More Thomas Elpel links and Information

 Here are some links to Thomas Elpel videos and his wildflower photos. He is the author of several great books on primitive skills, survival, foraging and plants.

You Tube videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC22zjQTlx5lzIo-50WJFeHA

Wildflower Photos: http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/Plant_Families/Plant_Families_Index.html

 Enjoy! 

Plant Books

 I've noticed over the years that plant books can be great or they can be mediocre. One of the things that makes a great plant book is the illustrations. I find that drawings are best. Granted, its nice to have color photographs, but sometimes the plant details just don't show that well. Therefore my take on drawings. A good drawing can show the minute details of the plant in question. Things such as the flowers, leaf scars, outline and shape of the leafs, etc. Have you ever noticed how the Peterson guides are all drawings? They use photos in some of the newest ones, but, the older editions have drawings and a few have a nice little section of photos which I consider eye candy. I have quite a digital collection of 19th century botany and herb books and the only color in them is hand painted plates and almost all the illustrations are drawings in black and white. I recall a book put out in 1905 about wildflowers and it had some of the first photos of flowers used for every plant described. The photos were in black and white and some few were hand colorized. They were not very useful. The saving grace for this book; there were drawings of the plants.

As you become more familiar with botany you develop a natural quickness in going right to the section of the books when you can distinguish certain botanical traits. Things such as number of flower petals, lanceolate versus heart shaped leaves, paired, opposite, smooth edges versus toothed, etc. These things can only be learned from drawings in my opinion.

This is a small list of some of my books on plants and the information contained whether drawings or photographs.

Peterson Field Guides:

1 Edible Wild Plants-Eastern US = drawings and a small section of photographs

2 Medicinal Plants-Eastern US = drawings and a small section of photographs

3 Trees & Shrubs-Eastern US = drawings only both 1958 and 1986 editions

4 Ferns = drawings only

Wild Edible Plants of the Western US by Kirk  = drawings and a small section of photographs

Edible Wild Plants Eastern US  Fernald & Kinsey = drawings only

The Illustrated Book of Wildflowers & Shrubs Grimm = drawings only

Botany in a Day Elpel = drawings only

The above list shows the importance of clarity in a plant description. I haven't seen too many photo's that can show such clarity in details unless they are high quality closeups.

Florida-Busy Making Preps and Life in General

Well, I made it through the hot and humid Florida summer. This has been a typical subtropical winter with highs being in the hi 70's today. Water is NOT a problem here! There is so much of it coming down. We had one day where there was a rainfall of 4 inches in a little over 10 hours. With the right storage system a person could store a lot of water for the garden. Speaking of gardens, we have our winter crops in and new seeds are under the lights right this minute. I have been checking out the local fauna & flora. The variety of insects is incredible, especially the spiders. Of course there is the Florida state bird, the mosquito. I hate those things with a passion but I have seen a few of the local "insect repellent" plants such as dog fennel and beauty berry. I tried beauty berry leaves this summer and by darn, it works! As a plus the berries are edible and can be used for making jelly and have medicinal properties. We, my fiance Annie & I, are selling some local natural items in our eBay store as well as the usual stuff. Look on my eBay link at the top right column to see what we have if you're interested. This economy is getting very rough and we are barely making it but we work hard and by the Good Lords blessings we do OK. I am doing research and some things with yaupon holly, Ilex vomitoria. The famous "black drink" was made by the local Native Americans from it, and I plan on seeing if selling the leaves for tea is feasible. The yaupon has a caffeine content that is less than coffee or tea, but enough to satisfy any craving for caffeine. "Dry, unprocessed yaupon leaves contain between .65 percent and .85 percent caffeine by weight. Coffee beans are about 1.1 percent caffeine by weight and tea leaves about 3.5 percent caffeine," according to a University of Florida article. As a plus they are rich in certain vitamins and antioxidants. I can reach out the bedroom window and grab a handful of yaupon leaves, its that abundant down here. Kind of like sage brush out in good ole' Idaho. Worth a web search if you are interested. It was used in the 1800's and during the Civil War as a coffee and tea substitute and unlike some other substitutes, it stayed around for a while until coffee became more plentiful and cheaper. I've read where birds will eat the berries but only as a last ditch effort in late winter. They must be considered as a "starvation food" among our feathered friends. Also, the wood is very nice and has been used for turnings, inlay and carvings. I removed the biggest yaupon I have ever seen from our goose pen. It was 20+ feet tall and about 6 or more inches in diameter. I am cutting it into 3 foot sections and sealing the ends. We have an aviary that's not in use so I'll stash it in there till its dry enough to use and sell. I don't know how well it does as a green wood for carving and I've read that the holly's have a nasty habit of cracking and checking if it drys too fast. Here are some shots of the local yaupon bush's. I'll be posting more interesting stuff in the near future as time permits. Thanks everyone and enjoy the holidays!

I love Idaho!!

Yours truly after a great hike to the top of Jump Creek in the Owyhee mountains. The Oregon border is 2 miles to the west.

I love Idaho! Its been one good time after another. I got my concealed permit and I can buy any kind of firearm I choose! The local economy is going strong. I have been taking a lot of pictures lately. Here are a few to wet your appetite.

Look at all those AR's!!! Sportsmans Warehouse in Nampa.

One of my local haunts-5 walking minutes from home.

One of the ponds at Wilson Springs.

This area is rich in wildlife and plenty of  cattails.

Ducks and geese everywhere! I don't know if this is a major flyway but I have never seen so many birds of different species.

More wetland-two varieties of cattail grow here side by side.

Red wing blackbird-these guys are everywhere! I love to mimic their call-they get all antsy and start flying at me thinking I am the "competition".

Bullocks Oriole-male in breeding plumage according to my Nat. Geo. Birds of NA, 4th ed..

One of the many ponds-bass and trout are plentiful.

This is the canyon at Jump Creek.The trail is straight up and I took this at the top.

Jump Creek Canyon-its all volcanic rock like most of southwest Idaho and the adjoining states of Nevada and Oregon. Lots of interesting minerals to be found in the surrounding hills!

Top of Jump Creek looking east-Boise mountains in the distance and the Sawtooth range barely visible behind them

Gooseberry Globemallow, Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia. The "gooseberry" is alluding to the similar shaped leaves.

Looking up the creek at the bottom of the canyon-lots of alder trees and several useful plants like teasel, elderberry and mullien. I saw the tallest poison ivy plants I have ever seen here! And plenty of them! It makes me want to scratch just thinking about them!

This is a creek flowing past my house. Its loaded with good size trout. Lots of ducks and I saw a few muskrat.

A day at the river

I went to the river today and decided to take the camera. I just posted about this trail and thought pictures would be nice. It was very overcast so some pictures may be a little dark. Hard to believe its the middle of November and some plants are blooming and berries are still ripening. I love winters here. Enjoy the show!

A patch of horsetail equisetum. Famous for its high silica content.

A jungle of California grape Vitis californica. The trees are mostly valley oak.

See the tiny clams?

Better?

Macro setting. There are millions upon millions of these. I heard they are an invasive species.

American coots.

More American coots doing what coots do.

Curly dock or sorrel. Rumex crispus, common on the river banks. Also known as wild rhubarb because of its sour taste. This is because of the high oxalic acid content just like rhubarb. Rhubarb is related to the docks.

Late season elderberries. Sambucus mexicana. There are even new flowers blooming.

A common sight on the trail.

Smart weed, knot weed, bistort, ladys thumb print, etc. Polygonum sp. The plant and seeds were used for food by Native Americans.

Polygonum sp. Nice shot of the flowers. Pinkish ones are oldest.

Polygonum sp. Note the dark mark on the leaves. This is where ladys thumb print comes from.

A month ago this was all water. It doesn't take long for the plants to take over. This is mostly knot weed and cockle burr.

Mint, species unknown. very pungent!

Mint close up.

Mistletoe infesting cottonwood trees. These can kill a healthy tree as well as cause limb breakage.

Same as above from a little farther away.

Monkey flower in bloom. Mimulus guttatus.

Monkey flower from top side.

Monkey flower side view.

A nice stand of stinging nettles. Urtica dioica. I harvested quite a bit of nettle this year. Plants are in the 8 to 12 foot range. Incredible! Lots of good cordage.

Pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium. A very pungent member of the mint family and an invasive species.

Pennyroyal.

Pennyroyal. The bees love to hit this plant.

Sow thistle, Sonchus asper, with curly dock. The sow thistle is the plant with yellow flowers. The larger leaves at the bottom of the plant are edible but contain bitter properties. Its an invasive species.

Heres a shot looking east. The river is back to about 1/4 capacity. With more rain in the Sierra's it may get back to full capacity.

A view towards the west. The main channel is on the other side in the distance.

This is the dirt part of the trail. The paved section is on top the berm to the right.

Cliff swallow nests under a bridge.

Tree tobacco, Nicotiana glauca. An extremely toxic invasive species. The leaves can be boiled for an hour and added to a biodegradable detergent. This mixture makes an excellent natural bug killer and repellent for the garden. Don't get any on your skin!

Close up of tree tobacco flowers

Tree tobacco. The bent over look is an identification feature as well as the green trunk and distinctive color of the leaves. Its very poisonous (very high nicotine content) and should not be used as a tobacco substitute.

A wild bee hive at the base of this bent over oak. I watched these little ones for quite a while. They are still gathering from the plants that are still flowering. November honey. Who would imagine?