Book review: Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants

I recently picked up a copy of the book "Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants" from Amazon Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants. It was a blind purchase, not knowing anything about the contents other than the author, Christopher Nyerges. I have some other of his books and I trust his advice. For anyone who doesn't know, he's also the editor of Wilderness Way magazine. Here's an Amazon link:Wilderness Way, Volume 14, Issue 3 Issue
The book is mostly geared towards the southwest and some plants are found mostly in California, but, a lot of the plants are found throughout the US so its still useful outside this area. He covers 71 plants in detail about their food, medicinal and other uses. Its very thorough. There are recipes and some very interesting stories about the uses of some of the plants. At the end of the book is an appendix called "safe families" which covers relatively easily recognized plant families that are nontoxic and primarily edible.
This is not an identification guide but a use guide and in my opinion its one of the better ones. I highly recommend finding a copy for your library.

A new cordage plant

A few years back I wrote an article on cordage from wild plants. Here: http://ronsprimitiveskills.blogspot.com/2008/09/cordage-in-north-america.html It was posted at a few websites and I got a lot of good comments from readers asking more about certain species and their use. I enjoy making cordage. Its a hobby with me like most other primitive skills. I recently received an email from a lady in Missouri. Her name is Martha and she asked me if I knew about rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium . Its also known as button snakeroot. The name itself speaks of cordage. Yuccifolium = "like yucca leaves". Which, if you look at the picture at the top of this article, they do look similar. This is a photo taken of her back yard. It shows both rattlesnake master and blazing star, the purple flowers. Both of these are prairie habitat plants. She was so kind as to send me a package of the plant, but, I have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to work with any yet. The ethno-botanical literature makes no mention of its use for cordage but several references for medicine, especially Native American Ethnobotany by Moerman. Martha uses it for basketry and I hope to find references as to how often its used. Its an interesting plant and as soon as I finish playing with it I'll post the results.

Wild edible plants and forum posting

This has become my new pet peeve. When someone asks a question about a wild edible plant on the forums they get a dozen different answers from a dozen different people. I get so frustrated with this because there are so many excellent field manuals out there for identification and uses of wild edibles.  There is tons of good identification information on the net from very reliable sources such as the USDA and some states have one like CALFLORA for example. I see about 5 new books a year on the subject being published. There is no excuse not to own several wild edible books if you want to partake of this skill. Even though I live in the western US I still buy and own several dozen books aimed at the eastern US. Why? Because I still go there on occasion and there are plants that grow all over the country and some that have different species of the same family all with similar properties that grow nation wide. For instance I used to gather sweet cicely, Osmorhiza claytonii, plants, roots and seeds in Pennsylvania for its food and medicinal properties. There is a very close relative, Osmorhiza brachypoda, that grows here in the Sierra Nevada's at about 7,000 feet. The root and plant is much smaller than its eastern cousin but it has all the same properties. 
For the eastern US I'll add a few I know and trust. If you click on the title it will take you to the Amazon.com page. Here go's:
The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America-Couplan This is a use guide rather than a field guide. Its a great book for the different uses of several hundred edible plants after you have mastered the identification skills.
Eat the Weeds-Ben Charles Harris Another use book. Very informative.
Edible and Useful Plants of the United States and Canada-Saunders This is a classic and covers more than just the east but the information is solid. Good for ID and plant use.
A Field guide to Wilderness Living-Gearing This is a handy little paperback and it has a very good section on plant use and recipes. It also has a good section on survival. Worth searching for.
Edible Wild Plants-Medsger This is another classic. It has some line drawings but the value is in the use details and I recommend finding a copy.
Edible Wild Plants of Eastern North America-Fernald,Kinsey & Rollins This is another great old classic. Good illustrations and excellent use details. Unfortunately its considered a collectible and a bit pricey but if you keep an eye out you may find one for a decent price.
Guide to Wild Foods and Useful Plants-Nyerges This is a great book for the active forager and covers more than just food uses. Its geared towards the west but a lot of the plants are found in the east as well. Again, I highly recommend it.
All in all I have nearly a hundred books on plants in my library. Most are old botany works which I have used over the years to study and identify plants. Once you get to the point of quickly recognizing a new plant by its "family traits", you're on your way. It gets easier the more you learn. A trick my grandmother showed me was to make drawings and take copious notes with a composition book she always had me carry on our adventures. By the time I was 9 I could rattle off the names and properties of around 300 wild plants. Its good to have a mentor.
I'll expand this list and make it a series of posts here if possible. The beauty of it is the fact that most wild edibles are also considered medicinal herbs. The medicinal virtues in most common plants is the vitamin and mineral content which wasn't quite that well understood when these plants were first used centuries ago. They just knew that consuming these plants was good for you and healed people on a poor diet.
Something else about forum edible plant posts. You can gather tons of good information from experienced posters. I am in no way dissing the forums at all! But, you have to take it to the next level and do some research on your own. Further study will reveal details about the plants you may find useful for the identification and study of other closely related or even similar looking plants. I'm all for the spread of knowledge or I wouldn't be doing this blog. Consider it a labor of love. I love learning and teaching. You actually give someone something worth while.

More Costco preparedness goodies

These lights were $16.99 for the pack. When I first saw them I thought they were Surefire, which cost way too much and use special batteries. These use 3 AAA alkaline batteries. These area great deal for the prepper. Surprisingly, Costco has a lot of preparedness supplies such as long term storage food (at their website) and I found box's of Mountain House freeze dried food at the store. Maybe folks are getting more concerned and prepping? I hope so. I really do.

What if? Nasty pets.

The title sounds strange but its the best I could come up with. Over the years I have had a few snakes as a hobby. They were corn snakes, Elaphe guttata guttata. They're well know for their good disposition and make great beginner snakes. The one pictured at the top is from Google Images and is representative of the species. Breeders have made quite a few interesting varieties such as albino, amelenistic and so on. The beautiful patterns being bred are amazing.
I have been to a lot of reptile shows and there's something that down right scares me. If you ask the right people in the right way, you will enter the world of back room dealing, usually a motel room near the show or even a van in the parking lot. These places are sometimes called the "hot zone" because what you find are deadly, poisonous and usually illegal reptiles. These are called "hot herps" and most of the time there are more than reptiles available for the right money. A few of my herp friends have told me stories about the great buy on Russel's viper babies, spectacled cobra babies and other insane purchases. Most of these creatures were illegally imported (smuggled) into the US. One fellow I knew bragged about bringing a dozen Australian tiger snake babies home on an airliner in his carry on bag. This was before 911 but it should have been found none the less. Another ran his mouth off about how he had a group of juvenile pit vipers (I don't remember the species, but they were from Africa) that struck so fast they terrorized him and he could only feed them pinkies (newborn mice) with a pair of long tongs. One wackbag had the misfortune of having a box of newborn, newly captured Mojave rattlesnake's ( the deadliest species in North America) turnover in his van on the way to a meet in Los Angles. That must have made for some exciting driving on I-10! Another friend told me the story of a collector from Indonesia who brought a box of funnel spiders (deadly and very aggressive) from Australia to a show for back room dealing. There is a lot of money to be made.
Now, here's what really bothers me. Scenario: there is a major earthquake, riots, economic collapse, name your poison. The collector who owns these deadly creatures has released them because he's A-crazy B-can't afford to take care of them C-he's dead and unknowing looters have let the wee beasties loose. Now we have a real big problem. These things will breed if they are in the right environment and your troubles have multiplied. Its not really a major threat and doesn't rank up there with lack of water, food, shelter and civility. But, it compounds the survival problem and adds an unnecessary concern to the already mind boggling situation. There may  be some anti-venom for native fauna available-maybe-but, for exotics, I don't think there is a chance of having any. Plus, having to deal with an animal who's habits and actions you know nothing about really sucks.Having to deal with exotic deadly creatures just adds more chaos into the mix.

Battery preps

If you're anything like me you own a bunch of different LED flashlights and other electronic devices. The good thing about LED lights: they don't eat batteries like regular flashlights. Some of them have powerful LED's and will drain a battery in an hour but I own none of these types. They usually use the CR123A lithium 3 volt battery. These have a shelf life of nearly 10 years or more. My lights all use alkaline AA & AAA batteries. I have a flashlight I use every night and it uses one AAA battery a year. That's great economy. My headlamp on the other hand, uses 3 AA batteries and a set will last a week with heavy use but its very bright. If I use the lowest of 3 settings, it will last a month. My other electronics are a Grundig wind up radio that uses 3 AA batteries. I get a YEAR out of one set! That's incredible and I listen to it often. I have a small MP3 player that takes one AAA and it runs for a few weeks with heavy use.
I buy my batteries in the largest quantity possible. I replace the stash if I have used at least half a pack, so I always have a good supply on hand. I like Kirkland batteries from Costco. I bought a pack of 48 AAA's and a pack of 48AA's and the expiration date is 2016. I like Duracell and Energizer's, too. I only have trouble with the cheap junk no-name dollar store batteries. I keep my batteries in one small container. If I am carrying batteries at work I recycle pill bottles. These work just fine.
I have a small recharger that I use for a pair of AA Nickel Metal Hydride batteries that I use in my handheld scanner. I carry this at work every day. I also have a pack of four AAA NMH batteries but these are not used for anything yet.
I have a few small LED lights that use the button cells. I have several packs for a key chain LED light I carry all the time. I also have a LED that uses the bigger flat button cells.
Below is a picture of the container and the batteries I have in my prep program. I keep this with my food which is in the coolest part of my home. If you keep them cool expect maximum performance from them. Some folks keep them in a refrigerator but I don't any more. I never saw that big a difference in performance.