Folks are getting nuts in Aquinnah.  

There is no one to blame: not the coming crowds, lack of rain, or wildfire smoke from the north. And it is not just an up-Island problem: it turns out, the nuts can be found Islands-wide.

A report from a friend identified a viny pest that was popping up in her garden. She described a compound-leafed twiner with bulbous growths along linear roots. Finding them fascinating, I dug a bit deeper to find not a worrisome weed, but a gorgeous groundnut. 

Instead of going crazy with complaint, we should thank Mother Nature for the presence of this plant. American groundnut has a portentous past and ethnographic importance that potentially rivals all other vegetables on this continent. 

Apios Americana has many names, as many peoples knew, used and appreciated this native legume. It has been called cinnamon vine, hopniss, groundnut, hodoimo, pomme de terre, white apples, wild bean and a slew of potato appellations including wild sweet potato, pig potato, bog potato, potato pea, Indian potato and potato bean. 

With this nut, we have found a foodstuff that is comparable to the common domesticated potato on many accounts. However, groundnut tubers rival and even pummel the potato when it comes to health benefits. This wild root has three times the protein of a supermarket potato, ten times the calcium content and two times the amount of iron. Potatoes only win against groundnuts with more vitamin C. 

Other studies — using rats, not humans — show that the consumption of these groundnuts can lead to a ten percent decrease in blood pressure, a reduction in cholesterol and can serve as an anti-carcinogen for colon, prostate and breast cancers. 

If the health benefits haven’t got you considering this undomesticated and freely forageable crop, then perhaps its history of feeding folks will.  Indigenous people knew the value of groundnuts for food and there are accounts of its consumption by tribes across the continent. It was they who taught colonists to find and harvest groundnuts and that knowledge perhaps saved the Pilgrims in their early (and hungry) years. Naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote of them extensively, saying, “In case of a famine, I should soon resort to these roots.” 

The tubers are the most popular part of the plant for eating, though the flowers, shoots and seeds or beans can also be consumed. Tubers should be cooked, as raw is not recommended. With their history and value, one would assume that domestication of this food forage would follow. 

Groundnut farming has been researched and considered for many years. During the Irish potato famine, groundnut use was suggested as an alternative food source and current research continues to popularize and improve this plant for more widespread use. Interestingly, the only place that they are commercially farmed is Japan, where they are considered a delicacy and likely got there as hitchhikers in the soil of imported plants. 

American groundnuts are plentiful and yours for the taking if you know where to look and how to harvest and cook. Pretend they are potatoes (mashed, fried, or baked), dry them and make flour, or use the beans as one uses beans.   

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. My friend in Aquinnah doesn’t, even if I do. She considers them invaders and will continue to pull them from of her garden so I will have a steady supply.  

No work needed on my part to get these traditional pantry staples, and I will happily go nuts imagining the delectable dinners that will be created with this historic, native and nutritious nugget.

Suzan Bellincampi is Islands director for Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown and the Nantucket Wildlife Sanctuaries. She is also the author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature and The Nature of Martha’s Vineyard.