Bush survival / "wildcrafting"

[battlecrumpet]

I came across this concept of "wildcrafting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcrafting)" (seems to be an American thing) while reading that Nature Deficit Disorder book.

Wildcrafting is the practice of harvesting plants from their natural, or "wild" habitat, for food, medicinal, or other purposes. It applies to uncultivated plants wherever they may be found, and is not necessarily limited to wilderness areas.

I love the idea of this (when done in an ethical / sustainable way (http://www.altnature.com/library/wildcraft.htm)). Also the related idea of learning about bush / wilderness survival - being in the bush and learning the uses of the plants (and animals), how they could help you survive. It's one of the things I'd love to learn more about when I have more time, and expose Caelan to as he grows also.

So, I'm wondering, has anyone learned any skills about living off the land in this way? How / where / what type of things did you learn? Did you learn from books or from experience?
The whole subject area kinda fascinates me.

[Sarasvati]

I wish! Am fascinated too!

[earthy]

I too am fascinated and yearn to learn, but sad that we have become so disconnected that we have been passed down so little.

[Himalia]

I don't know about wild crafting myself. Australia has so many vast environments that wildcrafting would be so different for each area. Perhaps start local and small. Trees/plants in your neighbourhood or Toohey forest perhaps? There are a lot of books about Australian bush foods. Mt Cootha botanical library would have plenty of books and be able to point you in the right direction.

I am fascinated in anything to do with children and nature. I worked at a children's camp for a year and practically lived in a tent for the entire year. Even after all that time in the bush, I still wouldn't have survived if the food truck didn't turn up each night :D

[Anarcostar]

My DH has, inspired by an interest in natural things, earth based spirituality (paganism) and permaculture. He's learnt through just being interested and finding out and meeting people and trying things - the last one being the most useful. He's learnt from a mix of reading books, meeting people who shared these skills (on protest camps etc..), and through living in a caravan in the woods (in the UK) for many years - living intimately with nature (though not completely self sufficient, but changing little things bit by bit).

Through him I have learnt some things, and continue to do so, though these days we seem too busy to try things out/ put things into practise.

This is actually why next year we will be stepping off the grid and going and living in a big tent for a year or so :eager

There are a couple of really good old Bushcraft books, and a load of great websites, many UK or American, but some of the info is very much transferable.

GRAVES BUSHCRAFT BOOKS ONLINE (http://chrismolloy.com/www/p131) Fantastic Australian resource, full set of e-books
Survival Self Sufficiency and Sustainability (http://www.survival.org.au/) Australian, also looks at how we can connect with this in an urban environment
Natural Bushcraft (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/) UK site, but interesting


But I guess the biggest lesson I've learnt is like what Himalia mentioned - starting local.
Become intimate with what is local, what you see everyday, learning the rhythms and cycles of what is around you, characteristics of certain plants etc.. (like that tree we see everyday has really stringy fibres, so might be useful in making cordage/ ropes etc..), traditional uses etc...
Journalling observations etc.. is a fantastic way of collecting knowledge, adding photos or found information, building your own bushcraft manual ;)

We've actually been thinking of doing a little "wilding" camp for kids/parents - nothing formal, just a small group of families camping somewhere where we can try stuff out, learn and connect with ourselves/each other/ nature.
We haven't worked out where or when yet :lol so its all just a thought. But the point is anyone could do it, even just with your own family, picking one or two things to focus on (like learning to start a fire without matches etc.., or ways of collecting water naturally etc..) or learning about resident creepy crawlies.

Ooh! This has re-inspired me to get back to all this. I've become very disconnected myself lately. Its a timely reminder :D

[beingsimone]

Anarcostar your DH sounds awesome! :) Thanks for the resources.

I've been thinking about this more since starting to read the Ringing Cedars Series.

One idea also is to find local (or not so local) Indigenous people and ask them. Having spent a little time with an 'ab'original friend - I just love the way he's shown and explained to me how his people used to live on the land (in this case it was his local tribe's land so he knew it quite well, however a lot of their knowledge is also general and not just unique to one area). And a couple of years ago when I went on my daughter's school camp to the Grampians we stopped at an Indigenous Centre called Brambuk and they took us on a nature walk explaining a lot of the flora.

I've even been experimenting with weeds and stuff in my own backyard (I live in suburbia at the moment). For instance the other day as I was picking figs from the backyard tree I suddenly wondered if the leaves were edible? Quick google - yes they are - so into my green smoothie one went :)

[The Dawn Dragon]

It's something I often long to get back to. I grew up in remote areas and was shown and taught so much by our aborginal families and friends which I have forgotten over the years sadly. Hhhmm, something to get back to I think!

[beingsimone]

Just read this interesting article and will look at getting the books mentioned. I really thought it was perceptive about our attitude towards 'weeds'.

http://www.ausbushfoods.com/oldmag/plants/where_wild_things_are.htm

[Kazz]

My DH has, inspired by an interest in natural things, earth based spirituality (paganism) and permaculture. He's learnt through just being interested and finding out and meeting people and trying things - the last one being the most useful. He's learnt from a mix of reading books, meeting people who shared these skills (on protest camps etc..), and through living in a caravan in the woods (in the UK) for many years - living intimately with nature (though not completely self sufficient, but changing little things bit by bit).

Through him I have learnt some things, and continue to do so, though these days we seem too busy to try things out/ put things into practise.

This is actually why next year we will be stepping off the grid and going and living in a big tent for a year or so :eager

There are a couple of really good old Bushcraft books, and a load of great websites, many UK or American, but some of the info is very much transferable.

GRAVES BUSHCRAFT BOOKS ONLINE (http://chrismolloy.com/www/p131) Fantastic Australian resource, full set of e-books
Survival Self Sufficiency and Sustainability (http://www.survival.org.au/) Australian, also looks at how we can connect with this in an urban environment
Natural Bushcraft (http://www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk/) UK site, but interesting


But I guess the biggest lesson I've learnt is like what Himalia mentioned - starting local.
Become intimate with what is local, what you see everyday, learning the rhythms and cycles of what is around you, characteristics of certain plants etc.. (like that tree we see everyday has really stringy fibres, so might be useful in making cordage/ ropes etc..), traditional uses etc...
Journalling observations etc.. is a fantastic way of collecting knowledge, adding photos or found information, building your own bushcraft manual ;)

We've actually been thinking of doing a little "wilding" camp for kids/parents - nothing formal, just a small group of families camping somewhere where we can try stuff out, learn and connect with ourselves/each other/ nature.
We haven't worked out where or when yet :lol so its all just a thought. But the point is anyone could do it, even just with your own family, picking one or two things to focus on (like learning to start a fire without matches etc.., or ways of collecting water naturally etc..) or learning about resident creepy crawlies.

Ooh! This has re-inspired me to get back to all this. I've become very disconnected myself lately. Its a timely reminder :D

This sounds lovely - funny thing? When I read the OP I was about to add that my dp was heavily into all this stuff when he was younger (around the Hawkesbury) and 2 years ago dp and our then three kids (4 now) went bush and travelling with a trailer and two big tents for about 7 months :lol

It's lots of fun :)