The Fantastic Four – 4 Essential Wild Edible Plants that May Just Save Your Life Did you realize that knowing just 4 wild edible plants could one day save your life? If there were any four categories of plants that I would recommend all people to know how to use and identify it would be these: Grass, Oak, Pine, and Cattail. For the knowledgeable survivor, knowing just these four plants can make the difference between life and death if stranded in the wilds – for each one is an excellent food source which can sustain you until help arrives. Throughout this week and part of the next, I’ll be going into details on how you can prepare and eat these plants. Grass Surprising to many is the fact that you can eat grass. The young shoots up to 6 inches tall can be eaten raw and the starchy base (usually white and at the bottom when you pluck it) can be eaten as a trail nibble. The best part of the grass plant to eat are the seed heads, which can be gathered to make millet for breads or filler for soups & stews. Oak Pine “You can eat pine?!” Cattail Conclusion
100 Items to Disappear First 100 Items to Disappear First 1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. From a Sarajevo War Survivor: Experiencing horrible things that can happen in a war - death of parents and friends, hunger and malnutrition, endless freezing cold, fear, sniper attacks. 1. Survival Foods: Cattail, Conifers, Grasses & Acorns Ever wondered what kinds of survival foods you could eat if you were caught in a survival situation? When I first came to Washington state all I could see was a wall of green plants. I knew nothing about what I could and could not eat if I were to get lost in the woods. Where Can I Find Cattails and How Do I Eat Them? Cattails can be delicious if prepared correctly. Cattail does have a look-alike, the iris. Cattails are almost always in or next to a water source. Young shoots are the tastiest part of the plant. Munching From Conifers Did you know that many types of conifer trees are edible? Survival Foods: The Grass Family More than 400 types of grasses can be eaten worldwide. Edible grasses include: bent, wheat, slough, brome, crab, switch, canary, timothy, blue and bristle grasses. Gathering Acorns Acorns are found on oak trees. I hope this provided a look into the edible possibilities of the natural world. Sources: Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
Do-it-yourself Survival Kit The Do-it-yourself Coffee Can Survival Kit This is a compact kit that can be carried in the car, on the boat, or in a pack for hunting, hiking, exploring, etc. Most of the contents will fit in a one-pound coffee can which doubles as a pot for melting snow and device with which to dig an emergency snow shelter. (However, if you can carry it, include a small shovel. It is far, far better than trying to use a coffee can.) Keep three points in mind when putting together a survival kit. Thirdly, bring enough to enable you to spend at least one night out. Thanks to Allan Priddy who helps teach the Wilderness Survival class for putting this list together. General Items Repair Kit Sewing kit Dental floss (It's strong and useful as thread for sewing, or a fishing line or for lashing branches for improvised shelters.) First Aid Kit (Also see Lightweight First Aid Kit) Moleskin Sterile pads (2 x 2 and 4 x 4) Sterile Gauze Neosporin Bandaids Aspirin First Aid Tape Nourishment Optional
Wild Food School - Urban Foraging Guide & eBooks Urban Foraging & Cornwall Forager Guides - FREE Foraging for food - even in a city - can be fun. But where do you start? This Foraging Guide is in PDF format and is designed to allow you to print out the pictures on standard 10 x 15 cm. photo paper and then bind them together (laminate the pages if you want). Correctly printed out you will find plant picture and text side by side like the example below. Click wfsURBFORAGER.pdf to downloador right click and Save. ** If you're more interested in dealing with food and water in disaster and emergency survival situations (also in urban areas) you might like to take a look at the new book Armageddon Kitchen and Doomsday Kitchen over on this page >>> ... There are also a 98 page TROPICAL FORAGING GUIDE [approx. 8Mb] plus the Cornish Foraging and a Riverside Foraging guide. See also the exciting range of Wild Food WISDOM Cooking with Weeds™ eBooks at wildfoodwisdom.co.uk Wild Food School Homepage
Gardening in a drought Guest post by Mark M. NOTE: This may be something to print out and store in your SurvivalMom Binder for future reference. image by International Center for Tropical Agriculture I have lived in many countries over the years, and have always had a vegetable garden. Not just for cost, as many of the countries I have lived in have had what we considered dirt cheap food, but for the quality. Nothing compares to the taste of veggies fresh from the garden. Recently, some friends told me about the bad drought in Texas. Kenya and Botswana. So how do they manage that? The technique involves three separate things, all of which are easily made by anyone with the ability to use a shovel, hammer or a trowel. Raised beds When we rented our home in Botswana, in the yard behind the house was a series of concrete troughs, roughly 4 foot wide, 2 foot deep and 15 foot long, running north to south. Shade netting Every 3 feet in the troughs was a hole, just the right size to take a ¾ inch PVC pipe. Thread watering
Foraging Guide App. (Cheap) - Edible Wild Plants of Temperate N. America & the UK Now FREE!! Image page of the Rose profile. The Mobile Foraging Companion is a feature-laden, cross-platform guide for common wild and naturalised edible plants of temperate North America, and Britain and Northern Europe (there is a guide for each of those two areas, to suit your needs). Whether you forage on a leisurely weekend walk, want to know about that weed in the garden, or want to prepare for a potential survival situation, this guide is one of the handiest reference guides on foraging. It is designed for quick access to all the essential information you want at your fingertips, no more wading through long text to find the facts you are looking for. This unique guide packs a lot of information into a small space: What is the difference between the N. There isn't a lot of difference, as most of the plants included grow throughout most of the temperate northern hemisphere. Common names of plants vary, so each guide is written with the appropriate names for those countries. Advertising
Survival Stressors in a Survival Situation Any event can lead to stress and, as everyone has experienced, events don’t always come one at a time. Often, stressful events occur simultaneously. These events are not stress, but they produce it and are called “stressors.” Stressors are the obvious cause while stress is the response. In response to a stressor, the body prepares either to “fight or flee.” The body releases stored fuels (sugar and fats) to provide quick energy. This protective posture lets you cope with potential dangers. Injury, Illness, or Death Injury, illness, and death are real possibilities that you have to face. Uncertainty and Lack of Control Some people have trouble operating in settings where everything is not clear-cut. Environment Even under the most ideal circumstances, nature is quite formidable. Hunger and Thirst Without food and water you will weaken and eventually die. Forcing yourself to continue surviving is not easy as you grow more tired. Isolation
Free Wild Plant Identification eCourse You are out in the forest and looking at the glorious plant life surrounding you. Whether you are a beginner and have never identified one plant, or a Botany professor at a university, you might appreciate this refreshingly simple approach to plant identification. I remember lovingly (and sometimes screamingly) that my college classes in Systematic Botany required me to become acquainted with that local Washington Flora that we plant dorks call “Hitchcock and Cronquist”. In addition, my observation skills as an ethnobotanist were refined , foraging for wild foods, fibers and medicine. What will I need? A combination of actual need for sustenance, curiosity and simple observation skills are almost all you need to start with plant identification. Wherever you are in this journey, the following activities and tips will add some elegant tools to your already blooming botanical basket. Meet a Plant Approach the plant of your choice and find a place to start.
Wild Edibles: How to Make Elderberry Jelly Disclaimer: Eating certain wild plants can be deadly!! Be certain to consult a professional (or a really good field guide) in order to positively identify this plant before trying this for yourself. The owners of this site will not be held responsible for any lapses in judgment or stupidity when handling or consuming wild plants. With the summer coming to a close here in New England, one of my favorite wild edibles that I seek out in the late Summer and early Fall is the Common Elderberry (Sambucus nigra). In this article I’ll be showing you how to properly identify the Common Elderberry, where to find it, and how to process it into a delicious jelly. How to Identify Common Elderberry Here are the main things you’ll want to look out for in order to properly identify the Common Elderberry: Where to Find Common Elderberry Common Elderberry can be found growing in large thicks stands. Here’s the range map indicating where Common Elderberry has officially been found: How to Make Elderberry Jam
Yellow Dock Seed Crackers Photo by Sunny Savage For us living in the Northern Hemisphere, the earth is now in a time of hibernation. As the earth begins this season, it is common to look onto the browning landscape with a longing for a more plentiful period. But, there are actually many plants now bursting with abundance and ready for harvesting. Dock, of the Rumex genus, is one plant now available that you can use in a wild food recipe. During this time of year, you can see yellow dock out there waving its’ bountiful brown arms full of yellow dock seed, and once you shake hands with this powerfully medicinal and edible plant you will begin to see it everywhere. Many consider Dock a pesky weed, but its’ uses are many. During the late summer and autumn season its’ stems carry moderate to heavy amounts of brown, triangle seeds that are high in riboflavins which helps our body to better absorb vitamin C. Yellow dock seed can be ground up for dock seed flour and made into an assortment of hearty treats. Mix together :
52 Plants In The Wild You Can Eat | Self-Sufficiency (Before It's News) (Read: Fully Charge an iPhone in the Sun in Less Than 2 Hours) Suntactics.com April 15, 2013 We all know our vegetables and fruits are safe to eat, but what about other wild edibles? Here are a few common North American goodies that are safe to eat if you find yourself stuck in the wild: Blackberries: Many wild berries are not safe to eat, it’s best to stay away from them. Dandelions: The easiest to recognize is the dandelion, in the spring they show their bright yellow buds. Asparagus: The vegetable that makes your pee smell funny grows in the wild in most of Europe and parts of North Africa, West Asia, and North America. Elderberries: An elderberry shrub can grow easily grow about 10 feet and yield tons of food, their leaf structure is usually 7 main leaves on a long stretched out stem, the leaves are long and round and the leaves themselves have jagged edges. Gooseberries: Mulberries: Mulberry leaves have two types, one spade shape and a 5 fingered leaf. Pine: Kudzu: Daylily: