I couldn’t believe it when I saw how damaging this plant can be. This weed is so strong it can actually destroy buildings!

Its called ‘Japanese Knotweed’, and apparently it can squeeze through any flaw in a property and then as it evolves, badly damage the construction of the property, frequently leading to demolition.

The images on this Japanese Knotweed site show examples of it punching its way through some unlucky chap’s floor, and in different example squeezing between the main house and the extension.

I know I shouldn’t jest, but I couldn’t help it. Apparently it is so tough to stamp out that some houses need to be ripped down and the land treated with toxic chemicals before anything may be rebuilt on it.

That got me somewhat interested, “What is Japanese Knotweed“, I thought, so I dug into our knowledgeable ally Google to educate myself.

More humour ensued. The irony, the ‘oh so bitter irony’! This plant that is so tough to eradicate that it is classed as a dangerous waste when you try to remove it, can be EATEN!!!!

Much of the world starving, and we have a plant that grows anywhere, grows rapidly and can’t be defeated easily, and instead of using it to help clear the hunger problem, we have teams of scientists striving to invent cheaper and improved ways to obliterate it.

It’s a strange world we live in.