Carving a graphite pen holder (inspired by Conrad Gessner)

I had found an old graphite electrode in the woods and thought I would like to try to make a pen after the concept by Konrad Gessner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Gessner ). For convenience reasons and due to the available material I did it the other way round, though.  I carved the pencil from elder and put in four relief holes and four slots.  I then drilled a hole into the pith of the wood in order to hold the graphite.  

From a larger diametre elder branch I carved a lock Ring. 

After all that carving 😉, 

I poured myself a cuppa Chaga tea.  As you can see, it actually even works. 

 

Carving a mushroom cup

I was feeling inspired by some Chinese guy making cups from Reishi mushrooms 

 

and thought I would give it a go.  I used tinder conk/horsehoof mushroom/ fomes formentarius, though.  

Actually, carving the cup is dead easy and can be made with a pocket knife.  Just pry out the  porous part.  

The simplicity of the project makes it awesome for a survival situation, too.  If you pour hot water into a fresh cup, you can get an antibacterial, antiviral and antiinflammatory tea, too. ( Source: ScienceDirect.com https://share.google/ilYoE0csUNHiAA2FM ) 

 The cup holds liquid as is, but you can enhance its water holding capabilities with a bit of spruce resin.  The cup itself is also antibacterial and antiviral.  With a fresh cup, you got yourself a cuppa tea by Just pouring boiling water into it.  The tea is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory.  

Autumn goodness: Making mushroom pâté that is plain friggin delicious

Now these days the woods are full of the abundance of autumn.  It is the time to harvest and enjoy and be grateful.  To haul ass in for winter, but also to feast.  And these days I am almost obsessed with mushroom pâté and researched a lot of indigenous recipes.  Not easy being forced to live off the land-in these cold and evil times in the country that invented the bureaucracy of mass murder, 'nuff said.  But also not impossible.  In fact, it is delicious.  And I have the feeling at least that I do understand food a bit better.  Food is a weapon, but it can also be medicine, and a joy and pleasure.  

Got myself some 'shrooms, walnuts and sweet chestnuts, aaaaand the secret ingredient: honey locust.  Cracked the nuts, roasted them, boiled it down with honey locust, pulp and seeds and all. Minced it all to a fine purèe.  

At the parking lot, there are those crabapple trees with really sweet and delicious fruit, and I stole some. 😉

Cleaned the shrooms and cut them up. 

Cut two medium onions, two cloves of garlic, and one crabapple. 

Browned it in the pan and seasoned with salt and pepper, 

Herb mixture de Provence,

And a liberal dash und of thyme. 

I had set the nut and honey locust mass aside.  It gets really thick.  I had seasoned with salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg.  

Add the mushroom stir-fry. Be careful not to put too much oil into the mass. 

Mince everything together.  Fill into vacuum jars and enjoy much the same way as you would with liver pâté.  I also want to try smoking it or make sausages from it.  Personally, I really love that stuff.  Also, it really keeps you going in a really tasty way.  Certainly not the last you have read about that on this blog, promise!😉

The original recipe was also common with the awesome Ojibwe people. Miigwech aapij for teaching me, it is one of the things that contribute a lot to my resilience! 

Hope that you enjoy my little experiment, and take good care! 
 

Autumn goodness: Forager's crème de Maron and Sahlep

This year is a good one for sweet chestnuts, and I cannot afford to buy food to date, so I hauled ass in. 

And isn't that beautiful?

Also found myself a truckload of walnuts.  

Chestnuts peeled and baking in the oven. 

I also found myself some honey locust. 

Boiled the honey locust to remove the seeds.  They are rich in protein, the pulp is quite starchy. 

Got some dates that were past the date 🤣.

I ground walnuts, honey locust pulp and cooked seeds and the sweet chestnuts together with cinnamon, cardomom, a sprinkle of pepper and nutmeg, and added a handful of dates. 

Minced everything together and heated it up again....

To put it in a vacuum jar. Gets really thick! And is a wintertime treat that is extremely nutritious, satisfying, healthy and really yummy with frybread. 

With the leftovers I made myself some forager's Sahlep.  I first had the pleasure to encounter this winter beverage at the booth of a Persian gentleman on a Chrismas fair in my favourite City, Marburg.  It is made with orchid root starch normally, and a) that isn't cool and b) expensive. But hey presto, leftovers from the honey locust pulp! 

All that autumn nutty goodness in a bowl! Ghi-Miigwech to nature! I did take three tablespoons of the Crème de Maron on 1l of water, boiled it for some time, whipped it up with some warm milk until everything was nice and frothy. Enjoy hot on a cold day! 

 

Forest resources: Making Iwan Chai

The other day I came across some beautiful rosebay Willowherb/fireweed , Chamaenerion Angustifolium, in German: Weidenröschen, and decided to make some Iwan-Chai from it.  

Legend has it that Tsar Iwan the terrible was really fond of black tea, but supplies being scarce, was looking for an alternative, and decided to use a known folk remedy.  Or rather, have such a resource used.  Hence the name.  

Fireweed does have several beneficial medicinal properties, being anti-inflammatory and antibiotic. It was traditionally used for intestinal problems and gum infections. In Experimental  clinical studies it has been proven to be beneficial against beningn prostata enlargement and several other maladies (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5045895/). 

Iwan-Chai is reputed to strengthen the immune system. 

Side effect is a higher risk of blood clotting. If you have a predisposition for thrombocytosis you might want to obstain from using it excessively or in high concentration. Please consult your doctor beforehand if you have. 

I harvested the young shoots. They were left to wilt a bit overnight.  

Then I thoroughly kneaded them: 

After that, they were left to ferment two days and first dried for several hours at 50°C, then lightly roasted at 80°C for another hour.  

I put the dried tea into a clean jar.  

The Iwan-Chai has a lovely black-teaish aroma, really mild, with flowery notes and a hint of caramel.  I can enjoy it pure.  But it is also great with a bit of cream and honey. 

A really great alternative to black tea, and healthy as they come. 

Have a cuppa, and take good care! 

 

Yet another fun little carving project: Whittle a hobo clothespin

This is another beginner-friendly crafts project.  All you need is a Swiss Army knife again.  For wood, I choose hazel, because it is easy to carve when fresh and dries out to be tough and resilient, due to the long, dense grain.  You want to take a piece that is as straight as possible and with no twigs or branches.  At a right angle, drill a hole with the awl of the SAK.  Widen the hole with your little blade or by using the saw. 

I made a little Video about it on the YouTube channel: 

The hole acts as a stress relief hole. 

Using your little blade, carve a recession, Equalizer on both sides, towards the end of stick. Use the big blade to split the wood towards the relief hole. Do not forget to lock your elbows to your sides. Lightly work the blade into the end grain.  As soon as you feel the resistance of the wood go down, your stick is split.  

Now carve a tear-shaped hole towards the end of the stick. Be careful not to remove too much material from the end. 

With a scooping cut, remove the thickness at the middle of the clamp. What this does is reducing the spring resistance of the clamp. 

Add a V- or stop cut for decoration or for fixing the pin to the washing line with twine. Add another at the end to cut the clothespin from the branch. 

And just like that, you have a little helper that can also come in handy for re-closing packages. You can carve these as a beginner in just half an hour. 

 With more experience, however, you can carve one in less than ten minutes.  

For me, that is a quick and satisfying project, especially when you have little time.  

So, I hope that was halfway helpful.  Thanks for dropping by, and take good care! 

Forest resources-making wild garlic and chicken of the woods salt

The other day I went foraging for wild garlic and chicken of the woods, so I figured I should preserve them with salt. Actually having stuff like that in the larder often is the difference between having a halfway decent meal and nothing at all, so it is not just a little cottagecore hobby for me, but a necessity.  

I just covered the wild garlic with salt and mixed until oozy, and dried it at 50°C for two hours (until you could easily crush it)..

Also got myself some chicken of the woods.  Look here for a Video: 

I finely cut up the mushroom and diced it as finely as would go.  

I covered with turmeric, allspice, paprica, coriander, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper.

Dried it at 50°Celsius for two hours. 

Covered with salt. I actually vacuumized the glasses, too, just to be sure. If you use it, take good care to boil it into the stew, curry or soup.  It is actually delicious and has a rich Umami flavour and literally tastes like chicken.  Enjoy!😉