Phil
Churchill brought me up to date with his foraging in
South Dakota. Here is what he wrote. I've added an email
response from him when I asked about his protein sources
in addtion to what he is finding along the hedgerows and
the forest. His answer follows the letter below.
Wild
Plants II.
Here are a few more plants that have been on the menu.
Cleavers,
also known as Goosegrass
The young shoots and tips of older plants make good
greens.
Evening
Primrose
Peel the roots and boil in two changes of water. The
flavor is rather pungent so you might want to try
more than two changes of water. I find they work best
in soups.
Cattails
I've been peeling the shoots until there is a light
yellow core left and adding them to both salads and
soups. Later in the summer I'll pick the green pollen
heads and boil them, then eat them like corn on the
cob. Excellent with a little butter on them. The ripe
pollen heads can be shaken into a bag to gather the
pollen, then the pollen can be added 50/50 with regular
flour to make a protein rich bread.
Asparagus
I find wild asparagus in fencerows, shelterbelts,
and along lakeshores. I've gone fishing a couple of
times at a small lake a few miles from where I'm staying
and have been able to gather a grocery bag full of
asparagus each trip. I use it just like the stuff
you buy in the store.
Yellow
Goatsbeard
I use the new leaves as a potherb and peel and boil
the roots for about a half hour or until tender. They
are getting a little tough right now, so I'll probably
wait until fall before I dig any more. They'll be
a lot more tender then when they are storing energy
for winter.
Chickweed
I use the tender tips for salads and potherbs.
Field
Pennycress
I use the young leaves in salads and in soups. Has
a peppery flavor so I don't add a lot in salads.
Bullthistle
I boil the first year roots for about 30 minutes.
I peel the second year flowerstalks before they bloom
and eat them raw or add them to soups. Tastes like
celery. The stalks are quite spiny so use leather
gloves to gather them.
Nutsedge
I dig the tubers when I'm gathering cattails. If you've
ever eaten waterchestnuts, you've eaten Nutsedge.
The Chinese grow a lot of them.
Its
been three weeks since I started foraging and I've
noticed some benefits already. I've lost nearly 9
pounds and my blood pressure has dropped from 155/92
to 140/75. I plan to have my cholesterol checked in
a couple of weeks to see if it has dropped also. My
cravings for sweets have diminished in intensity.
I also noticed that my energy level doesn't fluctuate
during the day and I no longer get drowsy after eating
and I don't have heartburn anymore.
All
in all, I'm happy with the results so far. Though
I have to admit I'm getting a little tired of eating
so many greens. Philip
|
Here
is Phil's response to my request for plant pictures and
my question about how he was getting protein into his diet.
Alan,
Try www.wildmanstevebrill.com.
He has a wild vegetarian cookbook out. His site has
both drawings of plants and some color photos. Also
try www.wildwoodsurvival.com.
They have some color photos, too, though not as many
plants listed or recipes as Steve Brill's site. And
try googling the plant names. There is a ton of stuff
if people will just go after it. As
for protein, I've been eating white clover leaves
and alfalfa leaves in my greens. I have also been
eating fish I've caught. I've also eaten a couple
of rabbits, a dozen ground squirrels, one woodchuck,
and a half dozen pocket gophers. I managed to go sixteen
days without buying any food but I bought ten pounds
of chicken last week plus five pounds of hamburger.
A friend of mine gave me a half dozen ducks he shot
last fall and a venison roast Saturday so I'm good
for a couple of weeks before I'll have to worry about
meat again. I also have a couple of pounds of pinto
beans. And I bought eggs yesterday. I'm trying to
buy as little as possible. So far I've spent about
$18 this month on food but that will cover about 6
or 7 weeks total so I'm getting by pretty cheap. Of
course I burned about $30 in gas going fishing so
I'll have to figure that in too but it still comes
out fairly cheap.
The
garden I'll have to replant again. The deer got it
the first time and Saturday night it froze and killed
everything except the peas. Philip |
Monday, May 28, 2007 1:39 PM
The
mowed field and various tarps and plastics, tires, boards,
cardboard, all to discourage the grass and weeds for
planting next year. |
Just
assembled compost system. 1 storage bin, 1 active bin,
1 bin for next year, and one for storing horse manure
which we hope to have later this week. |
Above,
left, you're at the area TJ and I have covered for next
year's garden. Also, you can see the chicken wire surrounding
the two apple trees we planted a few days ago. On the right,
above, is the compost bins built from crate wood. There
took us about 20 minutes to wire into place. I did not want
to nail or screw them together as I wanted the option to
break them them down to move easily. We stood the crates
on edge and wired them together with some scrap wire that
had been in a fire. There are four bays, the first will
contain horse manure and straw, the second is the beginning
of the current active compost pile. The center is larger
and contains the lawn and rough grass mowed last week, This
center storage is the carbon source for the the pile to
the left. On the right will be next year's compost pile.
How
does composting work - made very simple. Most of you know
this but compost is a way to make soil that is very rich
for your garden. We duplicate the earth's method of building
soil, and we gather it together and accelerate the process.
Our advantage is that we can use materials that previously
were viewed as waste and end up with high quality potting
soil instead of a problem.
You add brown material - clippings and straw, shredded newspaper,
paper towels, together with high nitrogen sources, such
as manure, table scraps, hair, fur, green grass clippings,
garden wastes, and many others, and you layer them together,
covering with about 8" of brown each time you add a
nitrogen source, and you keep it slightly damp. In one year
the center of it will be done and ready for the garden.
I will be adding a thermometers to three of the bins
When
one of the bins is full, it will be covered and left to
rest for a year, to complete the transformation. ONce the
heating by bacteria has consumed the center, the pile will
cool and earthworms, beetles, amoeba, and insects will continue
the conversion into sweet smelling rich humus and soil.
Compost is the critical element to maintain soil fertility
over a long period of time.
Friday, May 25, 2007 7:36 AM
Many projects under way at Terry's place in Elmira. TJ is
involved in a big solar project, but since I believe producing
my food is an obligation for everyone, I decided to go ahead
and see what I could accomplish on the unused area behind
TJ's rear lawn. It is about 4000 square feet, and the sheet
composting was the order of the day. To begin with We had
to cut down the grass. This land is incredibly rich, a flood
plain running west from the Willamette river. IT was previously
forested and logged long ago. It is surrounded by pines
and fir and oak.
Luckily Terry has a riding lawn mower
and thus we began. |
He was having too much fun and I wanted
to try too, so . . . below left. |
 |
Here the 4000 sq feet has been knocked
down. The following day Terry mowed it at a lower setting.
|
 Thus
the planting begins. Two potted apple trees were my
first choice, and 6 blueberries, below. |
 |
 |
I
started with those things that produce year after year.
We have completely tarpped and covered 2000 square feet
of the most sunny section, for the garden to be put
in next year.
The trees are potted three year old trees and if the
deer can be dissuaded from nibbling (I'm going to buy
fencing to protect them this morning) then they will
produce apples for a generation. The blueberries have
berries on them now and will likewise provide a continuing
source of vitamins.
|
Monday, May 14, 2007 9:56 AM
Phil is in South Dakota now and is foraging for most of
his food. Here is his first installment on what he is eating.
| Thought
your readers might be interested in this, Alan. Since
the 2nd of May I have been foraging about 70% percent
of my food. Here is a list of some of the plants I've
been eating. If anyone wants to try so this, I recommend
getting a book on wild edible plants. The plants I'm
going to list are common lawn weeds and are found nearly
everywhere in the US. . . continue
reading here. |
Monday,
May 14, 2007 8:04 AM
I can't believe is has been a week since I posted here.
Getting back to Eugene, and the last few days of the trip
were hurried as there is much that I wish to do before I
start work. The primary thing was finding a very high mileage
car that puts the travel miles back and forth from work
on something other than my truck. The truck has to move
my home and it is critical that it stay as fresh and young
as possible and cared for. The commuter car is important
too but since I was only willing to spend less than $2000,
it merely has to work.
I looked for two days and hit a few dead ends and then I
found this:
 |
 |
IT is
1991 Geo Metro with a 3 cylinder Suzuki engine and a 5 speed
standard transmission. The psychos are worn out on 1st and
2nd so you have to double clutch if you want to shift into
second while slowing up, which is not really the point.
The point is 50 mpg. It happens to be a convertible which
makes the car 100 lbs heavier and less "slippery"
for gas mileage, but the Geo's are getting harder to find
as the direction of gasoline prices becomes more obvious.
It is a little loose and feels like a go kart on steroids.
It is very very fun to drive, and unfortunately, given my
past, it is fun to drive aggressively. Gas mileage or fun,
planet or fun, sane or crazy, always a choice.
This was the car I most wanted to find (well, the sedan
would have been even better), as it is the lightest car
that was imported into the USA (not counting the Honda n600
which few people have ever seen). It is a very good candidate
for conversion to full electric using a fork lift truck
motor and 6 deep cycle batteries. That creates a 30 mph
car with a 30 mile range. I can be charged fully in one
day from a solar bank twice the size of the one on my trailer
now. However the rest of the competitors on the road are
not yet willing to drive 30mph to give up oil, so for now
I'll do 55 mph from Elmira to Eugene like the rest of the
lemmings.
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