Poking Fun
So what really happens on Facebook when someone gets poked? And how did we go from this …
… to this?
Mara started it on our walk on Zephry Farm Wednesday to see the rune marker on Ray’s grave that was described in our friend Katherine’s story in Moonshine “Appalachian Funeral.” We came across some pokeweed berries and she painted her hands. I knew the plant was poisonous but that it was used by Native Americans and in folk remedies for its medicinal properties. Later I learned that the Declaration of Independence was written in fermented pokeberry juice and that many letters written during the Civil War were also in poke.
My grandson Bryce’s sister Kaylee (above) thinks Pokeberry should be called Purpleberry and Mara’s daughter Kyla thinks the dye is hot pink, while I call it magenta. Pokeweed is my favorite nail polish color. Have you been pinked or poked lately?
October 9th, 2009 9:23 am
I love it!! Had no idea of the pokeberry’s prominent importance in U.S. history! Love the color.
October 9th, 2009 10:07 am
Okay, so who is going to write a poem in pokeberries? I see an art installation brewing…
Thanks for the research, Colleen. I had no idea.
October 9th, 2009 1:48 pm
I can see it now: Poem in Pokeberry. They called it inkberry back in the day.
October 9th, 2009 3:05 pm
Will it ever come off? Great hearing about it.
NetChick sent me here.
October 9th, 2009 3:13 pm
It comes off but you have to scrub hard. If you were to mix it with a fixative like urea or vinegar, it could be somewhat more permanent.
October 9th, 2009 5:16 pm
I remember hearing something about inkberry in a school project.. that would suck if you got that dye on your clothes..
Yup its a long weekend for us, its Thanksgiving weekend for us Canadians. While you guys have Columbus Day.
October 9th, 2009 5:47 pm
It’s not a favored dye for fabric as it fades quicker than others with sun or washing. The red sumac cones, big red seed heads that looks like rooster combs, plentiful this year, make a very nice rose. They also make pretty good “lemonade” but I digress.
October 9th, 2009 6:57 pm
The Declaration? Really? Never knew that. I call it magenta too.
October 9th, 2009 8:40 pm
Wow, I have never even heard of pokeberry before. So very interesting. I think I will vote magenta on the color. I wonder what other things they made with it….
October 10th, 2009 12:20 pm
looks like fun for everyone, but scrubbing it off would not have been much fun! i love the color, too! i have a couple of scarves with the color scattered through, them mixed with darker and more sedate colors…i love them.
October 10th, 2009 1:01 pm
I’m jealous, I wish I could play. xo
October 10th, 2009 2:59 pm
What a glorious colour! Does it stay once it is dried, or washed?