Way back in 1876, during this country's centennial, Americans were introduced to a lovely little vine from Japan.  It was pretty and looked so lovely in those Japanese gardens that people spent the next few decades actually paying farmers to introduce it into the American landscape. 

Pretty, isn't it? 

Like many other plants introduced into a foreign soil, kudzu decided it liked it here.  It liked it a lot!

It flourished in our southern soil. 

True, it's good at fighting soil erosion.  And apparently, animals will eat it.  I hope so, since this is where our woodchuck lives.

This nice little vine can grow as much as a foot a day during the summer months -- sixty feet a year!  

All the green you see in these pictures is kudzu.  We're not seeing the pretty leaves on our trees, or the grass, or bushes.  We're seeing kudzu.  Just kudzu.

Somehow, some native flowers were able to flourish through the kudzu.  It's nice to see some color in the midst of all the green! 

These vines take over everything in their path.  Every empty lot in our neighborhood is a solid mass of kudzu.  Trees are no longer visible through the kudzu.  I find it quite amazing! 

I heard someone on the local radio station say recently that if we could figure out a way to turn kudzu into fuel, the south would be the new Middle East.  If only we could harness this fast-growing vine for the good of the economy! 

That's our nature study lesson for this week!

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Posted by JandRlearnathome

When we were driving up from Florida, we noticed the kudzu on a lot of trees in South Carolina. Some of the trees were dead underneath all the vines! That's a great nature study for you, though!

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