Return to TFB Main Page
Return to Texas Agriculture Archive

March 2, 2001

I was surfing the internet recently and came across an interesting book title—The Virtues of Kudzu.

"I thought I'd heard of all the martial arts, but this must be a new one," I commented. "Kudzu..."

"You pullin' my laig?" Mel snorted. " `Em folks in Mississippi an' Alabama can set you straight on that un. Them poor people's been battlin' that stuff since long before the Civil War."

"Oh. KUDZU," I said. "That pretty vine that grows wild along their highways."

"You may thank it's purdy, but kudzu's to the people of the Deep South what mesquites, an' cedars, an' prickly pears is to us Texuns," my husband explained. "A body'd be hard pressed to find one virtuous thang to say about any o' them pesky weeds."

"I don't know about that," I said. "If you think about it, Texas is known for its mesquite-smoked barbecue and mesquite-grilled chicken. And I've seen some nice mesquite furniture."

My husband grunted, "Mesquite saps all the water outta yore soil, ruins yore tars, an' pokes yore cows in the eyes. For ever' one of 'em you chop down or pull up, two comes back in its place. Sprayin' 'em's an ongoin' proposition... Ain't nuttin' good about a mesquite if you ask me."

"I read once that mesquites were brought to Central Texas by the cattle who grazed on the beans in Mexico and deposited them here."

"I find that hard to b'lieve. That's a mighty long distance fer a cow to go without a pit stop. An' if it wuz so, some numbskull would've already tried to sue cattle ranchers to make 'em pay fer it," Mel suggested.

Next, I cited the virtues of cedars.

"Without them, we wouldn't have those wonderful smelling cedar chests, cedar-lined closets, cedar furniture, firewood, and holiday greenery..."

"Or cedar fever, or Golden-cheeked warblers," Mel chimed in.

"There are some folks on the High Plains who plant junipers around their houses for windbreaks," I continued.

"Yeah? Well I know some farmers an' ranchers in these parts that'll let 'em come dig up all they can haul off," Mel said. "Grass don't grow good under cedars, an' they're water guzzlers, too. They suck up all yore subsoil moisture. Cedars are as hard to kill as mesquites, an' you got to fight 'em from now 'til doomsday to keep 'em from comin' back on you. Ain't no virtues to be found when it comes to a cedar."

"You have to admit they provide pretty good onsite fencing materials," I noted.

"Yeah, an' then you have all them lovely stumps. You could prob'ly put up a 24K gold fence fer whut battlin' cedars'll cost you over the years."

I moved on and started to make the case for prickly pears.

"Prickly pears' fruit can be made into jelly, the small, tender pads can be sliced and eaten in salads or scrambled with eggs, you can burn prickly pears and feed them to your livestock in a drought. Cactus is pretty versatile and virtuous."

Mel smiled. "Yep, I reckon prickly pears is kiney like you. They've got thur good points, but they're mostly a pain in the rear."