There's absolutely no doubt - Polygonum cuspidatum :-) And it is very prevelant in Wisconsin as it is in most other areas of the country. Here is a link that might be useful: Japanese knotweed

I have red rhubarb and in the spring just takes parts of the roots. Something like dahlias.Of course if you want tons of them it may not work.

I'm a straight rhubarb person... happy to chew on a stalk without sugar. Perhaps my very favorite pie. I like to make rhubarb wine. Just boil it in water to extract the juices and add a pound of corn sugar per gallon. Probably could benefit from being racked but I just let the fiber settle to the bottom and pour the wine off the top... which is my lazy way of doing all my wines anymore. Wine is easy to make. Can be made in any gallon glass jug if you buy the right sized stopper and bubble lock from a wine making supply. Probably under $5 for a bubbler lock and stopper. Drinkable after about 2-3 months and nice and clear at about 6 months. Wine yeast is just as harmless as bread yeast... don't be afraid of drinking a little bit as it contains vitamins. Pour off half a glass and mix with soda pop or fruit juice for a homemade "wine cooler". : ) lyra

I've seen people who absolutely rave about wood chips for gardens, and then posit that one of the worst things you can do in a garden is to till it! That allegedly kills important soil microbes and over-aerates. That is, the wood chips remain on top, providing insulation, moisture protection, and nutrients as they compost. Now, there is a school of no-till gardening, but while my soil is pretty good, it would never work well for me. The disadvantages for deep root structure with dense soil seem to me to dominate any advantages that no-till might give. In my climate, deep roots are a necessity. But if you're going no-till, pile those wood chips on! I've never heard of decomposing wood chips leaching mineral salts. If they did, they would do that sitting on the surface, and what they leach would end up in the soil below anyway. So the bottom line is that yes, wood chips are great as a top dressing mulch, but should not be dug in. They contain virtually no nitrogen, and eat what is there as they compost. The problem with not digging them in is that if you till, you'd have to remove those chips on top before you do so. Sounds like a lot of work. If you want to compost wood chips efficiently, throw on a heap of nitrogen like cheap lawn fertilizer or else dig in a lot of green. Probably not something you want to do in situ in the garden while you're trying to grow stuff.