500g young knotweed shoots, including leafy “spears”, lower sections peeled, sliced into 8cm pieces
50ml water
100g caster sugar
200g plain flour, sifted
100g cold butter, cubed
125g brown sugar
Method
Place knotweed pieces into a 1.5l oven-proof dish. Pour over the water and sprinkle with the caster sugar.
To make the crumble, blend together the cold butter cubes, brown sugar and flour until it makes an evenly granular mixture. Spoon this over the top of the knotweed pieces so that it is completely covered.
Place the dish in an oven at 180 Celsius and cook for 30mins.
Nettle has a new rival on the edible-weed front; Japanese knotweed, often regarded as a problem plant, has proved itself to be quite a culinary treat according to Phlorum’s Edible Japanese Knotweed Campaign in association with Brighton’s vegetarian restaurant Terre à Terre. So before you start to exterminate the plant’s, smooth, heart-shaped leaves and youthful purple streaked bamboo-like stems, consider eating away your Japanese knotweed troubles!
On a recent BBC Sussex radio appearance for the campaign, Dr. Paul Beckett claimed that if Japanese knotweed is brought under control by recently approved field trials to release a knotweed-sucking insect called Aphalara itadori then ”why not use it the same way people use other pot herbs and other native vegetation to cook with?“
The inspiration for Phlorum’s knotweed eating campaign initially arose from the inspirational work of Bun Lai, the chef and owner of Mia Sushi restaurant
who has made incredible dishes with the plant and the sharing of imaginative recipes through social networks and shared with us by Kazuyoshi Nomachi http://twitter.com/im_yutaka
Described with a flavour between asparagus and rhubarb, Japanese knotweed shoots are ready for providing a delightful tang and riveting crunch around late spring each year. Best eaten when the plant is around 6 to 8 inches tall, the knotweed can be transformed via various cooking methods such as steaming, and simmering into delicious dishes such as soups, sauces, fruit compotes and even jam. Although the plants leaves should be discarded, the rind surrounding the stalk of the knotweed can also be used to make a delightful tangy marmalade. Furthermore, besides being a delicious ingredient for cooking, Japanese knotweed provides an excellent source of vitamin A and C, along with its cofactor, the antioxidant rutin.
The plant interestingly also contains potassium, phosphorus and zinc providing the components for a very healthy ingredient.
Following Phlorum’s recent BBC radio appearance, the Japanese knotweed professionals have also been working with the award-winning Brighton-based vegetarian restaurant Terre à Terre (http://www.terreaterre.co.uk/), in order to stir up some delicious recipes with the plant.
This collaboration will also be available for viewers to watch as on Wednesday the 21st of April, a BBC South film crew will be visiting Olivia, Terre à Terre’s Events, Marketing and Design Manager in order to film Japanese knotweed delights being prepared in the kitchen and then tasted at the restaurant. Along with a TV appearance, Phlorum will also be making a further radio appearance on the same day on BBC Sussex Radio station in order to take part in the breakfast show recording of Japanese knotweed being consumed live on air with the breakfast show host, Neil Pringle.
Phlorum won a competition to display their Life-Cycle Carbon Footprinting model in the Innovation Future Zone at Ecobuild last month.
The project was deemed one of 20 innovations most likely to have a large impact on the environmental future of the construction industry, chosen from those who applied for the position to CIRIA. Anthony stood by the model for three long days explaining the rationale behind the method, and the potential of the model in reducing embodied carbon emissions. Such emissions will account for 100% of total emissions associated with a dwelling come 2016, when all new-build homes are expected to be zero-carbon. Through testing of scenarios, it was found that a dwelling built with environmentally friendly yet common materials (such as sustainably sourced timber) could attain a ‘zero-carbon footprint’ after 50 years with the aid of renewable technologies such as a biomass boiler and photovoltaic panels.
The event was a success, with many representatives of organisations displaying their interest in the final product, which is expected to be launched at the end of 2010. The video shows Anthony discussing the functionality of the model with an interested party.
Just confirmed by NASA, who are still sifting through samples beamed back to Earth from the Mars Rover, remnants of Japanese knotweed rhizome have been found on the red planet! Shocking news as scientists are still debating whether or not there is, or ever was, life on Mars! This could indicate that the invasive Japanese knotweed on our blue planet really is an alien and this could explain why it is so difficult to understand and destroy!
More news on this exciting discovery as it breaks!
Phlorum has had a paper published in the March edition of the Environmentalist, the magazine sent to all 14,000 members of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). The paper was written by Anthony Probert and is entitled ‘Tenant Participation in the Sustainable Refurbishment of Victorian Properties’. Anthony carried out the research whilst studying for his MSc, and concludes that whilst the idea of tenant participation is conducive to achieving widespread sustainable refurbishment of hard-to-treat homes, tenants’ lack of desire to participate has been fuelled by disappointment in previous landlord initiatives.
A copy of the paper can be downloaded by IEMA members from the IEMA website. Those interested who are not IEMA members can obtain a copy by emailing us at info@phlorum.com.
Last week Defra announced Government approval for the release of a biological agent to control Japanese knotweed. Alaphara itadori is a sap sucking psyllid that feeds on Japanese knotweed in its native range in Japan.
Having submitted a detailed consultation response to Defra last year and having attended a Defra workshop to discuss the proposals, Phlorum remains sceptical of the likely success of the project. There are many reasons why the effect of the psyllid on Japanese knotweed might not be as significant as the press are currently reporting.
The research carried out so far has been with a small population of psyllids on small, immature knotweed plants in small, controlled environment chambers in the laboratory. Results from these experiments on the actual efficacy of the psyllid on knotweed are mainly anecdotal, unpublished and not peer-reviewed. There has apparently been no research on how the ecology of knotweed in the UK differs from that in its native range, which could significantly alter the relationship between Japanese knotweed and the psyllid. The lifecycle of the psyllid in the UK is also not understood. It is believed that it might overwinter on coniferous trees, but this has not been tested.
Possibly to appease knotweed contractors worried that the psyllid might put them out of business, Defra has also been keen to point out that the psyllid will make herbicide applications on Japanese knotweed more effective, but no detailed work has been undertaken to test this.
It is hoped that the questions raised above will be answered by ongoing research in the field. However, we believe that many answers could have been found with more research in the laboratory, well before the risks of releasing an alien species into the wild were accepted. It has been suggested that the release might have been brought forward due to the laboratory population of psyllids being weakened by successive generations of inbreeding. If this is so, it suggests that the risk of releasing the psyllid into the wild was accepted with unacceptable haste.
We await, with interest, the results of this new phase of the research.
According to the Telegraph, house sellers have been forced to spend thousands of pounds eradicating Japanese knotweed from their land after finding their homes had become virtually unsellable because potential buyers were being turned down for mortgages.
Lenders claim Japanese knotweed, which is capable of pushing through concrete, poses a risk to the structure and fabric of the building, and so reduces the value of a property.
Mortgage lenders are now beginning to insist that they will approve an application only if the Japanese knotweed on the property is removed and the homeowner obtains a written guarantee from the environmental control company to say it has been eradicated.
Japanese knotweed first escaped into the British countryside in the mid-19th century after being brought over from Japan as an ornamental garden plant.
The plant normally grows in the poor, rocky soils and on the slopes of volcanoes in Japan. Without natural pests and diseases, however, Japanese knotweed has become highly successful in the UK and it is capable of regenerating from just a tiny fragment.
The bamboo-like stems, which grow up to 12 feet tall, can push through concrete and can damage buildings. Japanese knotweed also has an extensive underground root system, called a rhizome, which make it difficult to destroy with herbicides.
This makes Japanese knotweed extremely difficult and expensive to eradicate from an area as the roots often need to be completely dug up and the contaminated soil disposed of. Cheaper herbicide spraying can be used provided the soil is treated.
Japanese knotweed is now so prevalent in the UK that according to official records there is now not a single 6 mile square in the country where it is not present and it is only considered to be absent from the Orkney Islands.
A spokesman for Santander, the country’s biggest mortgage provider through its ownership of Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, said:
“Due to the invasive and destructive nature of Japanese Knotweed, if the weed is found in close proximity to the property we would need to assess whether or not a mortgage could be accepted.”
An exciting day for us today at Phlorum’s southern office.
David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, popped by. He was here to meet with Elektromotive, a brilliant company that’s doing wonderful things with electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
However, we managed to spend some time with him to discuss our life cycle carbon assessment tool that’s currently being showcased at Ecobuild. David Miliband was impressed, which gives us greater confidence that the life cycle carbon assessment tool will be of use to those currently carrying out SAP, BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes assessments. Maybe he’ll even mention it to his brother, Ed, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which would be nice!
While most people are endeavouring to rid themselves of Japanese knotweed, some beauty product manufacturers are recommending that those of us of a certain age should put it on our faces to control the signs of ageing! It seems a slight contradiction that Japanese knotweed, which has a reputation as being unpleasant and a financial nuisance, is now being used as a beauty product by Aveda called Inner Light Concealer. Now, it appears, that the plant that causes fractures to the foundations of buildings can also repair the fractures in your face if used as a foundation! Japanese knotweed, claim Aveda, contains resveratrol, which is a phytoalexin, produced naturally by several plants when under attack by pathogens, such as bacteria or fungi. Several experiments suggest that it triggers mechanisms that counteract ageing-related effects in animals.
We can neither confirm nor deny this; at least until tests among Phlorum staff (who, on hearing this news, have been eagerly smothering themselves with Japanese knotweed rhizome paste) have been completed…
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