Have a look at this thread here
http://www.bushcraftuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=2400&page=1&highlight=dandelion
There has been quite a disscussion on it.
Ed
Plantlore
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http://www.bushcraftuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=2400&page=1&highlight=dandelion
There has been quite a disscussion on it.
Ed
I have just got back from a lovely day at Wisely Botanical Gardens. Plants and their uses has always been a great interest of mine. I am now an expert on Birds of Paradise, African Lilys, Crocosmia's and Omphalodes; could anyone enlighten me on their applictions within the bushcraft world?
Hi...
Take a look at the Collins Gem - Food for Free
But be aware that many of the edible plants today are easily mistaken and only one mouthfull can kill you! Be absolutely sure that the plant you are holding are edible! Some plants can, when boiled, make poisonous damps and some are toxic just by touching.
Take a look at the Collins Gem - Food for Free
But be aware that many of the edible plants today are easily mistaken and only one mouthfull can kill you! Be absolutely sure that the plant you are holding are edible! Some plants can, when boiled, make poisonous damps and some are toxic just by touching.
Hi...
Make sure that you have solid knowledge to plants! Only one taste of the wrong plant can kill you! Some plants, when boiled, make damps that are poisonous! Some plants are toxic just by touch. Be 110% sure, that it's the right and the best is to doublecheck!
The book you buy MUST have photographs! Drawings won't do any good rather than kill you or make you sick. I have seen a SAS book written by Peter Darman. It is OK, but not super good. He drawed all the pictures of plants, seaweed, lichen and fungi.
I don't give much for the plant test...!
That one is only in big time emergency and only when you're gonna' die anyway. My knowledge though, others are welcome to have another opinion, but let's not make a discussion like the dandelion on this!! :biggthump
Cheers :uu:
Make sure that you have solid knowledge to plants! Only one taste of the wrong plant can kill you! Some plants, when boiled, make damps that are poisonous! Some plants are toxic just by touch. Be 110% sure, that it's the right and the best is to doublecheck!
The book you buy MUST have photographs! Drawings won't do any good rather than kill you or make you sick. I have seen a SAS book written by Peter Darman. It is OK, but not super good. He drawed all the pictures of plants, seaweed, lichen and fungi.
I don't give much for the plant test...!
That one is only in big time emergency and only when you're gonna' die anyway. My knowledge though, others are welcome to have another opinion, but let's not make a discussion like the dandelion on this!! :biggthump Cheers :uu:
You do need a book with a "key" and you need to be willing to learn how to use the key and to develop the patience to use it. But hey! we're bushcrafters right? We know all about patience.
Keys keep you from being vague about what features are present on the plant. If you use it, it forces you to stay on track.
Now, the problem with keys is that they nearly all rely on technical terms and if you don't know the terms it's quite frustrating.
So for learning plants in the UK, I recommend Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain. ISBN 0 276 00217 2. This has a great key that uses plant features that any of us can recognise. It has drawings rather than photos but the drawings are excellent.
I tried several field guides with keys - Collins, for example - but Reader's Digest took me from knowing nothing to being able to identify many plants.
Starting to learn them changed how I saw the world around me. For the first time I recognised that every life form has its place, that each is constrained by environment, and that each has its times. By seeing how what the times for different plants changed in different places, you could see how the climate was different.
I also became much more observant. I came to realise that I only ever saw Cuckoo Flower (AKA Ladies' Smock AKA Cardamine pratensis) in soil that was ever so slightly wet compared to the other soils around, suggesting that perhaps there was clay underneath. Once I walked along the beach at Pevensey (E. Sussex) and pointed out that the sea beet at our feet was edible. My friend commented that they hadn't even noticed there was a plant in front of us. I knew that I had never noticed them before - not until I started learning their names.
Having begun to learn plants before going on a bushcraft course was a huge help when I did go on courses. On one course, we were supposed to find eight edible plants as a test at the end. I found 12. On another advanced course, a chap who was a real expert in fire and tool making, turned the course into a nighmare with his fear of learning plants. We were starving, thus irritable, thus not getting stuff done. I once noted our instructor pointing out ragwort (Oxford ragwort and poisonous) as one of the edible mustards!
It's also really, really useful to try cooking with them. Preparing, cooking and eating a plant really involves you in how that plant is put together. You make lots of cooking mistakes (well, at least I do!). It's quite off-putting. But you learn which techniques work and which don't.
It's great to see bushcraft schools offering cooking courses now. When I did a couple of bushcraft courses in 1991, no-one taught how to prepare food, not even on advanced courses.
Hope this advice helps!
Keys keep you from being vague about what features are present on the plant. If you use it, it forces you to stay on track.
Now, the problem with keys is that they nearly all rely on technical terms and if you don't know the terms it's quite frustrating.
So for learning plants in the UK, I recommend Reader's Digest Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain. ISBN 0 276 00217 2. This has a great key that uses plant features that any of us can recognise. It has drawings rather than photos but the drawings are excellent.
I tried several field guides with keys - Collins, for example - but Reader's Digest took me from knowing nothing to being able to identify many plants.
Starting to learn them changed how I saw the world around me. For the first time I recognised that every life form has its place, that each is constrained by environment, and that each has its times. By seeing how what the times for different plants changed in different places, you could see how the climate was different.
I also became much more observant. I came to realise that I only ever saw Cuckoo Flower (AKA Ladies' Smock AKA Cardamine pratensis) in soil that was ever so slightly wet compared to the other soils around, suggesting that perhaps there was clay underneath. Once I walked along the beach at Pevensey (E. Sussex) and pointed out that the sea beet at our feet was edible. My friend commented that they hadn't even noticed there was a plant in front of us. I knew that I had never noticed them before - not until I started learning their names.
Having begun to learn plants before going on a bushcraft course was a huge help when I did go on courses. On one course, we were supposed to find eight edible plants as a test at the end. I found 12. On another advanced course, a chap who was a real expert in fire and tool making, turned the course into a nighmare with his fear of learning plants. We were starving, thus irritable, thus not getting stuff done. I once noted our instructor pointing out ragwort (Oxford ragwort and poisonous) as one of the edible mustards!
It's also really, really useful to try cooking with them. Preparing, cooking and eating a plant really involves you in how that plant is put together. You make lots of cooking mistakes (well, at least I do!). It's quite off-putting. But you learn which techniques work and which don't.
It's great to see bushcraft schools offering cooking courses now. When I did a couple of bushcraft courses in 1991, no-one taught how to prepare food, not even on advanced courses.
Hope this advice helps!
The other day I was talking to a mycologist that was absolutely horrified at how bushcrafters ID fungi. In his opinion there are so many fungi in the UK that are so difficult to confuse with another, more poisonous variety. He was of the opinion that the only real way to positively ID many a fungi was under a microscope. I have persuaded him to take me on a tour and show me the full ID process.
Make you think ...
Make you think ...
That's exactly what my 'dandelion source' said too! 
He said that I should be very careful when eating plants and other things! He has ID keys and books with him all the time when out & about. Actually I think it's like snaring: the best is to have an experienced teacher.
Well, tried to persuade him to get over here at BCUK, but he is in need of time! :?: Sad, cause he's knows a lot of stuff... :biggthump
He said that I should be very careful when eating plants and other things! He has ID keys and books with him all the time when out & about. Actually I think it's like snaring: the best is to have an experienced teacher.Well, tried to persuade him to get over here at BCUK, but he is in need of time! :?: Sad, cause he's knows a lot of stuff... :biggthump
T
Tore
Guest
I have attended some courses in Sweden, probably one of the best books on the subject is Stefan Källmans "Vilda växter som mat och medicin", which probably will not help much as it is in Swedish, http://bok.forlaget.ica.se/visa.html?id=153. It is based on research and tests, and contains instructions on how to prepare the plants.
During the basic survival course we run here in Norway we focus on less than 14 edible plants, mainly in order to let the students hopefully learn all those we teach. The plants are also chosen based on that they should not be likely to get mixed up with poisonous plants. The Angelica (archangelica ssp./ sylvestris) does have a highly poisonous "look alike". It is although easy to tell the difference and the Angelica a significant historic plant in Scandinavia.
The Taraxacum sp. is often a great place to start, as it is easily recognized. Taste like crap if it is not prepared though
Might not help much towards your post - still it is about edible plants...
Tore
During the basic survival course we run here in Norway we focus on less than 14 edible plants, mainly in order to let the students hopefully learn all those we teach. The plants are also chosen based on that they should not be likely to get mixed up with poisonous plants. The Angelica (archangelica ssp./ sylvestris) does have a highly poisonous "look alike". It is although easy to tell the difference and the Angelica a significant historic plant in Scandinavia.
The Taraxacum sp. is often a great place to start, as it is easily recognized. Taste like crap if it is not prepared though
Might not help much towards your post - still it is about edible plants...
Tore
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