Kudzu Vine

The Kudzu is one of Alabama's most numerous plants that grows along in the wild. This flowering vine was brought over in 1928 by United States Agriculturalists from Japan. The vine is a pest to some land owners because of it's widespread growth and huge roots. The roots from this flowering vine can reach 500lbs to a ton according to how old the vine is. You can imagine how much of a pest it is to many people.
Although there are some that use this vine for their own purposes. There are some that pick the new leaves and boil them to make tea from it. They add just a touch of honey and lemon for taste. Some in Alabama fry them just like they would green tomatoes in cornmeal or flower and eat them as a side dish to Southern foods. I might try the tea, but not the fried leaves.
A friend of my father's made jelly from the blossoms that bloom in late July. If you have them in your yard in Alabama, you can smell them and it smells just like wild grapes, and I imagine they have a wild taste too.

Even though some people use this for food, they are also used for Arts. One lady has made the most beautiful baskets from this vine and wreaths as well. If you want to make a wreath, you just cut the vine and wind one around the other and decorate it with dried or artificial flowers. Another woman has used these leaves to make her own homemade paper in which she paints on it. Some of her paintings are in the South's finest Art galleries throughout Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Florida.

To me, I like feeding these vines to my livestock in which they were meant to be so long ago in 1928. The state brought it over to be fed to livestock such as cattle and goats. My donkeys eat it like candy, and when i had chickens, they love it too!
I imagine you would think I were a loon if I were to say they were all purpose plants. The Japanese have used this plant for thousands of years. We are trying to get rid of it or love it. I don't know.