miracle vine" were enamored with it, and wanted one of their own. So, from 1876 until the late 1940s, kudzu was almost a carte blanche entangler. It grew prolifically, resisted all enemies, and seemed to have eternal life!
The few, who did not succumb to kudzu’s charms and denounced it as a menace not "miracle" vine, were written off as misinformed or incompetent.
But as kudzu marched across the South like Sherman marched across Georgia, the majority found kudzu overwhelming. Love turned into rejection, anger, and even hate. By 1950, kudzu detractors had carried the day. Kudzu had to be eradicated! Easier thought than done. We spend millions each year on eradication.
In 2003, we’re at a crossroads with kudzu. My crystal ball does not tell me if we’ll continue on Eradication Roads or switch to Utilization Highways.
No logical argument can be made that kudzu does not need to be controlled. However, I argue against total eradication and for control through utilization, because every part of the kudzu vine can be utilized as a raw material.
If you're interested in the environmental health of the South, or/and looking for an untapped recourse to turn into a career, read this book for ideas.
This book is available from the author on a CD to be read with Adobe Acrobat Reader. For details e-mail juanittabaldwin.hotmail.com
Excerpt
Kudzu Inspires Writers
This story was submitted by Sue Anne Harris in the Kudzu Story Contest 2001 that I conducted to bring kudzu to public attention to people of all ages. I also conducted a Kudzu Recipe Contest 2001. My goal was achieved, because 1,892 people participated in these contests.
The Leaf — A Kudzu Story
Sue Anne Harris
Marcy’s exercise program was riding her bicycle around Mill’s Edge between six and seven o’clock every morning, except when the weather made it dangerous. June fifth dawned clear and bright, and it was Marcy’s twenty-seventh birthday. She fed Sunflower and Lilliput, the mongrel dogs she’d brought home after coming upon them lost and sick beside a roadside, then pedaled down the driveway.
Mr. Hammersmith, her next door neighbor, was at the end of his driveway retrieving his newspaper. He waved and called out, “Happy Birthday, Marcy!”
This simple greeting sent an unexpected warm glow through her. “Thank you.” she replied, and braked to a stop. “I’m pleased you remember it’s my birthday.”
“I can’t forget because you and Deltie are both Junebugs. If she’d lived, she’d be 70 next week. The thirty years she was my wife have been the happiest so far in my life. I feel so sad that your Will was taken from you. But I should not bring that up today.” He looked remorseful.
Marcy spoke gently with a steely calm, “Hearing Will’s name never makes me sad, but my blood still boils that the criminal that shot him in cold blood is still free. I stayed here after he was murdered instead of going back home so the sheriff can’t close the case.”
Mr. Hammersmith nodded, “I speak to him about Will’s case every time I see him. Be off now. Don’t forget to stop in after work for a slice of birthday cake with me. I baked your favorite. Orange.”
“I’ll be at your back door about five.”
......read how this murder was solved in the book "Kudzu in America."
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