I was listening to Cirrus radio 60's music and the 1969 song, "Polk Salad Annie" by Tony Joe White, was playing.
So I got to thinking , anybody tried these
this from the internet...
Polk Salad, Poke Weed, and a variety of other common names are all names for the poisonous plant, Phytolacca americana. The plant is a perennial, and grows wild across a large portion of the United States. The plant is similar to turnip greens, collard greens, and mustard greens - but a little more acidic and can be bitter. One of the most interesting things about polk salad is that it's actually quite poisonous. The toxic substance in the plant is a triterpene saponin called phytolaccigenin, which causes hemagglutination. Sometimes called American Nightshade, polk salad can be a very dangerous plant if not prepared and consumed properly.
Once the green leaves reach about 7 inches - they are filled with toxin and unsafe to eat. The stems, and root, are always full of this poison, and there is never a safe time or safe way to eat them. However, as long as the leaves are less than 7 inches long, this plant can be prepared safely and consumed, by carefully following a few simple steps.
1. Immediately after picking the polk greens, wash thoroughly in cold running water.
2. Immerse the cleaned greens in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.
3. Drain, and rinse the boiled greens with cold running water again, rinse boiling pot.
4. Refill pot with cold water and bring to a boil. Boil the greens again for 5 minutes.
5. Drain, rinse the greens again in cold water.
the greens are now safe to eat. However, in the South, we cook them one more time by frying them in a skillet with some bacon fat. Some people also scramble eggs into the fried greens. You may add salt and pepper to taste, and some people like a little vinegar on them.