tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79194676949090432012024-03-02T00:13:06.875-07:00Survival in the WastelandLighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-46347100138528423362016-05-17T10:12:00.000-07:002016-05-17T10:13:16.359-07:00So much more than food<div style="text-align: center;">
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Foraging is about so much more than finding food-</div>
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it's about finding your place in th' world, in your community, </div>
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and ultimately, it's about finding yourself- </div>
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I stood by th' river and watched a heron hunting. </div>
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He was looking for food, i was looking for food. </div>
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We watched each other stalk around, </div>
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i felt honored to be in his presence-</div>
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i wonder how he felt to be in mine. </div>
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I followed th' river in th' direction of it's flow, </div>
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came across a couple of large bull thistles,</div>
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favorite food of th' gorilla, </div>
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favorite food of mine. </div>
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A little further along- </div>
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I'm wondering at a Cow Parsnip, how it got this low in elevation-</div>
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there are two of them next to each other-</div>
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i taste some, grab a stalk to take home and share, </div>
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leave th' rest there- </div>
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this is a plant that will stay with you forever.</div>
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I decide to check on our resident hemlock population-</div>
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a deer watches me cross th' field- </div>
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i find a dead beaver, </div>
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and chewed willow mixed up in th' hemlock patch</div>
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animals are a lot like us, i think.</div>
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I move on-</div>
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snack on some spruce tips- </div>
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head for th' linden trees which brought me out here.</div>
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I find some linden leaves ripe on a tree i'd not seen before,</div>
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collect a salad's worth, and head home-</div>
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plans change, </div>
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i never made it to th' trees i thought i was heading towards-</div>
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still i found something worth taking home-</div>
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and a little bit of food too. </div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-2615808277285487912014-05-27T10:10:00.001-07:002014-05-27T11:09:30.115-07:00Spring, 2014<div style="text-align: center;">
Th' Thunder beings are very active this year. </div>
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This is a good sign, it will be a great year. </div>
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Here are some photos of spring.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">would you like a mushroom?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">foraging is hard work</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-2208825168643733582014-03-12T15:18:00.001-07:002014-03-12T15:18:15.257-07:00Adventures of a spoon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unhR9jvDc1Y/UyDLeWlwd4I/AAAAAAAADyg/Hr2SfyGbFP0/s1600/IMG_8117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-unhR9jvDc1Y/UyDLeWlwd4I/AAAAAAAADyg/Hr2SfyGbFP0/s1600/IMG_8117.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've often felt that wooden spoons have a life of their own. But when i programmed a mini robotic camera to watch this one i got quite a surprise. After reviewing th' photos it appears that this guy had quite an adventure the other day. I'll show you th' pictures and surmise what must've happened. </div>
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Th' first photo shows our spoon, which for th' sake of clarity i shall call "Thomas," catching some rays on what appears to be a gravelly riverbed. </div>
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Here's a shiny piece of Mica that was seen lying next to Thomas.</div>
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Just above th' river was a trail leading up this mountain, a trail which Thomas appears to have followed. </div>
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Here he is checking out th' scenery.</div>
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And here we see Thomas froliking in th' trees. </div>
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Looks like Thomas found this guy up on th' mountain. They appear to have traveled together for a while, but he eventually caught up to th' rest of his family. </div>
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Here are some views of th' trail. </div>
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And here's Thomas lounging on a log, probably taking a nap. Hard to tell though, spoons always appear to be taking a nap.</div>
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Then this guy walked by barefooted, so Thomas followed him around for a while. </div>
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He looked hungry and thirsty, so Thomas tried to help him out a bit. </div>
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And to return th' favor, he appears to have let Thomas hitch a ride on his hat. </div>
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Up on top of th' mountain looked like a good spot to catch some more sun and warm up a bit.</div>
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Gets cold in march in th' mountains. </div>
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But alas, th' time had come to go back down.</div>
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There was, apparently, time to climb a bit more on th' way down. </div>
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And to bury himself in th' snow for a bit. </div>
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And by th' time we got home, there was Thomas, just where we left him that morning. </div>
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(He has no idea he'd been followed, and we're not going to tell him.)</div>
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Cheers.</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-8106065326034234042014-03-11T11:38:00.003-07:002014-03-11T12:35:55.332-07:00"Now kids, never play with fire."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We recently held a traditional fire making class for kids.</div>
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It was a cold day, 12 degrees fahrenheit and snowy, yet still th' kids came out. </div>
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What a great day to make fire. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6IpU2KfuSqY/Ux9PZ3exEZI/AAAAAAAADwk/MHqSVHYbBhA/s1600/IMG_8007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6IpU2KfuSqY/Ux9PZ3exEZI/AAAAAAAADwk/MHqSVHYbBhA/s1600/IMG_8007.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Learning how to make fire with many different methods is a very empowering skill set to have. </div>
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Fire is one of the basic elements, and has been used by mankind through out history. </div>
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Why, i wonder, did we trade fire for electricity.</div>
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Techniques covered in this class were the bow-drill method and flint and steel, and each participant had the option of taking home a fire kit to continue their education.</div>
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It's hard to take photos when you're teaching a class, but i did have Alex helping me and th' kids, so i managed to get in a few shots. </div>
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We are planning on doing a follow up class, and a more advanced bowdrill class which will be suitable to those already experienced or grown ups- </div>
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Here are a few shots i managed to get, and again, a <a href="http://www.shivayanaturals.com/2014/03/primitive-skills-2.html" target="_blank">link to a blog</a> covering th' class.</div>
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Cheers friends. </div>
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Here's Jeremy, one of the few parents who braved th' cold, 3 hour class- he made his first coal and you can see it in his eyes...</div>
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Here's Alex showing how to hold th' flint and steel, and then how to prepare and hold your tinder bundle </div>
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Here's Rosemary, who graciously hosted th' class on her farm, blowing a coal into flame. </div>
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Some bow-drill practice</div>
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The snow packed down quick and made it really tricky to hold th' fire boards in place, everyone did really well under such challenging circumstances, which is often what you will find in the wilderness. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BvOcOgYq3drp-lIOhT1njQPaR3Gzq2Z26egGuKRoYn8wARj7MsJALZbW1ZxR9Vul_NsmWRKhjGUVylNrmipW4dfL8xUnPkS2WyMMHEVnf6E-xORXu65efmYRkFF74MiYs0McWE-ZaGYe/s1600/IMG_8012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BvOcOgYq3drp-lIOhT1njQPaR3Gzq2Z26egGuKRoYn8wARj7MsJALZbW1ZxR9Vul_NsmWRKhjGUVylNrmipW4dfL8xUnPkS2WyMMHEVnf6E-xORXu65efmYRkFF74MiYs0McWE-ZaGYe/s1600/IMG_8012.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Thanks to everyone who came out.</div>
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We'll be leading more classes and foraging tours this year, if you'd like to be notified, send us an email or comment with your email address and we'll add you to our mailing list. </div>
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(rico and beth at g mail) </div>
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Cheers. </div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-15571962815361757122014-03-05T12:56:00.001-07:002014-03-05T12:57:44.237-07:00Fire Making Class<div style="text-align: center;">
Hi friends- i know we haven't posted on here much lately- a situation that will be remedied this year- anyway, we recently held a traditional fire making class for kids, i'll write more about it soon, but in th' meantime check out <a href="http://www.shivayanaturals.com/2014/03/primitive-skills-2.html" target="_blank">Shivaya Naturals</a> blog post on it, with great pictures- cheers and we'll be back....</div>
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<a href="http://www.shivayanaturals.com/2014/03/primitive-skills-2.html">http://www.shivayanaturals.com/2014/03/primitive-skills-2.html</a></div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-68287065486544390522013-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:002013-06-07T21:20:01.313-07:00Recent Harvest<div style="text-align: center;">
Seems like winter lasted up into may this year, then we had three months of spring happen in three weeks. Here's a few of th' fine goods we've been harvesting and eating lately. </div>
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Milkweed shoots. Pick these before they form flowers buds, while they're still rapidly growing, and cook them anyway you'd cook asparagus. They are similar in shape and texture, but have a much better flavor, in my opinion. We like to eat them raw, but i have heard of some people getting sick from th' raw ones, nevertheless, th' flavor is much better than when cooked, so try one or two raw before you cook them, you won't get sick off of so few, and your taste buds will be glad you did. Below are some grilled with fish, peppers and shallots. Those were good. </div>
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A few days ago we pounded and leached acorns for this mornings breakfast. </div>
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Then i headed into th' mountains with Alex, or Axe, as Fynn calls him to a spot we've come to call "Th' Garden". Me and Alex have an ongoing skills trade agreement, which is nice, because skill sharing is better than reading books, or laboring away solo for years. I'm learning hide tanning, among a host of other skills, and he's learning foraging, and bowmaking. Plus, it helps us all to hone our skills. It's easy to impress folks who have little experience in an area, it's something else to show off your skill to someone with experience. Helps you to always get better. Never settle for mediocre. </div>
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We picked wild Violet flowers. </div>
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And stinging nettle. Sorry for th' blurry picture. </div>
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We munched dandelion flower stalks, and came to understand that stalks with flowers are more bitter than stalks with seedpods. Try it for yourself. </div>
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One of my favorite things in th' world is walking barefoot through a mountain stream surrounded by food. We harvested a bag of raspberry leaves to dry for tea. We got rained on. And we ate Cow Parsnip. A flavor i crave every year, that tastes like no other, and cannot be bought in any store. </div>
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We peeled and ate thistle stalks and petioles, and collected a bunch to make pickles. Thistles are very juicy, like a cucumber or a watermelon, and th' ones up here were enormous. </div>
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Here's a thistle garden. I know you can't see how big these really are, but some of th' stalks were two inches in diameter, and full of fresh filtered water. </div>
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30 pounds of thistle in this bundle. </div>
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To eat th' flower stalks you need to peel the outer layer of fiber, or just break it in half and scrape it off with your teeth. To eat th' leaf petioles, just scrape off th' spines and eat. </div>
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Another exciting find was th' positive identification of a new to us and very useful food, Wyeth Biscuitroot. This was a north american native peoples staple food, and another root vegetable, which is where th' calories are. </div>
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Th' root at this time of year was fibrous and dry, but it had a good flavor. We'll be back for more in th' fall, and next spring, th' root season. Th' leaves have a flavor very much akin to fennel and dill, which we'll dry for spice. I love foraging because there is always a new plant to learn, and biscuitroot is one i've been after for a while now, and now that i know it, i'm finding it in great abundance. It's amazing how you can see a plant for years, and then one day, when you realize what it is, you see it in a brand new light. I look forward to many new experiences with this plant, and it's cousin, th' yampa. </div>
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To finish th' day we gathered two good sized bags of Black Locust flowers. These are too good for words, but Alex says they taste like they look. Try some and see what you think. </div>
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And, just for th' icing on th' cake, we found a four and a half foot roadkill bull snake, which we promptly skinned, and is now waiting to go on a bow's back.</div>
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All in all, it was a good day. </div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-89133633384861638472013-05-28T21:50:00.001-07:002013-05-28T21:50:18.880-07:00Foraging Tour and Oil Lamps<div style="text-align: center;">
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We just led our first official Foraging tour, and were pleasantly surprised at how well it went. We had about twenty folks there, and planned th' tour for two hours. But as always with foraging, there's no end of surprises. </div>
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There were lots of kids, and they found a nice little hobo shelter to play in while we talked about th' yellow dock plant, and learned how to twist dogbane into a nice string, which me and Josh used for oil lamp wicks.</div>
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<a name='more'></a><!--more-->and here's some of our oil lamps, first, Joshua made his first one using a jar lid, great idea Josh, and i hollowed out a piece of sandstone<br />
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Oil lamps are great, because you can use any kind of basin to hold the oil, then add a wick, and you've got yourself a lamp. Much easier, than a candle, which means you will be more likely to make one for yourself. Which is a very satisfying thing to do. I know of nothing more empowering than making your own fire.</div>
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We found many wild plants to discuss, and while we were focusing on plants as not only food, but also medicine and craft, it was hard to walk even a few feet without finding something. Nevertheless, we managed to walk a circle around th' park, and folk even plunged into th' mud with me to gather cattail leaf hearts and roots. all in all it was a great time, and i thank you all who came out, we'll have to do this more often. There was some much going on that th' camera hardly came out, which to me is a good sign. But here are some of th' pictures we managed to take during it all.</div>
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These photos don't really do justice to the amount of excitement present during this gathering... Th' group bonded very well, and we were all soaking up every bit of it... I learned as much as a teacher as did our students. Thank you all for coming. </div>
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Some of th' plants we covered included: Musk Mustare, Shepherd's Purse, Blue Spruce, Peppergrass, Asparagus, Poison Hemlock, Cattail, Bitter Lettuce, Yellow Dock, Lamb's Quarters, Dogbane, Russian Olive, Milkweed, Cleavers, among others. We also talked not just about plants, but how to begin discovering this exciting world for yourself, and th' ways in which knowing your environment affects you. </div>
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Till next time. </div>
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~Rico Lighthouse</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-56907863536811490302013-05-10T20:22:00.002-07:002013-05-10T20:23:39.948-07:00Stalking th' wild Asparagus, and other spring goodies<div style="text-align: center;">
I awake- have a cup of coffee and read the asparagus chapter from Euell Gibbbon's Stalking the Wild Asparagus. That's my goal today. Asparagus. </div>
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Spring greens are growing like weeds around here. Oh wait, they are weeds. Anyway, started off th' harvesting with some Salsify plants, also known as Oyster roots.</div>
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At first glance Salsify looks a lot like th' grass it grows amongst. You gotta put on your "Salsify Eyes", and then they stand out from th' crowd. </div>
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You can eat this whole plant, th' tops tasting like a sweet, almost creamy green,</div>
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a good addition to a salad. But th' cream of th' crop here is th' root, which when roasted or baked becomes an incredible delicacy that can't be bought from a store. We wrote a <a href="http://survivalinthewasteland.blogspot.com/2012/10/oyster-roots.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> on these, and how to find them amongst th' grass in which they grow, and that they hide very well amongst.</div>
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From there it was on to the asparagus. It was just beginning to sprout, mostly what i harvested was tips, but oh were they good tips. In th' words of a first time asparagus forager who accompanied me, "it tastes like,,,,th' way food should taste." </div>
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Like th' Salsify, you gotta put on your "Asparagus Eyes" when huntin these guys. </div>
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Asparagus spreads by rhizomes, so Look for last years stalks, and check th' ground around them. Below is a picture of an old Asparagus stalk, on th' right, and a yet to be identified plant whose stalk looks kinda similar, and usually grows in th' same location. With a little experience, these old stalks look unique, and can be told apart even from a vehicle moving thirty miles an hour down th' road. </div>
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Below are some blanched spears, or spears that've grown under debris, making them white, and tender, more so than th' green ones poking up into th' sun. </div>
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Also on the agenda, i got us a good Curly Dock harvest. </div>
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This is a hearty green, which makes a mean saag paneer, and goes really well in lasagne, or enchiladas. And it's one of our most easily identifiable wild foods. Just look for last years rust colored seed stalks. </div>
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And some bitter lettuce, or compass plant. These truly are bitter, but still make a good cooked vegetable, and if you've built up your bitter palate, in this stage they are quite good. It's called compass plant because when it gets older all of it's leaves turn and face th' same direction, ie, that of th' sun. </div>
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And there's always something unexpected waiting to be found. Like a toy boat sailing amidst a patch of Watercress.</div>
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And still, after almost a month, thanks to our late season coldness and excessive snow/rain, we're harvesting th' purple "Musk" Mustard. </div>
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I love my job. Being a professional forager definitely isn't going to make anyone rich, monetarily. But when i find a diversity of vegetables greater than i can buy in th' supermarkets, and th' only price i have to pay is being outside gathering them, observing th' world i love, sometimes with th' people i love, getting hot, getting rained on, getting wet, drying off, seeing a fawn and it's mother grazing in a field, watching th' clouds dance above, i find it an acceptable price to pay. Especially when th' view from my "office" looks like this.</div>
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Or when i'm gazing upon Ft. Collins' hidden canyon. </div>
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In th' words of Madeleine L'Engle, "Being alive is a marvelous, precarious mystery, and few people appreciate it."</div>
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~Rico</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-71918655684919213962013-04-19T21:34:00.000-07:002013-04-19T21:49:06.413-07:00Foraging East Texas<div style="text-align: center;">
There are a few frontiers left in th' world today, and th' world of plants is one of them. Even right here in my hometown, there are multitudes of plants that we are still learning about, and many of which we know absolutely nothing. We recently traveled to my homeland of East Texas, and though i spent my childhood here, i've been gone long enough for it to seem like we had entered into a new frontier. From both a cultural and climatic point of view, we might as well have been in a foreign country. </div>
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We left Colorado just ahead of a spring snow storm, and when it really set in that we were entering a new land was when i found recently fallen acorns beneath a Texas live oak tree. Note how th' leaves look nothing like our more typical oak trees. These are called live oaks because they are evergreens, uncommon amongst deciduous trees, even in Texas. These were found in north Texas, off old highway 287, near Oklahoma. </div>
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We spent th' night at a rest stop south of Dallas, and awoke to find Wild Carrots all over th' place. Throughout th' rest of our stay we saw more wild carrots than just about any other plant. They grew nearly everywhere, from th' highway medians, to th' ditches to peoples frequently mowed lawns. Wild Carrot does resemble poison Hemlock, please know that you've got th' right plant before even tasting one of these, as one bite of poison hemlock could be your last. We have a friend who, just to prove she had found wild carrot, took a piece of a leaf and bit it, she instantly realized her mistake, but it was too late. She very nearly died. Th' plant she bit was poison Hemlock. Th' most obvious distinguishing feature is that carrots have hair all over them, and hemlock does not. Below are three pictures of wild carrot, and a picture of poison hemlock, and though they are and do look different, in th' field they are surprisingly similar. Be careful. Most poisonous plants just taste bad and you spit them out, no harm done, Hemlock is not like that, one bite and you're in big trouble. Do yourself a favor, and really get to know these guys before eating. With that said, once you know a wild carrot and a hemlock, they are not hard to tell apart, just pay attention. Wild carrot is a good food that should not be overlooked for fear of Hemlock.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Carrots adorned all th' roadsides in East Texas</td></tr>
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Here's a picture of th' Texas state flower, th' Blue Bonnet. I love these because they grow in giant patches, amongst all the other wild flowers, and cover th' medians and road sides in brilliant hues. I imagine a time before roads, and think how colorful th' world used to be.</div>
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We stayed at my grandparents place on th' western most border of th' great piney woods, a forest which extends (or used to) from the Atlantic all th' way to east Texas. At this time of year, which would be early summer there, so many plants were growing, and all different from what we're used to here in Colorado, that we felt like hungry kids walking through a salad. It seemed as though you could close your eyes and just eat anything. It felt like we were in th' Garden of Eden. Any plant we found abounded, nothing was rare if it was there. Of th' treasures we found were Japanese Honeysuckle. </div>
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The yellow and white flowers on the left are honeysuckle. The red ones on th' right are yet to be identified, please leave us a comment if you know what they are. When i was a kid we used pick the yellow flowers and pull th' stamen out of the bottom, which would bring with it a tiny ball of nectar. Then we'd suck on that and do it again and again and again, maybe hundreds of times. I still don't know of anything that tastes so good. </div>
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Another favorite was th' wood sorrel, or <i>Oxalis</i> species. Again, these abounded. They have a pleasingly tart flavor, reminiscent of lemon, and are good added to sandwiches and salads, as well as munched on while walking around.<br />
We found both purple and yellow flowering sorrels, with th' purple ones having much larger leaves, but both tasted excellent.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wood sorrel in midday sun closes up</td></tr>
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While wandering around, we had no choice but to admire th' overhanging canopies of oak- something we don't see here in northern Colorado.<br />
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We harvested loquats, which are a Chinese native fruit that has become naturalized in many parts of th' south. And just like pecans, they ripen and fall to th' ground for th' animals, while people go to th' store and buy fruit. Strange. Because these are really really good fruits, tasting something like a pear and a plum.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Texas Loquats</td></tr>
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On a trip to the ocean we found some beachside goods to eat. First, below th' whale shark, is a giant black nightshade bush. These provide tasty leaves and berries, which are like a pepper flavored tomato. These won't even begin to sprout for more than a month here.<br />
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And here is some large purslane, on th' left, with leaves bigger than my thumb, and on th' right an unknown plant, resembling amaranth, but succulent. We ate a bit of it and it tasted like amaranth, if you recognize this one, please let us know, as we've not been able to find it in any book or online source. <br />
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And here's th' Sea Rocket, a member of th' Brassica family, with characteristic mustard flavor, and a little salt, due to it's being found on th' beach.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sea Rocket (<i>Cakile spp.</i>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">purslane and ?</td></tr>
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Heading back inland from th' beach we stopped at a gas station and in th' neighboring field found these...<br />
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Yep, ripe black raspberries and mulberries. Our Blackberries haven't even sprouted yet, but here we are munching fresh picked berries in April. There are only a couple of Mulberry trees were we live, so these were a real treat for us. Mulberries are juicy and taste like sweet corn, and unlike black and raspberries, th' seeds are pleasant to eat, making this a most agreeable berry.<br />
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We also found Cleavers, Wild grape, not yet fruiting, and a new favorite, Smilax. Smilax is a vine that grows all over th' woodlands, and we ate th' tender, still growing tips whenever we could. They also produce large edible tubers which were a staple crop for th' natives to this area.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleavers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild Grape</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smilax</td></tr>
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There were cat's ears...resembling a cross between a dandelion and a salsify. <br />
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And Pink Primrose (<i>Oenothera speciosa</i>), which is actually an evening primrose, not related to th' true Primrose (<span class="kno-fv"><span class="kno-fv-vq fl" data-vq="/search?complete=0&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=638&site=webhp&q=%22primulaceae%22+%22scientific+name%22+%22primulaceae%22&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAGOovnz8BQMDAz8HsxKnfq6-gVFKkVG5A6PEq3cKh_y1v39_KbVgeldi99u0L1sBnaNCgCwAAAA"><i>Primulaceae</i>)</span></span>. As we child we called these Buttercups, and would ask unknowing victims to smell them, while we'd touch them to their nose leaving a bright yellow pollen mark, which our victims might not have known about were it not for our uncontrollable laughter. These have edible leaves, flowers, and roots which are very potent, like horseradish.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7sirvzeNJDQ/UXIUHMqvPeI/AAAAAAAADHQ/UQgCKO5wkvk/s1600/IMG_4530.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7sirvzeNJDQ/UXIUHMqvPeI/AAAAAAAADHQ/UQgCKO5wkvk/s400/IMG_4530.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pink Primrose</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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And Heal-All, (<i>prunella vulgaris</i>) which we harvested to dry for tea. This, like every good plant, is both food and medicine, as it's name suggests. Good for what ails ya- it can be eaten raw, or dried and used for tea, or tinctured fresh. It's benefits include all around wellness- sore throat and cold relief, and it stops bleeding. Drink it often to stay healthy, or to restore health during and after an illness.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Self Heal</td></tr>
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And wild Onions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild onion patch.</td></tr>
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We also found Ground beans (<i>apios</i>, though i failed to get a picture). I am really excited about these, and though it was not th' season to harvest th' beans, i know where they live, and should i return fall, winter or spring, look out.<br />
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And here's another plant that abounds in th' east Texas woods. Don't make a salad out of this plant.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poison Ivy.</td></tr>
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I am highly allergic to poison ivy, and have tried every remedy known to man, save for a few. What works best if you get a rash is to wash it at least three times a day with pine tar soap, then rub aloe vera leaf gel on it. It's the only thing that has ever worked for me. But if you do it as soon as you notice th' rash, or th' plant you might have touched, it will save you from two weeks of hell.<br />
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Coming from th' north, after a long winter, to a land flowing with nectar and greens was truly a treasure for us all. But i realized something on this trip, for i've found many treasures in my life. Finding a treasure is a great thing, but th' true miracle is th' change that occurs in th' seeker. You can wait around all your life for a miracle, or you can wake up, and be th' person you were meant to be.<br />
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And two days later we returned home to almost two feet of snow.<br />
In Mid April.<br />
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-67462830429559964032013-03-28T21:31:00.000-07:002013-03-28T21:50:53.512-07:00foraging fuel for th' fire<div style="text-align: center;">
Folk often ask me, as a forager, what do i do in th' winter time- well, there are many things to do in life besides gather plants for food. As a life long lover of primitive skills, I've always seen winter as th' time for honing your craft. And of course, one of th' most basic and essential of all skills is that of making fire. Th' two types of fire making which were popular in this area of th' world, in recent recorded history, and which i have become proficient in, are th' bowdrill, used mainly by th' native americans, and th' flint and steel, used mainly by th' fur traders and "pioneers".</div>
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Here is a picture of my fire kit, consisting of two ways to make a fire with out a lighter or matches.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">flint and steel fire kit</td></tr>
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traditional fire kit</div>
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It consists of th' components for a flint and steel fire: a steel striker, which must be high carbon steel to make a good spark, a flint rock to scratch th' steel, which makes th' spark, and a tin of char cloth, usually cotton or linen, but cotton works better, to catch th' spark. Other rocks will work too, but experiment at home, before you rely on them to make a fire. Flint and steel fires are made by striking th' steel with th' flint, which makes a mess of sparks, one of which is caught on th' char cloth, which keeps it alive. Th' char cloth is placed in a bundle of tinder, around here i use the inner bark of th' cotton wood tree, and blown gently into a fire. Th' tender should be finer than paper in order to catch. </div>
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Char cloth is made by placing all natural plant material, usually cotton or linen, in a tin with a hole in th' lid. This tin is placed in your fire. It will smoke for a while, then stop, when it does, remove it, and you've made char cloth, which is basically char coal made from your pants. This is a good way to use up old clothing which has outlasted it's usefulness for wearing. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tin of char cloth</td></tr>
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Inner cotton wood bark comes from cottonwood trees (i know, right), easily found along riversides and waterways here in northern colorado.</div>
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Also in my fire kit are the components for a bow drill fire, which is my favorite way of fire making, and predates flint and steel fire making by many thousands of years. Also, bow drill fires were made th' world over, it was/is a truly universal skill, without which people probably would not have lasted very long. </div>
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To make a bow drill fire you need a small bow, a spindle, a fire board, a socket, something to catch th' coal, and some tender, in this case again, inner cotton wood bark. I've experimented with many different woods for fireboards and spindles, and can say without a doubt and against any challenge, that th' best combination (around here) for th' fastest coal is using a willow spindle on a willow fireboard. A coal can be made in under a minute consistently, and usually within twenty seconds. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sagebrush and cedar root fire boards with walnut spindle</td></tr>
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I am often asked why i would want to make a fire this way when i could just use a lighter to start a fire much quicker. I like this question because, usually, people who ask this are not proficient in fire building, and i can make a fire quicker because i know how to make a fire. A lighter is fast, sure, but you still have to build a proper fire consisting of tender, kindling and bigger woods, which lighter users often overlook in their confidence in that tiny plastic device. If there's water nearby, i like to ask th' person for their lighter, then throw both it and my fire kit in th' water, and see who can still make a fire. Th' flint and steel or bow drill fire will always win this contest. Besides this, being able to make a fire from natural materials is empowering in a way that can only be understood by experience. You feel that if you can make a fire you can do anything. And it's true. </div>
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So what about th' rain, i'm often asked. </div>
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In the upper left corner of the above picture is a piece of pitch pine. It's a piece of wood cut from a pine, or any conifer, (abundant here in th' rockies) that has been cut while still alive. Th' sap seeps into th' wood, saturating it. You get this lit with your tender, and you've got a candle that will burn for an hour, more with a larger piece of wood. That's long enough to dry our some wood for burning, which can dry out more wood, which can keep you warm, and dry. </div>
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Aside from making "campfires", you can also use a little oil and a string, and make yourself some oil lamps. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cattail fluff and bamboo oil lamp.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I hope this gets you excited to try out new, or old rather, ways of fire making, and if you want more detailed instructions, feel free to ask us. Learning how to make a fire from scratch changed our lives, and it can do th' same for anyone.</div>
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And, just in case we've given anyone the impression that we are these foragers who only eat healthy food, here's an incriminating photo of us roasting hot-dogs over a fire, one of our favorite meals. Enjoy.</div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-79386588431284383222013-01-24T13:04:00.000-07:002013-04-06T21:12:20.379-07:00Thoughts on arts and crafts pt.1<div style="text-align: center;">
The way we make things is very important to us. We strive for beauty and functionality in everything we craft, and we long for a return to beauty in the things we use everyday. Following are thoughts on arts and crafts that i simply couldn't have stated more clearly, so i'll echo th' words of th' late Soetsu Yanagi as translated by Bernard Leach, from the book The Unknown Craftsman.</div>
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I wish that everyone would realize that until recently beauty in things was commonplace, and that it is our responsibility to demand that of the future. </div>
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The difference between former times and ours is that the individual remained unobtrusive until recently. All once used the same patterns without any question of jealousy. The separation of picture and pattern, arts and crafts, is one of the tragedies or modern times. </div>
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Crafts are of and for the great mass of people and are made in great quantity for daily life. </div>
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What is the power at work in good pattern? Pattern is a product of man's skill, the true mission of which is to turn to use the laws of nature. Thus, while pattern is in a sense an artificial product, it is not so much man made as a technique for reducing nature to something more "natural" still. It is not a vaunting of man's humanity, but a hymn to nature's mysterious power. In a good pattern, man is faithful to laws; one detects in it a true humility. It is good to the extent that it is free of any arrogance of personality. A very strange consequence of obedience to these laws is the increased freedom that then results. The acceptance of limits produces ease of mind. </div>
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Usefulness, material, and technique, if given their due values, automatically give us calm and friendly beauty in the crafts we use from day to day. By and large, good pattern is of communal parentage. The more so the better, and the further the disciplines of nature are accepted the better the results will be. I cannot lay sufficient stress on this last behest, for our undertaking as craftsmen is to act as humble and loyal agents of the divine will inherent in nature. </div>
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Work without innate beauty is dead work; that is why the artist-craftsman is important to us. The great need of our time is for the artist-craftsman not only to produce his own good work but also to ally himself closely with the artisan, so that eventually we may have beauty in common things again. </div>
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The Facts have to be faced concerning the future of craftsmanship anywhere within an industrial civilization...Before the age of science and modern industry, crafts used to spring out of the hearts and hands of man. </div>
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The nature of machine work is such that it's products are standardized and thus monotonous and cold; ill fitted to serve as man's companions in his daily life. </div>
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The profit making motive became uppermost, and the change from the age of the hand to the age of the machine took place; the two together have had a disastrous effect not only on the crafts, but also on the way of natural life in which they had their roots.</div>
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As we all know, America is the home of the machine; there has never been much handwork there since the beginning of it's modern history. </div>
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I would like to believe that beauty is of deep import to our modern age. Without question, the intention of morality, philosophy, and religious belief is to bring hope, joy, peace, and freedom to mankind. But in our time religion has lost it's grip. Intellectualism has undermined spiritual aspiration in most people. At this juncture I would put the question, might not beauty, and the love of the beautiful, perhaps bring peace and harmony? Could it not carry us forward to new concepts of life's meaning? Would it not establish a fresh concept of culture? Would it not be a dove of peace between the various cultures of mankind? </div>
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...the good artist or craftsman has no personal pride because in his soul he knows that any prowess he shows is evidence of that Other Power. "Take heed of the humble, be what you are by birthright; there is no room for arrogance." </div>
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I felt a general lack of maturity both in motivation and technique. The first impression given was one of power, or force, but it was followed by a sensation of violence and at the same time of emptiness. On the whole, the Japanese exhibits had a greater traditional content and were more skillful in technique, but were less alive than the pots from the West. Shells without fish. The abstract examples were mannered, and did not spring from a genuine internal life. In the whole exhibition the pots that i admired most were made by Bernard Leach.... Curiously, these were the quietest pots in the whole show....The feeling in his pots comes from a high inspiration that defeats both weakened traditions and the violence of modern motivation i have mentioned. He draws his strength from the soil of his own nature and his life experience. This is spring water. ~Shoji Hamada </div>
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In a sense, an age without good patterns is an age that does not look at nature carefully. </div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-70303991666125700412013-01-03T13:56:00.000-07:002013-04-06T21:10:43.607-07:00Our Online Storefront <div style="text-align: center;">
Hi friends- we've decided to once again offer our handcrafted goods for sale via th' world wide web.</div>
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You can see our current stock at our facebook store <a href="http://www.facebook.com/lighthousefamilycrafts" target="_blank">Lighthouse Family Crafts</a>. </div>
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Also, we can be found at the Fort Collins farmers markets in old town. </div>
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For those of you who enjoy our blog for th' wild food and foraging, don't worry, spring is on it's way! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">spalted birch with kolrosing</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">freshly carved, waiting for oil. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">winter market booth.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pole lathe turned bowls, aspen inside large birch</td></tr>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-62633125619813835032012-12-04T10:42:00.002-07:002012-12-04T10:43:29.735-07:00Sinew Backed Hackberry Bow<div style="text-align: center;">
Finally, if the student be observant, the arrow will write for him long chapters about the people, the fishes, birds and beasts of the separate regions and their peculiar habits.<br />
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~from North American Bows, Arrows and Quivers by Otis T. Mason, 1893 </div>
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Finished up my favorite bow to date- it's a sinew backed hackberry. </div>
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Measures 62 inches nock to nock- pulls 48 pounds at 26 inches of draw. </div>
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I tillered this one to one ring on th' belly, then strung it into four inches of reflex before applying th' sinew- unstrung it sits at 2 1/2 inches of reflex- when first unbraced it falls to 1 1/2 inches, and pulls back into 2 1/2 after a couple of hours. </div>
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String is twisted linen dyed with black walnut husks, endless loop style. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qqF8FNoJ-Os/UL4uMQ2wbBI/AAAAAAAAClA/wdl3ssBOnuU/s1600/IMG_3421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qqF8FNoJ-Os/UL4uMQ2wbBI/AAAAAAAAClA/wdl3ssBOnuU/s400/IMG_3421.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nice little design/knot on belly fade</td></tr>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dMyvUZmZTH0/UL4uR_a8oZI/AAAAAAAAClI/bjqqB9WP2X4/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dMyvUZmZTH0/UL4uR_a8oZI/AAAAAAAAClI/bjqqB9WP2X4/s400/IMG_3422.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OoxV9lFjgUs/UL4uv6cQvvI/AAAAAAAAClk/NT-BxoZRLSM/s1600/IMG_3429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OoxV9lFjgUs/UL4uv6cQvvI/AAAAAAAAClk/NT-BxoZRLSM/s400/IMG_3429.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Here's a look at some of th' sinew, which i hackled before applying, and th' bow strung backwards just after applying th' sinew.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxQmwlXVMP8/UL4wjEsYHiI/AAAAAAAACls/_NqjkEP3qA4/s1600/IMG_3321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hxQmwlXVMP8/UL4wjEsYHiI/AAAAAAAACls/_NqjkEP3qA4/s1600/IMG_3321.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">hackled deer leg sinew</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bow strung backwards to apply sinew in reflex</td></tr>
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And here it is at 28" of draw, i realize now that i don't have any of me shooting it, so this will have to do for a full draw shot. I'm pulling it on a spring scale to measure it.<br />
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-28817322532813511082012-11-20T10:56:00.000-07:002012-11-20T10:56:56.051-07:00Black Walnut Husk Dye<div style="text-align: center;">
Just a short post to show what can be done with black walnut husks. </div>
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Here's a couple of Linden spoons before th' dyeing process.</div>
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And then after.</div>
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To make th' dye/stain i saved a bunch of husks from th' summer- Then when i was ready for it i simply boiled then in a large pot for about two hours, strain and voila! </div>
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While th' husks were boiling i dropped th' spoons and a pair of linen pants in there for th' last hour. </div>
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For th' spoons i simply let them dry then oiled them up, for th' pants i washed them in th' bathtub real good- and so much brown came out of them you'd never believe there could be any left, but alas, they are a nice dark brown. Walnut husks have enough tannins in them to act as a mordant, so they are a good place to start experimenting with natural dyes. I've also tanned a squirrel hide with them, but that's another story. </div>
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Cheers</div>
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~Rico</div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-29604169516671755862012-11-13T12:19:00.001-07:002012-11-13T12:20:33.235-07:00New Life: Rowan Little TreeWell th' past two weeks has introduced to th' world little Rowan. He was born at home, with no one around but me and beth, just as our first son Fynn was. Th' birth went very well- in fact, we had th' grandparents pick Fynn up at 7:30 pm- and by 10:30 we had another person living with us- well, on the outside anyway. Till about 8:30-9:00 or so i was assembling and painting Rowan's cradleboard.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5537vL7hmCg/UKKUhbV0PQI/AAAAAAAACek/y8KGGInSlRg/s1600/IMG_3244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5537vL7hmCg/UKKUhbV0PQI/AAAAAAAACek/y8KGGInSlRg/s400/IMG_3244.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rowan Little-Tree Lighthouse</td></tr>
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The cradleboard was and still is used by many indigenous cultures to swaddle their infants. Children who grow up using them are said to be strong willed, independent, patient people. We took our design from th' Navajo nation, and added a touch of milk paint to it. It is made of cedar, with th' bow being a split elm sapling. Here's our kitchen table just before th' birth, showing all th' pieces of th' cradleboard.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx4Qlz_njR0/UKKT1mGw54I/AAAAAAAACeE/PfIuYDD1Y8I/s1600/IMG_3094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mx4Qlz_njR0/UKKT1mGw54I/AAAAAAAACeE/PfIuYDD1Y8I/s400/IMG_3094.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pieces of a navajo style cradleboard.</td></tr>
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Th' board was assembled using rawhide, there are no screws nails or glue on it... then painted using milkpaint. Rawhide is tied on wet, then as it dries it shrinks and holds th' board together very solidly. Th' child is wrapped up in blankets, or in rabbit furs, and secured with lacing. He is cozy and safe in there. Some are made to be carried on th' back, i'll probably make another one and try that out in th' future, or we'll just attach straps to this one. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS927_d2NB-YtLaTU6baniDHSGJKloEdzNhq5SFOdtu2T_aFGGOPUoYV0u2iF5K-Swgvav6UTzeeRLzs4xv9NaaMSrGmOVfRpG4g9aGyGh5B9GBpcsRCvdZYnl1RTd0YdMAxGhorQkyfhM/s1600/IMG_3192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS927_d2NB-YtLaTU6baniDHSGJKloEdzNhq5SFOdtu2T_aFGGOPUoYV0u2iF5K-Swgvav6UTzeeRLzs4xv9NaaMSrGmOVfRpG4g9aGyGh5B9GBpcsRCvdZYnl1RTd0YdMAxGhorQkyfhM/s400/IMG_3192.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cradleboard with milk paint</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keHzuUdrssA/UKKUXxeoLkI/AAAAAAAACec/DqR5VKsCT0I/s1600/IMG_3193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keHzuUdrssA/UKKUXxeoLkI/AAAAAAAACec/DqR5VKsCT0I/s400/IMG_3193.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">back side, showing lacing.</td></tr>
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I know people who say this world is too messed up to bring a child into. I say this world is too messed up not to bring a child into. What other hope do we have? Children bring out th' best in folks. Let them spend time outside looking at trees, hearing birds- you won't ever have to convince them to "be green"- for they will be rooted firmly in the earth, with their hearts in th' sky. </div>
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On our first drive to th' store with Rowan, i remember thinking how harsh our world has become, at least th' parts we live in. Driving down th' streets, loud trucks belching out smokestacks of pollution- cold hard concrete, everything moving so fast. This is no place for a child i thought. Off to my right a field, gently swaying grass, a cottonwood tree, a creek. That is a soft, inviting place- that is a place for a child. The indians were smart. How did we ever get so far away from our home? </div>
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On that first drive i saw a bumper sticker with th' all to familiar saying- "Take nothing but pictures, Leave nothing but footprints." Many environmentalists are fond of this quote, but i wonder, where would we be if our ancestors thought this way? </div>
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No where. Th' first people would've died and that would've been history. What about th' multiple factories it takes to make stickers and glue and ink, and th' cars that our stickers go on, did they take nothing but pictures? Did they leave nothing but footprints? Though it's hard to see through th' synthetic life we've built, everything we need comes from the earth. We have to take- so we'll just have to learn to be thankful for what we take. There is no other way. So we're thankful for th' new life we've been given, and we hope to impart to him all that we've found good in our life. Here's lookin at you kid.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--SiKfV7QTrU/UKKc-7HmxFI/AAAAAAAACfQ/8pZfMxyZpeA/s1600/IMG_3199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--SiKfV7QTrU/UKKc-7HmxFI/AAAAAAAACfQ/8pZfMxyZpeA/s400/IMG_3199.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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~Rico</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-60414522839877800482012-10-16T14:59:00.000-07:002012-10-16T14:59:24.693-07:00Fall, Acorns and Traditional CraftsOk friends, we've decided to merge our foraging and crafts blogs into
one, which will be this one. After all, it's all traditonal, old world
activity, so why th' dichotomy? If you're unfamiliar with our crafts
blog i'll just tell you that all th' work i do is done without power
tools, i don't even own any. I don't say this to brag but to clarify
that it's more about th' process than the end result, more about that
later...Now we can do posts like this one...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GwrHzhXPoxw/UH2GgDNfxsI/AAAAAAAACVo/7opySzNj2Fg/s1600/IMG_2965.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GwrHzhXPoxw/UH2GgDNfxsI/AAAAAAAACVo/7opySzNj2Fg/s400/IMG_2965.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">spoon rack</td></tr>
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This past week has been rife with
activity- Acorn processing and wood carving and turning to name a few.
The above picture is a spoon rack i carved from a split elm sapling.
Wooden spoons are beautiful on their own, but displayed in a nice rack
they are outstanding, why hide them in a drawer? All th' spoons were
carved by me except th' two in th' middle with th' white and blue
handles, which were carved by <a href="http://www.jarrodstonedahl.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jarrod Stonedahl</a>, another journeyman of traditional living.<br />
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But lets talk about fall, and food gathering for a bit... anyone for some acorns? <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Wdq5emBOcE/UH2IYnDVinI/AAAAAAAACVw/A091aK6eknA/s1600/IMG_2865.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Wdq5emBOcE/UH2IYnDVinI/AAAAAAAACVw/A091aK6eknA/s400/IMG_2865.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">burr oak acorns, big.</td></tr>
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Anyone in Fort Collins reading this blog? If so, you
wanna do me, or yourself rather, a favor and go out gather up some oak
nuts? We're really running out of room to store them, and it's hard for
me to pass them by. There's still a lot out there. I'll even help you
eat them if you want. But seriously, my neighbors are starting to think
that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi" target="_blank">Ishi</a>
lives in my garage... help us out why don'tcha. Just look at this tree,
it's covered with large acorns, half an hours worth of picking supplied
us with over ten pounds. And there's a lot of half-hours in a persons
life. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cjV1e1jVBVs/UH2JptlZetI/AAAAAAAACV4/ZhHZbWzwBk0/s1600/IMG_2909.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cjV1e1jVBVs/UH2JptlZetI/AAAAAAAACV4/ZhHZbWzwBk0/s400/IMG_2909.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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And don't think this is unusual around here, there's trees all over like this. You'll see. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjWZMcVTA9g/UH2pMFY8VRI/AAAAAAAACbg/K36zawi9JZk/s1600/IMG_2920.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjWZMcVTA9g/UH2pMFY8VRI/AAAAAAAACbg/K36zawi9JZk/s400/IMG_2920.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Let's get crackin shall we... </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iwFTv8LonQY/UH2Lo3hmDWI/AAAAAAAACWw/GLv8f0gA2-I/s1600/IMG_2921.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iwFTv8LonQY/UH2Lo3hmDWI/AAAAAAAACWw/GLv8f0gA2-I/s400/IMG_2921.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Look at th' inside of th' shell, how beautiful it is... </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's a Burr Oak acorn on th' left, and an average size, unidentified as of now, acorn on th' right.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbCC52x7rT8/UH2Q1frgCNI/AAAAAAAACXY/JBuNJP-E7No/s1600/IMG_2917.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbCC52x7rT8/UH2Q1frgCNI/AAAAAAAACXY/JBuNJP-E7No/s400/IMG_2917.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Th'
Burr Oak acorns are enormous, so be carefull while drying them out, as
they take a very long time. Sometimes you'll come across ones with
sunken in centers like in th' picture below. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6O1WDr44X8c/UH2Q7rLf7DI/AAAAAAAACXg/D0RXXcH38Uc/s1600/IMG_2918.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6O1WDr44X8c/UH2Q7rLf7DI/AAAAAAAACXg/D0RXXcH38Uc/s400/IMG_2918.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Don't waste your time gathering these, as this is what you'll find inside. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XAKWA0032NQ/UH2RGZVATvI/AAAAAAAACXo/WVu0Yr_sQug/s1600/IMG_2919.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XAKWA0032NQ/UH2RGZVATvI/AAAAAAAACXo/WVu0Yr_sQug/s400/IMG_2919.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
We
crack and pound all our acorns by hand. I've used blenders and coffee
grinders before, but they don't work as well as pounding with a
hammerstone. And more importantly, they don't work th' same way on me.
And this is also why i don't use power tools, th' real reason. When i'm
pounding acorns, in th' sun, with a rock, it does something to me. It
takes a long time, but it's time well spent. My mind is fee to wander,
while my hands perform th' task at hand. I smell the acorn, i breathe it
in along with th' scent of dry leaves. (Do you know how good pounded
acorns smell?) If affects me in a subtle, yet powerful way. It's th'
same with carving wood with hand tools. Th' time spent changes you,
makes you, builds you into a more patient, more thoughtful person. The
end result becomes less important than th' way you get there. Th' native
americans, and traditional people all over th' world, spent thousands
of years pounding acorns with rocks, who are we to say we've come up
with a better way. Have we really counted th' cost of what we've given
up? Have we counted th' cost of th' tools that we now depend upon, that
we consider necessary for life? It's hard, because we are so
disconnected from th' price we pay, to even realize that a toll is being
extracted. We don't remember what it's like to be able to drink water
from our rivers and streams, or that there used to be mountains in
Wyoming and West Virginia that no longer exist due to coal mining. Or
that there were no landfills here a few hundred years ago. Me cracking
acorns with a rock, or hewing out a piece of wood with an axe isn't
going to change all that, but me and you doing it, and you, and you too,
well then, things might start to look different. Or at least we'll be
different, and that's worth it. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJzWS7yUEKcOf75yEJv53CZKxjyNUSmCiSfy00_YR-gNtrt9Et02ncUvTR5yfvoAkGGAbnBNTjjl0HU__6U0-nNohiHU6LcJLtgdrFreVnz5D5sFZAtL8l143aKwL2gNHx2h57e0Rn8eM/s1600/IMG_2969.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiJzWS7yUEKcOf75yEJv53CZKxjyNUSmCiSfy00_YR-gNtrt9Et02ncUvTR5yfvoAkGGAbnBNTjjl0HU__6U0-nNohiHU6LcJLtgdrFreVnz5D5sFZAtL8l143aKwL2gNHx2h57e0Rn8eM/s400/IMG_2969.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">acorn pounding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12Y9V_OHwLM/UH2eh-9r3SI/AAAAAAAACYk/FAjbi-v1SDw/s1600/IMG_2977.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-12Y9V_OHwLM/UH2eh-9r3SI/AAAAAAAACYk/FAjbi-v1SDw/s400/IMG_2977.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's Beth and Fynn partaking of some fall activities, as i was hewing some bowl blanks one day.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RkkVTb8EZPc/UH2fMakLwMI/AAAAAAAACYs/tsMdF6ywr0w/s1600/IMG_2933.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RkkVTb8EZPc/UH2fMakLwMI/AAAAAAAACYs/tsMdF6ywr0w/s400/IMG_2933.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2uQbHMsUDI/UH2fUMiCZdI/AAAAAAAACY0/BdtRGW8vZZo/s1600/IMG_2938.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V2uQbHMsUDI/UH2fUMiCZdI/AAAAAAAACY0/BdtRGW8vZZo/s400/IMG_2938.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">axe hewn bowl blank</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is black locust
wood, which has a relatively easy to work yellow sapwood and a
seriously hard and pretty brown heartwood. It makes really pretty bowls
and bows. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YpWl1x1xWXk/UH2jQt7rlCI/AAAAAAAACaA/Jayrdunj5qk/s1600/IMG_2845.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YpWl1x1xWXk/UH2jQt7rlCI/AAAAAAAACaA/Jayrdunj5qk/s400/IMG_2845.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pole lathe turned bowls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Before I made these
two i was really turning in th' dark. I was so focused on getting a bowl
that i didn't pay enough attention to how i got one. Then i was forced
to spend two weeks away from my shop. I got craftsmans withdrawal. But
something happened. I learned (again) to slow down. When i got back home
i took my time, went slower, focused more on making nice clean cuts and
keeping my tools sharp. I slowed down and my bowls and spoons came out
better and in half th' time or less. Here's th' rest of what came of
that locust log, as well as a couple of Aspen spoons.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98rbhL8XeZQ/UH2mnCnQ3ZI/AAAAAAAACas/jJXTVzXGrzg/s1600/IMG_2956.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98rbhL8XeZQ/UH2mnCnQ3ZI/AAAAAAAACas/jJXTVzXGrzg/s400/IMG_2956.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35Ln_QWpTFnTaGThIXpZJGc-Qhv65uqIEU8JYER-eZqcmyZFB3TC5Yc4yDeF6gj11JFAORUXU03-DZvGM3XYXcQ-OidiZa36U3o_sL70nxm_afr7Q_M1Oq1siWbQm0xlskzffNYUQY-i5/s1600/IMG_2957.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh35Ln_QWpTFnTaGThIXpZJGc-Qhv65uqIEU8JYER-eZqcmyZFB3TC5Yc4yDeF6gj11JFAORUXU03-DZvGM3XYXcQ-OidiZa36U3o_sL70nxm_afr7Q_M1Oq1siWbQm0xlskzffNYUQY-i5/s400/IMG_2957.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This one got cold, so i had to carve a hat for it. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kABBfDvyPvQ/UH2m3xWEuQI/AAAAAAAACa8/syeQ04X5Mlk/s1600/IMG_2960.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kABBfDvyPvQ/UH2m3xWEuQI/AAAAAAAACa8/syeQ04X5Mlk/s400/IMG_2960.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's
a couple made from opposite sides of th' log, th' one on th' left has
th' sapwood on th' bottom, heartwood on top, and th' one on th' right
has th' heartwood on th' bottom, making a different, and in my opinion
nicer looking bowl, though it takes longer to hew because of th' greater
amount of heartwood you're chopping. These are fresh off th' lathe,
where as th' darker ones have been oiled already. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's
that bow i was carving in th' last post, it's almost finished, and
pulling about eighty pounds right now. Just needs to be CAREFULLY
tillered down to about fifty-five, and it's ready for th' hunt. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8S9qQnDpPY/UH2tVSCj8dI/AAAAAAAACcY/YbMiCCKygG8/s1600/IMG_2994.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n8S9qQnDpPY/UH2tVSCj8dI/AAAAAAAACcY/YbMiCCKygG8/s400/IMG_2994.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ash bow, ancient European style</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And two Aspen spoons.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlkhkNNY7uQ/UH2o2HvJXkI/AAAAAAAACbU/LQNhGQL40EI/s1600/IMG_2844.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlkhkNNY7uQ/UH2o2HvJXkI/AAAAAAAACbU/LQNhGQL40EI/s400/IMG_2844.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Well,
i hope you've had some good food for thought, even if you can't eat the
acorns. Drop us a line and let us know what you think. I'll leave you
with a few more scenes of fall. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Cheers </div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
~Rico</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nmad4cos3OE/UH2sLFQxpCI/AAAAAAAACcQ/0EiLfE7Q1e8/s1600/IMG_2910.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nmad4cos3OE/UH2sLFQxpCI/AAAAAAAACcQ/0EiLfE7Q1e8/s400/IMG_2910.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bag full of acorns. Now that's some whole foods.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-85394553851352738602012-10-10T09:28:00.001-07:002012-10-10T09:34:38.373-07:00Ground Cherries, Watercress, Stinging nettle. <div style="text-align: center;">
Got some greens in before th' frost. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Watercress, which has been ripe and delicious all summer long here.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dEIEuU21dQ/UFDF2jnmlUI/AAAAAAAACJI/BCF77sfpQvs/s1600/IMG_2541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dEIEuU21dQ/UFDF2jnmlUI/AAAAAAAACJI/BCF77sfpQvs/s400/IMG_2541.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watercress (Nasturtium officinale)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">watercress, wet with th' morning dew</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
Watercress is a very spicy-mustardy green. As it's name implies it grows in the water-<br />
which means you have to be careful with it. Now if th' rivers were pure like they were for thousands of years when the natives were th' caretakers of this land, it'd be a different story- but that's history.<br />
Today, let's not drink that water, or eat th' plants that are in it. But luckily for us, watercress grows from it's top, so if it aint in th' water, chances are good that it never was in th' water.<br />
But hey, let's not take chances- pay attention to the area, know if th' creek rises or has recently, if so, you may want to be a little more careful in your harvesting.<br />
When you get it home, wash it good, and if you're worried about Ecoli or some such, cook your greens thoroughly- but if you know what you're doing that is not necessary. They are good raw and cooked, so it's best to know your source, then you can enjoy them how you like.<br />
Use them as a garnish to your meal, mix them with a salad to spice it up, or cook up a soup with cress greens in it.<br />
Here's a picture of a potato soup with watercress and some late season, new growth stinging nettle.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">watercress, nettle and potato soup</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now, nettle is usually a spring green, but a little bit of cool weather and heavy rains gave us a second round of new growth this year, and we took advantage of it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">late season, new growth stinging nettle</td></tr>
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Th' seeds of nettle are highly nutritious, and said to be good for your kidneys. They have also been shown to promote endurance and heightened awareness, similar to ginseng. They help th' body restore and rejuvenate, something very useful indeed in this toxic world we live in. <br />
<a href="http://bearmedicineherbals.com/nettle-seed-as-adrenal-trophorestorative-adaptogen.html" target="_blank">Bear Medicine Herbals</a> has some more good info on nettles.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nettle stalk covered in seeds</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">stinging nettle seeds</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">bowl full of nettle greens</td></tr>
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Just before th' first frost is also th' time of year to gather in ground cherries.<br />
Last year we harvested a bunch of them just as they were ripening, as they ripen well if left in th' husks. This year we waited til they got good and yeller.<br />
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Ground Cherries are in th' nightshade family, and look very much like miniature tomatillos.<br />
They are extraordinarily sweet, and peppery when ripe. We made some serious salsa with them, and mixed them with crab apples to make pie. This year we're sun drying some. It's taking a long time, but they smell really good. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ground cherries, at best time for pickin</td></tr>
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Here's what they looked like when we started sun drying them, now they look like raisins, but it's taken about a week so far.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun drying ground cherries. </td></tr>
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Well, fall is here now, so that's all of th' greens for awhile, enjoy.<br />
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~Rico</div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-77686393256621668182012-10-02T10:20:00.002-07:002012-10-02T10:20:46.715-07:00Oyster Roots<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xnm67WgCtQY/UGsP5tmlERI/AAAAAAAACQI/MG5va80ogP8/s1600/IMG_2766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Xnm67WgCtQY/UGsP5tmlERI/AAAAAAAACQI/MG5va80ogP8/s400/IMG_2766.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Western Salsify roots (T. dubius) on a bed of acorns</td></tr>
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Well it's officially autumn here in northern colorado- and not because th' calender says so, but th' trees, th' ash leaves, th' raining locust leaves, th' returning of th' geese, they tell me these things.</div>
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It's also th' time to head out to th' fields and collect Salsify roots.</div>
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Salsify, or Oyster root, is a substantial forage, being both numerous and hardy, like a carrot, and indeed, you can use them in any way you'd use a carrot, though cooking them greatly enhances their flavor. Our favorite way to eat them is to roast them till they're almost crispy on the outside, nice and tender inside. The aroma is tantalizing, th' taste unlike any other, yet very agreeable.</div>
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Th' first thing to do is to find you plants-</div>
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This is what they look like in their flowering stage- around here we have two species that i know of, this is western salsify (Tragopogon dubius), we also have meadow salsify, and hybrids of th' two- and though there are differences in size and appearance they really look th' same and can be eaten in th' same way. </div>
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It helps to know them well, for then you'll be able to find them in a fall field of grass such as this one. Can you see all th' salsify in there? </div>
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While traveling through th' fields look for the old stalks or seedheads.</div>
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Salsify is a biennial and roots should be eaten from first year plants,
so once you've found the old ones, look around for th' first year
rossettes. They will have a gray green hue to them that makes them stand out from th' grass around them. The leaves also grow in a noticable V- shape. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salsify rossettes</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Once you find one you'll get "salsify eyes" and start seeing other ones. Take a look. Do you see them?</div>
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The two in the above photo were rather large, and hid roots that were enormous for salsify, but it just shows what ideal conditions can do. Once you've found them just dig 'em up. I usually just use a stick i find in th' field, even though i did make myself a fancy digging stick this summer.</div>
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These can be kept for a long time in a cold cellar or wrapped up in th' fridge, so during th' fall months you can stock up on them, being careful of course not to overharvest. </div>
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Enjoy! </div>
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~Rico</div>
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Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-618100909765970302012-09-19T11:16:00.000-07:002012-10-18T13:25:08.190-07:00The Lost Art of Forgotten FoodsHere's an article i had published in a local paper, the <a href="http://www.wolverinefarm.org/publishing/matterhorn/" target="_blank">Matterhorn</a>- if you've found our blog from that article, then skip on down as you've most likely already read it...<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Lost Art of Forgotten Foods</b></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I recently
discovered a garden growing right here in Fort
Collins that I’d never seen before. I had heard myths,
and rumors of it’s existence, but it had always seemed so distant, so elusive,
like a childhood dream that you want so much to believe in but are barely able
to recall. This garden has been abandoned and neglected longer than I’ve been
alive. Actually, attempts have been made without success to eradicate it. But,
thankfully, it’s still here, growing food without, and in spite of, the hand of
man. Most of the plants growing in this garden cannot be bought at the grocery
store, or the farmers markets, even though it’s local. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This garden
also grows the widest variety of food types of any garden I’ve ever seen. There
are spring greens growing before most farmers are even thinking about planting
(I know, I know, farmers are always thinking about planting…), and some of
these are tender and good enough to eat into late august, after my garden
lettuce has turned to a bitter bolted green. There are edible flowers, with
flavors too good to be true. Vegetables ripen all summer long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Berries begin ripening in June and last well
into autumn. There are fruits and nuts which fall to the ground by the
bushel-full, only to be despised for disturbing our hard earned
landscapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are beans. There are
seeds, and grains, and pollens to be made into flours and breads and cereals.
And fresh tubers can be had all the winter long, so long as you can dig the
ground, from natures best root cellar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Herbs to be dried for teas and medicines abound, begging somebody to
pick them, use them, love them. There are wild animals to be seen. Foxes, deer,
squirrels, skunks, hawks, owls and eagles. Tanagers, flickers, robins and
hummingbirds. Frogs, toads, turtles and snakes. They all eat freely from this
garden, as does my family, and still there is plenty. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We come
here together, for nourishment. We go there alone, for solitude. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In researching
the history of this garden, it seems to have been here all along, as far back
as anyone can remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one claims to
have planted it. The natives peoples who lived among and travelled this region
ate from it. All of their food came from it, as well as the fibers for their
clothing. They say the Creator gave it to them as a gift, to shelter them and
feed them, to keep them healthy, and to restore their health when they became
ill. In return, they have promised to protect it, and not to destroy it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By the end
of the nineteenth century however, most of the natives had been confined to
reservations, their lore and history, and means of living in harmony with
nature going with them. The settlers despised the natives as savages, would
have none of their food. Thus the garden was forgotten.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As cities
and farms grew the garden was encroached upon. It shrank to but a fraction of
its original size. But it survived.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then came
the great depression, and the people of this region, town and country folk
alike, began to go to this garden, seeking its food, mostly out of necessity.
Most people had long since forgotten how to recognize and eat the food they
found growing in this garden, if they had ever known at all. Thus accounts from
this time often describe frustrating attempts to eat this food, with flavors
being described as bad, bland, bitter, palatable, or OK. But no one
intentionally lives on food that is “palatable,” or “OK.” Eventually the
depression went away, and the people forgot the garden. Again. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The same
thing happened during world war two, but to a lesser degree. Remarkably,
however, the garden is still here today, and you can go to it almost any day of
the year and find good food. My family and I come here every chance we get, and
we always find much more than food. Each time a new discovery is made. A new
plant found or identified. A bug we’ve never seen before. Deer eating the same
food that we’re eating. Sunlight slanting through the branches of a tree you’ve
seen a thousand times before, making it look new. I feel like a kid again when
I’m out here, filled with awe and discovery. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some of the
food growing here you have already heard of. Some of it may be strange and
exotic. Some are common plants you see everyday, but never recognized as food.
All of it is medicine. When you eat from this garden you are truly fulfilling
the Hippocratic oath, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.” You
begin to feel younger, to want to go outside more. When you leave your house it
becomes an adventure, never knowing what you’ll return home with. You’ll become
acquainted with nature in a way you never knew was possible. You will trust
her. You will feel at home. You will be a part of a tradition as ancient as
humanity itself, fulfilling a desire you may not even know you have. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the forager’s garden, and it’s right
outside your door. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Everybody eats, and foraging is the
oldest occupation known to man. And, contrary to popular opinion, it is also
one of the safest. The biggest fear people have with wild foods is eating a
poisonous plant, but this never needs to happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are a
few simple guidelines to follow which will ensure you’ll never eat a poisonous
plant. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The first is never eat a plant (or
anything for that matter) unless you know with absolute certainty what it is,
which part of it is food, and how to prepare it. Many of the foods we eat on a
regular basis are harmful if these steps are not taken, but that doesn’t stop
us from eating them. The most obvious example is rhubarb. The stems are food,
the rest of the plant is poisonous. But we eat it anyway, because we know how,
and we like it. So know a plant before you eat it, or have it prepared by
someone who does. You know the difference between a strawberry and an apple,
and when you go to the grocery store you can tell them apart, even if someone
switches the labels on them. Know your wild foods just as well, and you’re
safe. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
As foragers, we often eat what are
commonly considered weeds, and people spray weeds. Don’t harvest any plant that
is wilted, or has mutated growth. Look for evidence of spraying on the other
plants nearby. If you find a nice curly dock plant growing amongst a bunch of
dead or wilted leafy spurge, don’t harvest there, move on. Use your nose too,
if an area has been recently sprayed you may not see it, plants take a while to
wilt, but often you can smell it. Some places to avoid are railroad tracks and
road sides. These are almost always sprayed, and even if you find good looking
food growing there, pass up the temptation and move on. It is disheartening to
see the amount of poison we dump on the earth these days, but if we realize
that most of the plants we try to kill by poisoning are actually good for us, we
may just be able to make an impact. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
rule, know how to eat your food. Some foods, such as fruit, and young tender
greens, are fine eaten raw, and even better when eaten right where you find
them. Picking your own food is a joy that can’t be bought. Other foods, such as
potatoes, or black locust beans, need to be cooked if eaten in significant
amounts. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Also, when
eating a new food, exercise some restraint the first time. Take a small bite,
if it tastes bad for God’s sake spit it out. We have tastebuds for a reason. If
it tastes good, eat a little bit, but don’t overdo it, give your body some time
to react. (I don’t know of any poisonous food that tastes good, so, if you’re
going to disregard rule number one, which is know your food, at least pay
attention to this one.) You can eat too much of anything and get sick. So just
taste your new food first, and as you taste it, imagine what other foods or
flavors would go well with it. There are literally thousands of flavors
available, and we eat only a handful of them in our regular diets. With wild
food you’ll discover new and exciting flavors you never dreamed of. Some of
these you’ll like, and some of them you won’t. But don’t always trust your
first taste. There are many factors that contribute to flavor, and many foods
that I’ve disliked the first time I tried them are now my favorites. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
thing to know is when to harvest your food. You don’t buy under-ripe, out of
season produce from the supermarket (ha ha), so don’t pick it that way either. Again,
this comes from knowing your food. But this gets exciting. Unlike the
supermarket, where you can pretty much buy the same food in January as you can
in July, foraging has it’s own seasons, each with it’s own unique array of
foods. This helps break the monotony in the kitchen, and in your life as well.
It is exciting to look forward to next spring, when you’ll be able to harvest
cattail pollen. You sure can’t just go to the store and buy a bag of it. Yet. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If you are
not already a person who likes to cook, chances are you’ll become one. There
are hundreds of foods which can be eaten raw, or with little preparation.
Plants in this category include amaranth and lamb’s quarters- good raw when
young and tender, and good as cooked greens the rest of the time. Use them just
as you would spinach. Some plants make great vegetables with a little more
effort, such as peeling an outer layer, or removing from a husk or a pod.
Plants in this category include burdock and thistle stalks, ground cherries,
etc. And alas, some plants require great commitment on your part to render them
ready to eat. Plants in this category include acorns, black walnuts, and the
foods which you will use as flours. These foods will literally change your
life, simply on account of the amount of time you’ll be spending with them.
But, like all things in life, the more time, effort, love and care you put into
something, the greater will be the reward you gain from it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Foraging
isn’t going into the woods and ingesting random plants, it’s finding food,
almost everywhere you go, and figuring out the best way to eat it. It’s like a
where’s Waldo puzzle where almost everyone on the page is Waldo. It’s a sacred
adventure in a world of desecration. And it helps to restore our lost
connection to nature, in all it’s guises. Far from being and fearful dangerous
pastime, it sets you free from fear by making you more aware of your
surroundings. You’ll learn more about plants than you ever thought possible.
More about the animals that inhabit your favorite haunts, more about the
seasons and how they change, more about the wind and the water, the earth and
the sky. And more about yourself as well. With each new discovery you’ll be
made new. There’s no end of things to learn. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am by no
means an expert. The more I learn about plants the more I realize how little I
know. I’m not looking to teach you about wild foods. I’m looking for people who
care about where their food comes from. People who are excited to be outside,
who don’t mind putting a little, or a lot, of effort into something good.
People to pick berries with. People to try new and exciting foods with, foods
that I’ve never eaten, or new recipes for old favorites. People who want to
learn, and never stop growing. People who will wade into a cattail marsh in
November and come out wet and muddy and smiling with a handful of roots. People
to spot that hawk circling in the sky, with a snake dangling from it’s claws.
People who want to be alive. If that’s you, let’s go.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-61573438010492336002012-09-12T10:44:00.000-07:002012-09-12T11:09:30.689-07:00Everything is food food food...<div style="text-align: center;">
Ya'll remember Popeye th' movie? That song they sang, Everything is food-</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Well, that's why we haven't been writing on here much lately-</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Stocking up for fall, winter, harvesting and drying-</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Acorns. So many acorns. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqK2hrvl5yj3hS4f6sV1yBHystOzRpMwLCLI8l2ARJ9HO6vhtQYMVcEd6qu5yS4CdyljHRKvlpLiyGMnQQ9LAy3o6O2vBzUZs3ycGjis3AUwNarLUt3fy86yHBYeIUDLnoF_dMqlvoz2X/s1600/IMG_2411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqK2hrvl5yj3hS4f6sV1yBHystOzRpMwLCLI8l2ARJ9HO6vhtQYMVcEd6qu5yS4CdyljHRKvlpLiyGMnQQ9LAy3o6O2vBzUZs3ycGjis3AUwNarLUt3fy86yHBYeIUDLnoF_dMqlvoz2X/s400/IMG_2411.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild (or feral) Oregano </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We were having a pik-nik up near Estes Park, and while munching on Chickweed, which is abundant up there when wait wait- what's that smell? We're sitting in a patch of oregano!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
We harvested loads of crab apples as well- sold about twelve pounds of them at th' farmers market, made apple butter, apple turn-overs, mixed them with fruit leather to add tartness, juiced 'em up, and of course, ate them raw.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crab apple tree loaded to th' full</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tfkCzKJ8JOA/UFCrLI_OpAI/AAAAAAAACFI/yjD1XnGzE20/s1600/IMG_2476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tfkCzKJ8JOA/UFCrLI_OpAI/AAAAAAAACFI/yjD1XnGzE20/s400/IMG_2476.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">farmers market table</td></tr>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sitting at th' markets was really neat- as for th' wild foods, it was the old and the young which were most interested, and we got to hear a lot of old tales of people eating wild foods when they were younger- a tradition that seems to have plummeted after th' second world war. </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
With our long warm spring, no late frosts, th' fruiting this year was very heavy. We even got peaches, which almost never fruit here in Ft. Collins, and th' acorn crop is heavier than i can ever remember it here. There are literally acorns everywhere, here's some typical scenes.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0cXeWfAaUpQ/UFCuN4ZDd0I/AAAAAAAACFs/KBPiv8FAx88/s1600/IMG_2542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0cXeWfAaUpQ/UFCuN4ZDd0I/AAAAAAAACFs/KBPiv8FAx88/s400/IMG_2542.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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It was not hard to fill a five gallon pannier bag in under twenty minutes. And there's still more on th' tree ripening, better stock up though, if it's this heavy this year, there's a good chance there won't be very many next year. From here they get to th' drying racks, we use old screens and shallow strawberry boxes, which stack real nicely and allow good air circulation. </div>
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So far we've got around thirty pounds drying, with more on th' way- </div>
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last year we ran out of acorns in january, and we'd really like to avoid that happening again. </div>
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And of course we harvested Choke Cherries.</div>
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Here's Beth in a tree- you really gotta get in there like a bear to experience th' full adventure of pickin choke cherries.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">nothing like ripe choke cherries. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irv-lfz5MNQ/UFC0xDhAfCI/AAAAAAAACHA/FtqwR0ERWYE/s1600/IMG_2478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-irv-lfz5MNQ/UFC0xDhAfCI/AAAAAAAACHA/FtqwR0ERWYE/s400/IMG_2478.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">rinsed and ready to eat by th' handful.</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
And we've been harvesting plums, grapes, and ground cherries.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">plums and ground cherries</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">th' ones on th' right are drying for our morning oats.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">oats with dried plums and evening primrose seeds</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi059FbGp2untdxveWhpR7goV-p63bWSNJaI_EcZIDWOlm1I_5fCz_1bq2gQelwVurgrfxvyxkRHjdiEW_mije9aKHopqn2F-oR7K_U0qjhfh4OviMr8fKDgaBwhlgFAouzoT8PppZ7mi8a/s1600/IMG_2531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi059FbGp2untdxveWhpR7goV-p63bWSNJaI_EcZIDWOlm1I_5fCz_1bq2gQelwVurgrfxvyxkRHjdiEW_mije9aKHopqn2F-oR7K_U0qjhfh4OviMr8fKDgaBwhlgFAouzoT8PppZ7mi8a/s400/IMG_2531.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">wild plums and grapes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6nx3CXM8pgOdlXMV_gnQN23Iuy0O9JDIhY7MD3QbNLqND8TKkvPohIXZ7YvqpC5KgFXiAmq-9w2sUppHnYNVKFnto7hCdxjd_1DKo4wTLvlX40HNuHCyaEBWVmcMyOiGpy9aTzezMvhp/s1600/IMG_9500.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd6nx3CXM8pgOdlXMV_gnQN23Iuy0O9JDIhY7MD3QbNLqND8TKkvPohIXZ7YvqpC5KgFXiAmq-9w2sUppHnYNVKFnto7hCdxjd_1DKo4wTLvlX40HNuHCyaEBWVmcMyOiGpy9aTzezMvhp/s400/IMG_9500.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ground cherries</td></tr>
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And we've harvested our years supply of wild mint for tea, which we mix with linden flowers or chamomile and wild licorice root- an excellent night time brew.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fZilBZVwtX0/UFC40kSMmJI/AAAAAAAACHo/Y8CI6kZvcLI/s1600/IMG_2449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fZilBZVwtX0/UFC40kSMmJI/AAAAAAAACHo/Y8CI6kZvcLI/s400/IMG_2449.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mentha arvensis drying for tea</td></tr>
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Here's another of our favorites, Silver Buffalo Berries (Shepherdia Canadensis).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sb3mA-W-0c/UFC7dtdOe0I/AAAAAAAACIM/QwBkfL-ath4/s1600/IMG_1943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sb3mA-W-0c/UFC7dtdOe0I/AAAAAAAACIM/QwBkfL-ath4/s400/IMG_1943.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">silver buffalo berries</td></tr>
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These plants look much like the Russian Olive, to which they are closely related. </div>
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These are a very important food for us as they are native to th' mountain west we so dearly love, and live in, and they were a staple food crop for many of the native americans who lived and travelled throughout their range. In Cheyenne culture, th' women would go out together and gather berries for winter. I'm really glad that these days i get to do some picking of them myself. </div>
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They hang on th' trees for a long time if th' birds don't eat them, being nice and tart and slowly ripening into a tomato like flavor. We like them tart- and so usually try to pick them before they fully ripen. You can also make "indian ice cream" from them by mashing them into juice and frothing them with a whisk. I like to carry around a few loaded branches like th' ones in th' picture above and snack on them all day. They've a little seed inside which some folk like and others don't, i usually just spit them out, but beth and fynn chew them up. </div>
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And of course there's been some fruit leather a goin on</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4G5EElrkdM/UFDFwBv9E7I/AAAAAAAACJA/tQ-ba4SRows/s1600/IMG_2540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R4G5EElrkdM/UFDFwBv9E7I/AAAAAAAACJA/tQ-ba4SRows/s400/IMG_2540.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">crab apple and wild plum</td></tr>
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And we've been eating watercress, making watercress butter, and harvesting it for restaurants here in town.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">watercress (<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasturtium_%28genus%29" title="Nasturtium (genus)">Nasturtium</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officinalis" title="Officinalis">officinale</a>)</i></td></tr>
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And here's a false dandelion (<i>Hypochaeris radicata) </i>in front of a digging stick i carved for root crops- i'll write more about that on our <a href="http://lighthousefamilycrafts.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">crafts blog</a> soon.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAF63vxqqJMTPPVBgpkhC8MBaomDI0HQ1K_WwBtXZddQuac6prEZmkOFJcHhLefhYrl2Q1GmW9fwNi9CcRAgQasTEsDzJWDdPlSlGrNgun60xGiBiFvtdIlLTNDjxpnaXl9Sjw5-0Ea1q/s1600/IMG_2593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJAF63vxqqJMTPPVBgpkhC8MBaomDI0HQ1K_WwBtXZddQuac6prEZmkOFJcHhLefhYrl2Q1GmW9fwNi9CcRAgQasTEsDzJWDdPlSlGrNgun60xGiBiFvtdIlLTNDjxpnaXl9Sjw5-0Ea1q/s400/IMG_2593.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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And while up in the Red Feather area recently, we found these amazing lichens that grow in circles.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gzn0Zbm1F8/UFDI0tjBJ6I/AAAAAAAACJY/qTzGjqwuPrA/s1600/IMG_2602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Gzn0Zbm1F8/UFDI0tjBJ6I/AAAAAAAACJY/qTzGjqwuPrA/s400/IMG_2602.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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So now i'll leave you with that song from Popeye...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzpjUmRblDcRdX-RMZG4zsiXMz52qyPCf6wXjnAIlKyesaXZ8g-lw_z_jcJdNcXCnaR1dihV2ljyEQiFE8xeQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Well i think that's about enough for now, enjoy.</div>
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~Rico</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-52440413768082928942012-07-25T14:26:00.001-07:002012-10-18T13:39:10.199-07:00Showy Milkweed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Asclepias speciosa- named after Asclepius, th' greek god of healing.</div>
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Showy Milkweed </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Showy Milkweed</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Here in northern Colorado, showy milkweed is th' species we see th' most. This is<i> the</i> milkweed of fields and roadsides around Ft. Collins. It spreads by it's rhizomes, so it usually grows in groups, which is to th' benefit of th' harvesters, be they us or th' bugs that so love this plant. It's white latex has been traditionally applied to open wounds and skin infections, particularly warts. It is very sticky, and i imagine it could be used as a temporary glue if needed. It is food for th' monarch caterpillar, and more commonly out here, th' swallowtail, and it is also a host to numerous beneficial insects. (Are there any non-beneficial insects?)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NM6cimLb_BA/UBA0ySnx-1I/AAAAAAAACAk/qDPXerBd6WY/s1600/IMG_8802.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NM6cimLb_BA/UBA0ySnx-1I/AAAAAAAACAk/qDPXerBd6WY/s400/IMG_8802.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">swallowtail catterpillar</td></tr>
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Aside from all th' amazing bug life this plant provides for, it also provides some of our favorite vegetables, as well as medicine, and a very insulating and waterproof filling material. In late spring/early summer it pops up in shoots that very much resemble asparagus spears, only lighter in color, and usually fatter and shorter. Cook them anyway you'd cook asparagus, but expect that distinctly, and in my opinion better, milkweed flavor. I've never found any bitterness in milkweed, in fact, it's quite sweet and floral. I know i'm just one person telling you this amongst many hundreds of wild food books and websites saying otherwise, but try it for yourself and you be th' judge. Ignore all th' warnings about multiple water changes, they are unnecessary. Just know your milkweed. Taste a bit in th' field, if it's th' worst thing you've ever put in your mouth it's dogbane, not milkweed. Where we live th' dogbane comes up much earlier than th' milkweed, so if you find shoots unusually early, watch out. I've tasted dogbane, and it's absolutely repulsive. I'm not interested in boiling things in multiple changes of water. I'm interested in good food, and there's plenty out there that cooks up just fine th' first time. </div>
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Th' next vegetable this plant provides are th' young flower buds. We usually eat a few raw and then cook th' rest. When we show these to people they always make a comment about how they look like broccoli- and they do, but they taste like milkweed. Use them any way you'd use broccoli. Remember when picking, these are going to turn into flowers, and then pods, so keep that in mind and don't pick all of them. I usually pick a third of th' buds and leave th' rest to grow. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed flower buds</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed buds, closeup</td></tr>
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Th' next, and perhaps most unique, food provided by this most amazing plant is it's seed pod. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed with seed pods</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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You want to get these while they're young and still growing, about one to two inches long is optimum. As they age th' silks get stringy and fibrous, but when young they are tender, creamy and absolutely unlike any other vegetable around. It is really two foods in one, with the outer pod being somewhat like a green bean, and the inner seeds and silks being like themselves, for their is nothing else like them. We eat these any way we can think of, but here's a few photos of some.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed pod pizza</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jh0-WTpPfCg/UBBYuetXtbI/AAAAAAAACB0/dGj0Xo2kd3c/s1600/IMG_8689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jh0-WTpPfCg/UBBYuetXtbI/AAAAAAAACB0/dGj0Xo2kd3c/s400/IMG_8689.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cooked up with eggplant spagheti</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx1R6nfS_-0/UBBY5NLlQFI/AAAAAAAACB8/184iOXaXzV0/s1600/IMG_8718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx1R6nfS_-0/UBBY5NLlQFI/AAAAAAAACB8/184iOXaXzV0/s400/IMG_8718.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">batter dipped and fried</td></tr>
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I don't think i've met anyone who hasn't liked milkweed pods, so don't be afraid to try them if you find some. Be careful though, i've seen a lot of them around here sprayed with poison, which surprises me because they are a native plant. If you see any signs of spray, such as mutated growth, or if there's a lot of leafy spurge in th' same field, chances are they've been poisoned. </div>
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Later in th' season, after th' pods turn brown, you can collect th' fluff to use as a stuffing. I stuffed a pilllow with it and have slept on it over a year now and it's as good as new. Th' fluff is very insulating, which you will quickly realize when you work with it a bit, you can hold it in your hands and feel your hands heating up. There's directions for separating th' seeds from th' silks in an earlier post <a href="http://www.lighthousefamilycrafts.blogspot.com/2012/01/leather-pillow.html" target="_blank">here</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed pod at right stage for harvesting silk</td></tr>
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Th' dried stalks of milkweed make an excellent fiber for spinning or twisting into rope. To get an idea of how important rope/string is to us, look around your house, notice everything made from strings, then try to imagine your life without those things. It'd be a pretty different picture. I'll do a separate post on rope making in th' future, but here's a small piece twisted up to give an idea of what can be done. I have hopes to one day clean and spin enough to have beth make me a sweater from milkweed, as this fiber is pretty soft when cleaned well. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">milkweed double reverse twisted rope. </td></tr>
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Well, i hope this post has been useful for you, and maybe next time you see this lovely plant, you'll see much more than just another "weed." That's all for now. </div>
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Cheers. ~Rico</div>
Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-37796592551404713462012-07-18T09:58:00.000-07:002012-07-18T12:41:55.033-07:00Choke Cherry Season<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Choke Cherry Season has arrived!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ripe colorado choke cherries</td></tr>
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I've written about these<a href="http://www.survivalinthewasteland.blogspot.com/2012/02/wild-plums-chokecherries-fruit-leather.html" target="_blank"> before,</a> but here's another look. These were staple food crops of indians traveling through and living in th' rocky mountain region, and it's no wonder, they are absolutely fabulous. Of course my family seems to be the only ones we know who think so, but the Kiowa knew, the Cheyenne knew, the Lakota knew. They also made tea from th' twigs and inner bark, and drank it for pleasure and sore throats. <br />
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We are grateful to be living at th' base of the foothills, so now we have ripe chokecherries. We can drive up the canyons into th' mountains and find cherries just turning purple, which will be ripe in a few weeks, and cherries just turning red, which will be ripe in a month or so. So that makes our harvest season from mid july-september, and we take full advantage of it, mostly making fruit leather, which we eat almost faster than we can make it. It's delicious. Gives you energy too. Makes you feel like a kid. What grown-ups do you know that get giddy over fruit leather? We do.<br />
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Choke cherries turn black long before they ripen, you'll know they're ripe when they strip easily from th' tree, with just th' brush of your hand pulling them down. If it takes force, leave 'em be a while. I just pull my hand gently down th' clusters and all th' ripe ones fall in. Then i'll come back later and try again, or just leave 'em for th' bears and coons. And with our massive fire, there's gonna be some hungry bears this summer and fall. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">i picked these in under twenty minutes. </td></tr>
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Here they are strained and spread out to dry. I first mash them through a fruit strainer, then take all that's left and put it in a skillet, add a little water and simmer for about ten minutes. This i'll run through th' strainer again and then spread it all out about a quarter of an inch thick and let it dry in th' sun. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">choke cherry fruit leather dryin in th' sun</td></tr>
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Once it's dry to th' touch i slice it up, let it dry a bit longer, then flip it over. Usually at this point we can no longer resist the urge to eat and by th' time it's dry half of it's gone. But it only needs to be dry to keep it, and we want to eat it. Never the less, some of it does get dry, and we eat fruit leather proper. To read more about it <a href="http://www.survivalinthewasteland.blogspot.com/2012/02/wild-plums-chokecherries-fruit-leather.html" target="_blank">click here</a><br />
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<br />Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-42584794780394685742012-06-27T08:38:00.002-07:002012-06-27T08:43:49.076-07:00Wild Mint and Linden flowers.There are few things to cool a hot summers day like th' refreshing taste of mint. We've got quite a few wild mints around these parts, and while most of them are about as weedy tasting as minty, one of them really is minty enough to compete with any store bought mint variety- Mentha Arvensis.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mentha arvensis</td></tr>
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Don't get me wrong, i appreciate all th' mints, but this one is like eating a candy cane, with very little of that "planty" taste that goes along with the other mints. Just before and during flowering these plants are often covered in tiny cystals- natural menthol. Just touching them will make your hands smell like mint for quite some time.<br />
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Here's a couple of photos of our most common mint, catnip. Catnip, or cat mint if you'd rather, is pretty good dried, and has all th' medicinal qualities common to th' mints. We snack on these as we find them, but due to our proximity to more minty mints, rarely gather more than we can eat on th' spot. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">young catnip</td></tr>
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And here's a photo taken on th' same day, a more mature patch.</div>
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But back to Mentha Arvensis, or simply "wild mint", as we refer to it. It is usually found growing near water. Around here all th' ones i've found have been growing along irrigation ditches, amongst grass that likes to cut you. So this year i've added a sickle to my harvesting arsenal, which helps me get down into the ditch and harvest with a tool instead of bare arms. A few less scratches to deal with.<br />
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We like to add these mints fresh to a bottle of cold sparkling water, especially while picking. They also make a great salad addition, see our<a href="http://survivalinthewasteland.blogspot.com/2011/07/mint-and-purslane.html" target="_blank"> post on purslane and mint</a> for that one. But in our summer heat, they begin to wilt fast. As soon as they, or any plant for that matter, begin wilting, you want to let it dry fully before using it. Wilting plants are going through chemical changes that can make you sick, some more so than others. So we'll fill a basket, then take 'em home and spread them out on a flat basket to dry in th' shade, which usually happens within two days around here. After that we separate th' stems from th' leaves, and flowers if there are any, and keep 'em in a jar in th' tea cupboard. It's easy to harvest a years supply so we just leave it at that and let th' bees have at th' rest of it, as it makes flowers well into late summer, when flowers are getting scace. No need to take from th' bees in our want, when there's plenty for both of us. <br />
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And now i will share with you our secret recipe for th' best evening tea you'll ever taste. Mix equal parts mint and linden flower, and two or three slices of dried licorice root. Brew till it's drinkable, then enjoy. Any kind of mint can be substituted for m. arvensis, and when we run out of linden flowers we use chamomile. And of course you can buy licorice root at most health food stores, but we like to use th' <a href="http://survivalinthewasteland.blogspot.com/2012/02/looking-forward-looking-back-american.html" target="_blank">wild licorice</a> which is so prevalent around here. We also likes to drink th' linden flowers by themselves as tea. It's a really pleasant brew, and th' flowers open up in th' cup to please th' eyes as well. Beth says it really helped her sore throat- and i believe her. So go ahead, try some. All we are saying is give mint a chance. <br />
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And here's some for you!</div>
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~Rico</div>Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-86499451261586254602012-05-31T08:59:00.001-07:002012-05-31T09:08:50.967-07:00Shepherd's Purse and why herbal medicines don't work<i>When you gather the seven herbs of spring*, your spirit becomes gentle. And when you eat bracken shoots, osmund, and shepherd's purse, you become calm. To calm restless, impatient feelings, shepherd's purse is best of all. They say that if children eat shepherd's purse, willow buds, or insects living in trees, this will cure violent crying tantrums, and in the old days, children were often made to eat them. Daikon (Japanese Radish) has for it's ancestor the plant called Nazuna (shepherd's purse), and this word Nazuna is related to the word nagomu, which means to be softened. Daikon is the "herb that softens one's disposition." </i><br />
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*The seven herbs of spring are watercress, shepherd's purse, wild turnip, cottonweed, chickweed, wild radish, and bee nettle.</div>
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Here's a short essay on th' use of Shepherd's purse as food, followed by it's use as a medicine, which is really th' same thing. </div>
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Where we live this is one of, if not the, first substantial salad bases. By which i mean, you don't add this to a salad, it is your salad, and you add other things to it. It's spicy, yet not over-pungent like some of th' mustards. It grows in abundance in early spring and is a long awaited treat if you're looking for seasonal, local foods grown in a natural way. I know th' word "natural" is applied to everything from wild food to over processed candy bars in shiny foil wrapping, so for clarification sake, when i use it it means food that is grown in such a way as you would find it in it's native habitat, ie, at th' right season, and with nothing other than nature helping it along. Which is often on th' side of th' road, like this,</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shepherd's purse in ft. collins</td></tr>
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or in some random spot, such as behind this shed with doors that never open.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">large early cluster of shepherd's purse. </td></tr>
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Th' leaves are highly nutritious, having ample amounts of vitamins A, C, calcium, manganese, zinc, iron, and even Omega-3 fatty acids, whatever those are. But lists of vitamins are rarely reason enough to convince yourself to eat something... </div>
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<i>"This plant is a remarkable instance of the truth of an observation which
there is too frequently room to make, namely, that Providence has made
the most useful things most common, and for that reason we neglect them:
few plants possess greater virtues than this, and yet it is utterly
disregarded."</i> </div>
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From Culpeper's Herbal, 17th century, speaking of Shepherd's Purse, <i>Capsella bursa-pastoris.</i> </div>
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Shepherd's purse is a diuretic, increasing th' flow of urine and helping to flush out th' kidneys. Shepherd's purse is good to stop bleeding, external and
internal. Use it for bleeding ulcers, blood in th' urine, hemorrhaging, heavy menstrual periods, etc. It works by constricting blood vessels, which means it may
be helpful for poisonous snake bites as well, or at least bide you some
more time. To use it internally, simply brew up a stout dose of th'
flowers and seed pods, or make an extract to keep on hand. For external
bleeding, ie, cuts scrapes insect bites, rashes, eczema, etc... make a
poultice of th' leaves and leave it on the inflicted area till th'
leaves are dry, then replace. I just chew th' leaves to crush them, but
you can also bruise them with a rock, or any other way that works. Make a tincture to keep on hand- Dry th' whole herb, or any part of it- then soak it in alcohol for at least two weeks, four being better, then strain and bottle and keep in a cool dark place. This can be taken alone, or with the addition of fresh tea when needed. But wait a minute!? Hemorrhaging, internal bleeding, that sounds serious.... shouldn't you better go to th' hospital? Well, sometimes you find yourself in situations where a hospital is simply not an option, or perhaps not th' best option...read on.</div>
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We first really fell in love with this plant while living in Chicago. We spent many long hours poring over plant books in bookstores, dreaming of sunny Colorado where plants actually grew. This plant's heart shaped seed pods made it very easy to identify, and it stuck out in our minds. Also th' fact that it's been used historically to stop bleeding, particularly internal. We've always had a healthy fear of hospitals, and have a sort of fascination with herbal medicines. In most herbal books and websites you read you'll find a disclaimer saying that even though we just spent a ridiculous amount of time and research on this stuff, if something is actually wrong forget about it and go see a doctor. Well, this always bothered us... </div>
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What's th' point, it either works or it doesn't. If it doesn't, then don't tell people it does, because they just might use it. Th' reason most herbal medicines don't work is that people don't know how to use them. Because of hospitals, we've lost so much knowledge of how our ancestors treated illness and injury. There's a myth that people are healthier now and live longer, but that is just a lie, and couldn't be farther from th' truth. If you live in america these days you can look forward to cancer or a car crash. I don't mean to sound morbid, but once we face th' truth there can be hope, but it must be faced head on. Th' further we move away from nature and our creator th' sicker we get. People who live close to nature usually live long full healthy lives. Part of that was knowing your environment, and what plants were good for. The other reason herbs don't work is that no one believes in them. This may sound like circular reasoning but it's not. What i mean is that, just like those disclaimers, people learn all about herbs as medicine for education or whatever reason, then when something actually happens they go to th' doctor. Or they might treat themselves once, then say this or that didn't work. </div>
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But that's not really a fair assessment of a plant's healing capabilities, and hospital drugs don't work that way either...</div>
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For some people death is the worst thing that can happen to them. But it's gonna happen anyway, and it usually sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Instead of trying to avoid the unavoidable, live your life now, while you've got th' chance. I think that some folks are so afraid of dying that in anything like a serious illness or injury they forget all they've ever known in a panic and rush to th' hospital. I know, we've done it too. Twice. Once to get stitches in our four year old's head. I was grateful for that. Th' doctors actually did something that we had no experience with and would've had a really hard time doing. Another time Beth went to the emergency room, and they did nothing but send her an unrealistically high bill. </div>
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Beth has had some really powerful experiences with shepherd's purse, ones that guys simply can't have, so, i'll leave her to tell those stories in her own words, and leave you with this thought... What do you treasure th' most in your life? And what can you do to nurture that. Be brave, have courage, and live... Here's Beth:<br />
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Warning: Graphic Information</div>
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<i> Well, i had known about the medicinal benefits of shepherd's purse for years, so i started using it after birthing my son. Anytime i felt like i was losing too much blood, i just swallowed a squirt of the extract and that kept everything at a normal level. Also, it had taken several days to birth the placenta (which is considered dangerous) but since i was taking the shepherd's purse i had no problem with hemorrhaging or infection or anything like that. I had it on hand all throughout post partum. Because of my personal experience, shepherd's purse became like a friend that i learned to trust in and rely on. What would've been a traumatic and dangerous experience in a hospital or with a midwife was only a peaceful and safe one. (The way birth was intended to be, right!?) </i></div>
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<i> A few years later i gave my friend a bottle of the extract right after she had birthed her first child. Later, she told me from her experience that it did the same thing for her. </i></div>
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<i> A few years ago i had a miscarriage and i was afraid of bleeding to death. Whether it was a realistic fear or not, i don't know, but i was scared and it was a lot of blood. It was late at night, we had no extract and the health food store which once carried some was closed, so, nowhere to get shepherd's purse extract. After making me a few good strong brews of raspberry leaf, crampbark, clover, thistle and hops tea, Rico went out to a shepherd's purse patch we'd known of for a long time . He brought back a bunch of fresh flowering tops and made me a strong brew of those, i was beginning to feel much better, but i have to say i think the raspberry mixture must've helped me almost as much as the shepherd's purse.</i> (Raspberry leaves are also astringent, meaning they will constrict blood vessels)<i> And the hops did wonders calming my nerves...</i></div>
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I hope this information can be helpful to others out there, or at least inspire a bit more confidence in th' power of nature. Thanks for reading. </div>
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<br /></div>Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7919467694909043201.post-44331161968646491762012-05-18T09:25:00.000-07:002012-05-18T09:25:13.424-07:00Seasonal eating in JapanHere's some excepts from a book that's good to return to every now and then, The One Straw Revolution by th' late Masanobu Fukuoka.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Masanobu Fukuoka</td></tr>
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One problem is that in western nutritional science there is no effort to adjust the diet to the natural cycle. The diet that results serves to isolate human beings from nature. A fear of nature and a general sense of insecurity are often the unfortunate results....<br />
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Edible herbs and wild vegetables, plants growing on the mountain and in the meadow, are very high in nutritional value and are also useful as medicine. Food and medicine are not two different things, they are the front and back of one body. Chemically grown vegetables may be eaten for food, but they cannot be used as medicine.<br />
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From early spring, when the seven herbs sprout forth from the earth, the farmer can taste seven flavors. To go along with these are the delicious flavors of pond snails, sea clams, and turban shellfish.<br />
The season of green arrives in march. Horsetail, bracken, mugwort, osmund, and other mountain plants, and or course the young leaves of persimmon and peach trees and the sprouts of mountain yams can all be eaten. Possessing a light, delicate flavor, they make delicious tempura and can also be used as seasonings. At the seashore, sea vegetables such as kelp, nori, and rockweed are delicious and abundant during the spring months.<br />
When the bamboo sends up it's young shoots, grey rock cod, sea bream, and striped pig fish are at their most delicious. The iris blossom season is celebrated with the slender ribbon fish and mackerel sashimi. Green peas, snow peas, lima beans, and fava beans are delicious eaten right from the pod or boiled with whole grains such as brown rice, wheat, barley.<br />
Toward the end of the rainy season, Japanese plums are salted away, and strawberries and raspberries can be gathered in abundance. At this time it is natural that the body begins to desire the crisp flavor of scallions together with watery fruits such as loquats, apricots, and peaches. The loquat's fruit is not the only part of the plant which can be eaten. The seed can be ground into "coffee," and when the leaves are brewed to make tea it is among the finest of medicines. The mature leaves of peach and persimmon trees produce a tonic for longevity.<br />
Beneath the bright midsummer sun, eating melons and licking honey in the shade of a big tree is a favorite pastime. The many summer vegetables such as carrot, spinach, radish, and cucumber become ripe and ready for harvesting. The body also needs vegetable or sesame oil to hold off summer sloth.<br />
If you call it mysterious, then mysterious it is that the winter grain harvested in spring goes well with the decreased summertime appetite, and so in summer barley noodles of various sizes and shapes are prepared often. Buckwheat grain is harvested in summer. It is an ancient wild plant and a food which goes well with this season.<br />
Early fall is a happy season, with soybeans and small red azuki beans, many fruits, vegetables, and various yellow grains all ripening at the same time. Millet cakes are enjoyed at the autumn moon viewing celebrations. Parboiled soybeans are served along with taro potatoes. As autumn deepens, maize, and rice steamed with red beans, matsutake mushrooms, or chestnuts are enjoyed often. Most important, the rice which has absorbed the sun's rays all summer long ripens in the fall. This means that a staple food which can be plentifully obtained and is rich in calories is provided for the cold winter months.<br />
At first frost one feels like looking in on the fish-broilers stand. Deep water blue fish such as yellowtail and tuna can be caught during this season. It is interesting that the japanese radish and the leafy vegetables abundant during this season go well with these fish.<br />
The new years holiday food is prepared largely from food which has been pickled and salted away for the great celebration. Salted samon, herring eggs, red sea bream, lobster, kelp, and black beans have been served every year at this feast for many centuries.<br />
Digging the radishes and turnips which have been left in the ground, covered with a blanket of soil and snow, is an enjoyable experience during the winter season. Grains and various beans grown during the year and miso and soy sauce are staples always on hand. Along with the cabbages, radishes, and squash, and sweet potatoes stored in the autumn, a variety of foods are available during the months of bitter cold. Leeks, and wild scallions go well with the delicate flavor of oysters and sea cucumbers which can be gathered then. Waiting for spring to arrive, one catches sight of colt's foot shoots and the edible leaves of the creeping strawberry geranium peeping out of the snow. With the return of watercress, shepherd's purse, chickweed, and the other wild herbs, a garden of natural spring vegetables can be harvested beneath the kitchen window.<br />
Thus, by following a humble diet, gathering the foods of various seasons from close at hand, and savoring their wholesome and nourishing flavor, the local villagers accept what nature provides....<br />
A natural diet lies right at ones feet.<br />
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<br />Lighthouse Familyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01009991527581720124noreply@blogger.com2