torstai 14. kesäkuuta 2012

Willow whistle

I made some traditional handcraft and toy for kids the willow whistle (and maybe it could even save your life one day in wilderness who knows).
Those are best made when skin is easy to get out without breaking and that late spring / summer time. The trick is to twist skin out one piece to complete whistle inside and then push it back. Tapping with knife handle before twisting will also help to get skin off.





tiistai 12. kesäkuuta 2012

Wild edibles, stinging nettles

While I have been very busy on different works around my house I haven´t had much time to do any "bushcraft activities" lately so I thought to eat some wild edibles while bbq:ing on my backyard. So I collect some stinging nettles around my house far end from road and cut them small into my cast iron wok to fry with little bit of oil (frying or fast boiling eliminate those acid spikes).

After frying they shrinked a lot and were good to eat. Stinging nettles were too grown up already and had too strong and woody shaft. Leaves were great.


Later I collected more leaves to make tea out of it and I also found some rasberry leaves to add some sweetness.

I kept (bit crushed) leaves on hot water around 30 minutes and get great fresh and strong drink, highly recommended!


Stinging nettles are very traditional plant for food and it´s very nutricious and healthy even more than spinach and it could be used same way.

Stinging nettles also have very strong fibers for cordage making (haven´t tried that one yet)