Winter Foraging and Permaculture: The White Pine Tree

Winter foraging yields a significant amount food, medicine and utility. The practice of winter foraging will extend yields through the winter months, along with our greenhouse, cold frame, hoop house, indoor gardens and what we have put up by way of food preservation.

The white pine has needles that form in groups of five. The inner bark of the white pine is quite delectable when fried in oil. Remove the outer bark and cut out strips of inner bark (it is white). For a winter forage white pine has other uses: the pitch is antiseptic when applied to open wounds and cuts; the needles make a concentrated vitamin C supplement when taken as a decocted tea, in fact, ten times the vitamin C of a glass of orange juice; the needles are used for weaving spiral baskets; the needles also make a rich tan or green dye; and native women would pull out the surface roots, slice them and use them for weavers in basketry. For a picture and more info about white pine go to: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Sylvain/website%2520pics/White_Pine_669edit.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Sylvain/whitepine.html&usg=__7RFfAO6AKUYSInJ07ZO0sTjBmLg=&h=822&w=706&sz=255&hl=en&start=1&sig2=y3pcZ0ywS86wMtUn5M4J0A&itbs=1&tbnid=heFWS3_eu9AWpM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwhite%2Bpine%2Btree%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den&ei=J0wPS9X1BMmCnQfuxZz9Aw

I will continue throughout the winter months to post information about winter foods, medicines and utility plants. This is an important and rewarding habit to get into: foraging all year, regardless the temperature.

Flintknapping an Arrowhead

Permaculture and the Three Epochs Curriculum

XI. Lithics (Stone, Bone, Shell, Tooth, Horn/ appropriate technology basics)
A. Using primitive tools and materials produce a cutting edge
a. Simple blade
b. Backed blade
c. Burin
d. Prismatic blade
e. Shiritaki blade
B. Using percussion flaking and lithic reduction sequence produce
a. Preform
b. Discoidal knife
c. Fist ax
d. Cobble tool
e. Adz
f. Thumb scraper
g. Graving tool
h. Slate knife
C. Using the abrading method make a shaft polisher, stone pipe bowl, story stone, or grind/ polish an ax head to a serviceable edge
D. Using the pecking technique build a metate and mano/ mortar and pestle, or groove a stone so it can be hafted to a handle
a. Coplet
b. Ax
c. Hammer/ maul
d. Spindlewhorl
E. Using pressure flaking (flintknapping) technique produce a serviceable
a. Projectile point
b. Knife blade
c. Drill point (down a 1 to 5 thickness ration)
F. Compile your own chipping kit
a. Hammerstones
b. Batons
c. Notchers
d. Preforms
e. Fluting vice
f. Pressure tools
g. Leather pads
h. Shoulder/ chest crunch
i. Blanks
j. Sinew
k. Punch
l. Goggles
G. Produce and heat treat various flint shards for working
H. Use your stone implements to construct another primitive tool
I. Make a bone/ horn tool
a. Hide scarper
b. Chisel
c. Knife blade
d. Shaft wrench
e. Graver/ gouge
f. Harpoon tip
g. Decoration
h. Game pieces
i. Spear/ arrow head
j. Weaving needle
k. Sewing awl
l. Fish hooks
m. Comb
n. Whistle
o. Bowl/ spoon
J. Use shell for a:
a. Knife
b. Decoration
c. Spoon
d. Scraper
K. Haft a bone or stone tool to a serviceable wooden handle or shaft
a. Knife
b. Atlatl
c. Scraper
d. Celt
e. Pump drill
f. Ax
g. Arrow
h. Shovel/ hoe
L. Complete a tool using:
a. Igneous rocks
b. Sedimentary rocks
c. Metamorphic rocks
M. Demonstrate understanding of these terms
a. Platform
b. Squared edge
c. Cone principle
d. Beveling
e. Ridge
f. Margin
Flintknapping: The art of making stone tools
Of all the history of mankind, nine tenths of it is written in stone. Able to make tools from flint cobbles, our fore-bearers gained an advantage over other predators. We not only rose to dominate our environment, but we went on to alter it, for the production and use of stone tools followed our progress well into the age of agriculture. Even today, in the remote highlands of New Guinea, there are humans who still practice this ancient craft.
Flint working is a universal part of our heritage. It is the one thing that all races of mankind, the world over, have in common. If you could trace your ancestors back far enough, you would certainly find flintknappers among them.
How is it done?
The surface of a stone tool will exhibit a wavy appearance. These scars are a frozen record of shock waves generated by a series of blows dealt to the edge. Geologists tell us that flint has a “concoidal fracture”. This is best illustrated when a BB strikes plate glass. A cone is removed opposite the point of impact. When striking the edge of a piece of flint, only a portion of that cone is removed. By controlling the angle, placement and weight of the blows it is possible to fracture this material in a predictable manner. In making his implements, prehistoric man used one or a combination of three techniques, which are known as percussion flaking, indirect percussion, and pressure flaking.
Percussion flaking: Flakes are driven off the edge with a hammerstone or deer antler.
Pressure flaking: Flakes are pried off with a deer antler tine or copper pointed tool.
Indirect percussion: Flakes are removed by striking a punch placed on the edge.
What kind of tools do I need?
Hammerstones were the first and simplest flint knapping tools. They were just water worn pebbles that fit the hand well, used to break up nodules and blocks of flint into workable spalls, and to rough out blanks. Hammerstones are made of granite, quartzite or greenstone.
The antler billet is used to thin, shape and sharpen the flint tool. The ideal billet is made from the trunk of a moose antler. However, smaller antlers, such as those from the white tailed deer, can also be used.
Pressure flakers were made from the upper tine portion of the antler rack. Many people use copper pointed tools.
Punches used for indirect percussion can be made from antler, or antler tipped with copper.
Abraders are made from quartzite or sandstone. An excellent substitute can be a broken carborundum grinding wheel. These are one of the more important tools, necessary for grinding the edge to make striking platforms.

Thanksgiving and the Local Food Movement

A note from Jim Hightower which is more than applicable for this Thanksgiving. http://www.truthout.org/11260903

Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism?

Yet another very significant article from the NY Times. How aware are we of what is happening in other countries around food prices and availability? We seem to be sheltered too easily from these realities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/magazine/22land-t.html?ref=magazine

Corporate-Owned Water and Its Failures (To Say the Least)

A recent article spells out the pitfalls of corporate-owned water around the world. http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/VANOVEDR/

How to Grow Orchids Indoors

Orchids are Edible: Wildcrafting Indoors Through the Cold Months

In all of my years harvesting plants from the wild I never knew that the orchid is edible. This piece is from an article that I read recently about Bhutanese cuisine:
“Orchids are used as food in different parts of the world and vanilla is a classic example which has been used as a spice and flavouring agent for centuries. The edible parts are leaves, tubers and bulbs. In Bhutan amongst the many available orchids Cymbidium sp. is a delicacy. In local language it is called as ‘olachotho’ and is available in the local market during the months of August to October. The inflorescence or the flowers are the edible part. The psuedobulbs are also eaten like potatoes with salt but are not available in the market as it is not very popular. But in the villages people do consume the bulbs.

Orchid cuisine in Bhutan

Orchids are cultivated on the field bund. The most common method of cooking Cymbidium sp or ‘olachotho’ in Bhutan is with cheese. The flowers (unopened or opened) are separated from the inflorescence and washed with water. The cleaned flowers are bolied in water for 10 minutes till it gets slightly soft. The local cheese is added in required quantities along with salt and chillies and simmered for 5 minutes. The dish is ready and goes very well with local brown rice. Cheese in an important ingredient in the Bhutanese cuisine and they add cheese very liberally! It has a slight bitter taste which is relished by the local population.

As a connoisseur of food, I have tried cooking this orchid in a different way to ward off the bitterness and it tastes good. The method is quite simple. Separate the flowers from the inflorescence clean them and keep in a bowl. In a pan heat 2 table spoons of edible oil, add half teaspoon of mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Chopped onions, chillies garlic and tomatoes are added (to taste) to the oil and cooked till the onions and garlic turn golden brown. To this mixture half teaspoon of turmeric powder is added and mixed well. The orchid flowers are now put into the spicy mixture and cooked for 10-15 minutes. Add salt in required quantities according to the taste. It has to be served hot and goes well with rice or bread. The bitterness disappears in this method and tastes yummy.

There is a lot of folklore about the medicinal properties of orchids. Some believe that it has aphrodisiac properties while others believe that it can be used as an oral contraceptive. There is a need for more scientific research to establish these facts and rediscover the traditional wisdom for the welfare of the humanity.”

For those of us that grow orchids indoors, here is a climate controlled plant that we can eat through the winter months. How many other “house” plants are edible. Someone should write a tome on wild edible house plants. Along with our sprouts, micro-greens, vermicompost, kombucha, wheat grass and mushrooms under the sink we could add orchids for winter fare.

Locavores and the Harvest of Deer

For all of us locavores I just read this article in the NY Times. As I have been saying all along, the harvest goes beyond the boundaries of our property. My only concern here is that, if all of us decide to take this route, we might just add to the depletion of yet another natural resource unless we do this with care and an understanding of the balance of the natural cycles. Just as we nurture the plants in the garden, we need to proceed with sound observation and understanding. We can become “gardeners” of all the earth. Read carefully.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/25/dining/25hunt.html?_r=3

Making Buckskin