The kudzu is in bloom in Carolina...

[raccoon]

The blossom smells somewhat like grapes.

[alphafemale]

1. You can make jelly out of the blossom.

http://home.att.net/~ejlinton/jelly.html

Kudzu Blossom Jelly

4 cups Kudzu blossoms
4 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 (1 3/4-ounce) package powered pectin
5 cups sugar

WASH kudzu blossoms with cold water, and place them in a large bowl. Pour 4 cups boiling water over blossoms, and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
POUR blossoms and liquid through a colander into a Dutch oven, discarding blossoms.
ADD lemon juice and pectin; bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly.
Stir in sugar; return to a full rolling boil, and boil, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a spoon.
QUICKLY pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top. Wipe jar rims. Cover at once with metal lids, and screw on bands.
PROCESS in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks. YIELD: 6 half pints
NOTE : Blossom liquid is gray until lemon juice is added.
ENJOY!

[trof]

4. I've read the young leaves are good in salads. Never tried it.

[Bassic]

2. Damn you...

:evilfrown:

[raccoon]

3. If you live in Minnesota, and you're young, you may have it in your yard in your lifetime. nt

[Zookeeper]

9. I hope not, but maybe it would kill off the buckthorn. n/t

[swag]

5. Is this the new kudzu thread?

[xchrom]

6. kudzu. -- that is all.

[jmowreader]

7. Didn't this thread hit 25,000 responses last time?

[spinbaby]

8. Autumn leaves in New England.

Cherry blossoms in Japan.

Kudzu in North Carolina...

[raccoon]

10. Well, actually, I was referring to South Carolina, but I guess it's in bloom in NC too. nt

[wildhorses]

11. thanks for the recipe.

:hi:

[raccoon]

12. If you make some, send some to me. nt

[swag]

13. Good thread.

[CottonBear]

14. Kudzu blooms smell like Grape Nehi!

The kudzu is growing very well here in Georgia! The drought and extremely hot-dry conditions have only helped to spur its growth this summer!

[raccoon]

15. So yall got a drought too, huh? nt

[CottonBear]

16. Yep. We've gotten a little rain recently but the showers are widely scattered.

It'll rain at my house in the city or my office in the suburbs but not at the farm where I keep my horse. Her pasture is very dry. When it rains just a little the grass will green up for a few days and then it gets dry again.

It's been so dry that the red clay soil is like powder when dug up. We recently had some fence post holes augered and the red clay soil from the holes was like baby powder. :( We've had to have hay imported from Arkansas because there was so little rain here in NE GA that the hay farmers couldn't cut any hay. We finally got some local coastal bermuda hay last month. I don't know how we'll make it through the winter. We may have to import more hay.

I drove through SC and NC on I-20 this past weekend. I was in Wilmington, NC on Sunday and we got an hour or so of light rain from the tropical depression.