Trusty Guides and Self-Education

Identifying and utilizing natural resources is an integral aspect of the woodcraft scene.

Many of our ancestors relied heavily upon the natural resources that surrounded them. Sadly, with all the movements inherent in modernization, vast amounts of this natural knowledge have been lost to most people living in this modern era.

It’s not that all this knowledge has disappeared and become extinct. It’s more like it has fallen by the wayside … considered unimportant by most modernites trodding the latter-day sod.

One of the things that I’ve always emphasized in classes is to become familiar with the natural offerings in our climate zone. Our immediate surroundings are our first and primary theatre of operation. This is true regardless of our regional location and greater climate zone. Focus first on where you are. Develop a growing intimate relationship with where you are. It is, after all, where you are. Knowing its particular nuances goes a long way.

Where you are, if or when push comes to shove, will either offer its assistance in supporting you or crush you like a bug under its foot.

My primary focus is right here. Right here happens to be on the coastal plain of Alabama. This is not to say that I am unfamiliar with places elsewhere. I’ve traveled quite widely and lived in an assortment of climates on two continents. It is to say that, since I am right here, that I need to know as much as I can about the resources afforded me right here. All of us should be right here oriented … wherever our own right here happens to be.

It’s not, in my mind anyway, just about preparing for some push comes to shove situation. Learning how to survive … knowing how to survive … a variety of dire circumstances isn’t to be downplayed either. It’s a fact. Somebody, somewhere, sometime is going to discover themselves in a genuine survival situation. It could be sooner. It could be later. Preparing for and doing a few dress rehearsals in advance simply makes good sense in my book.  

Having within easy reach … at all times … everything you need to effectively answer the call for fire, hydration, shelter, and food simply makes good sense. I must admit that I felt a little foolish when I first started practicing this at all times philosophy. It didn’t take long to outgrow the perceived sense of foolishness though. Having some kit with us at all times is our normal modus operandi.

Kit.

Don’t leave home without it.

You may not need it. But, then again, you very well may and a kit will not do you an iota of good if it’s sitting in your closet at home.

Don’t let your kit become an end in and of itself. It’s not. A good kit is the beginning. It contains the basics … basics that honestly need building upon.

Get to know trees.

Trees are a natural part of the woods. There’s nothing profound about that. The profundity is found in their diversity and personal perplexities.

All trees are not created equal. Some trees make better fuel wood than others. Some will easily split with ax or wedges. Some will work you to death trying to split them into firewood or building material. Some trees are more rot resistant and more suitable for contact with the elements than others. Some make good tool and implement handles that will stand up to the stresses applied to them. There are trees that easily lend their properties to coaxing an ember to life with friction. Others will more likely leave you cold and without a fire burning your selectively gathered firewood. The list goes on and on.

A good guide will show you a lot of important stuff. Maybe not all the stuff that you need to know but it will cover some useful information such as distinguishing characteristics, habitat and range, and uses of the trees covered in it.

Getting to know trees is quite an interesting self-education.

Another interesting school of self-education is foraging wild edibles.

I did not have a living two-legged wild edibles instructor when I started working on identifying and utilizing wild edibles. I have never had one. In fact, when I first began making inquiries of folks that I thought would know of someone locally, no one could recommend anyone. I was on my own in the endeavor and have, despite the obstacle, through careful study and a good printed guide, managed to successfully become personally familiar with around fifty wild edibles that are available in our area.

That’s a lot of food!

My goal, at first, was to be able to identify and utilize an even dozen. It didn’t take long to meet that goal and move on to more palatable discoveries. I’ll admit that it was a little scary at first. I was, after all, picking and eating weeds.

Palatable discoveries?

A few of them can be said to taste something like this or that that we are familiar with. Most of them, however, taste like what they are. Our cultivated taste buds aren’t familiar with them. Some, like the berry-fruit of the Saw Palmetto, are outright raunchy. One early record of the fruit mentioned that it tasted like a cross between rotten cheese and chewing tobacco with a lot of black pepper on it. I discovered that to be an accurate description. It’s good to know that it is edible if I need it. It is good to have tasted it. But I wouldn’t, so long as other wild edibles are to be had, want to eat a sack of them for my supper.

Some things have changed since moving to these woods.

One of them concerns scheduling classes.

I will not be pre-scheduling any classes in 2017. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to. It was, in fact, a hard decision to make. I’ve made a note in the right-hand column reflecting this. It’s time for us to take a sabbatical to work on things here at and around the cabin. There are woods around us that beg our exploration. There are personal discoveries to be made and knowledge to be gained in The School of the Woods.

The blog will continue as a reflection of our own woodcraft education.