Carving a container from Bamboo

This is another really simple and rewarding project. Carving a container from Bamboo is well suited for kids and beginners, too.  

The containers are well suited e.g. for coffee, but can also provide a base for other projects.  

Bamboo is hollow, with intersections at the knots.  If you saw off a section like that in the picture above, you are already halfway done.  

You can remove the bark or leave it on for further decorations (see below). 

Take a common natural wine cork and whittle it to fit in small and steady cuts. 

The bark, by the way, is pretty tough. 

Just like that, you got a functional container.  Now you can decorate it.  

 I also have a video on YouTube about the process:

Making historical oak gall ink

Some time ago I collected some oak galls because I was feeling inspired by medieval scribe culture.  I had made the graphite pen holder and was asking myself whether I was able to make myself ink that actually would work.  

I made a video on YouTube for the process and a recipe, if you so will.  

 The ink consists of the oak galls, iron oxide, acorn shells in vinegar, and I stabilized it with cherry gum as a substitute for gum arabic, which is in the original.  I also want to try out to use mistle berries (visca alba),to stabilize.  

The experiment worked well enough to be used with a fountain pen.  In the Video I also show you how to prepare a feather pen. 

Hope that you enjoy to experiment with that, and take good care! 

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!