360° Situational Preparedness Survival Skills
Survival Foods
Note: Although many people out there describe themselves as masters of of survival and bushcraft, the truth is these skills take a lifetime to master. Every time we go out, we learn something new. The reality is that most of us have to deal with every day life and are unable to live in the bush full time. The first step towards the path of knowledge is to admit we are not masters yet forever students of nature.
Survival Foods:
Plants – cattail, conifers, grasses and acorns
Some of the plants that are key survival foods are cattail, conifers, grasses and acorns.
Where Can I Find Cattails and How Do I Eat Them?
Cattails can be delicious if prepared correctly. During a group survival experience, the main thing we ate was cattail. In a survival situation, your best bet is to find cattails; they take the least amount of work to harvest, thus conserving energy and being top among survival foods.
Cattail does have a look-alike, the iris. The iris plant (Iris spp.) is poisonous, so you must know how to identify difference between the two plants. The iris is flat at the base, and it makes a fan shape where all the leaves meet the ground. The edible cattails have a central vein called a midrib around which the leaves form.
Cattails are almost always in or next to a water source. Since they are often submerged, there is a chance of giardia in the water. Eating cattails raw is an option, but it’s recommended that you cook any cattail you consume. Cattails have a horizontal system of underground stems called rhizomes. They can extend up to two feet from the plant. The rhizomes bud out and send up new cattail plants. These roots have a stringy-starchy substance on their insides. This starch can also be made into flour.
Young shoots are the tastiest part of the plant. Pick a plant and pull the outer leaves off to reveal the moist core. I would recommend cooking this part before eating the juicy center. The green flower heads can be eaten in June to mid-July. Cattail pollen can also be made into flour and is best at the same time as the flower heads.
Munching From Conifers
Did you know that many types of conifer trees are edible? Trees grow new leaves, or, in the case of conifers, new needles every year. The only conifer you need to watch out for is the Pacific Yew, as it is poisonous. The new-growth sprigs on Western hemlock, Western red cedar, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, grand fir and noble fir can be eaten right off the tree in the spring. Bringing water to a slow boil with any of these leaves makes a delicious tea. The inner bark of conifer trees, known as the cambium, also can be eaten. Cambium is located between the bark and the harder interior wood of a tree. The cambium of the Western red cedar, Sitka spruce and fir trees can be used to make a powder used to thicken soups. The immature female cones of the Sitka spruce can be cooked and eaten along with the raw seeds of the tree. The branch tips of young trees can be chewed on as a hunger suppressant. Douglas, noble, grand fir and cedars also have sap (or pitch) that can be chewed.
Survival Foods: The Grass Family
More than 400 types of grasses can be eaten worldwide. Grasses are known for being edible and healthy eating because of their proteins and chlorophyll. Magnesium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, potassium and zinc are commonly found in grasses. Grasses show up in your every-day foods, too. Cereal grains are in the grass family, including wheat, rice, wild rice, corn, oats, barely, millet and rye. The seeds are usually the most beneficial part of the grasses and nearly all grasses are edible. However, in a survival situation, just because grasses are edible doesn’t mean it is worth the caloric output it would take to harvest many small seeds. Harvesting grasses can be done by hand, collecting them in a container for later use. Sprouted grass seeds can be a good food source as well.
Edible grasses include: bent, wheat, slough, brome, crab, switch, canary, timothy, blue and bristle grasses. You can make grasses into a juice by grinding them up, but don’t swallow the fiber. Chewing immature seed heads can be beneficial as well.
Gathering Acorns
Acorns are found on oak trees. Before eating acorns, their tannins need to be extracted because of the bitter taste. Soaking the acorns in water to leach out the bitterness works well. The acorns will then need to be dried to keep from rotting. They can be eaten raw after dried or made into flour.
I hope this provided a look into the edible possibilities of the natural world. This article covered only a small number of plants that can be eaten as excellent survival foods.
Cabbage Family – Cruciferous Vegetables as Herbal Medicine
We live in a fast world, and learning from Nature is a slow process. Want a shortcut? Learn a little botany! Botany is a superhighway that optimizes your ability to understand plants and use them wisely So let’s continue our tour of some of my favorite plant families. I’d like to introduce you to the mustard or cabbage family.
The cabbage family always makes me smile. It is easy to recognize and most of its members are delicious to eat. That’s reason enough to be delighted, but it gets even better. Some cabbage family plants are strongly medicinal, and all of them can prevent cancer.
The cabbage/mustard family used to be known as the Cruciferae (crucifix) or Cruciferous vegetables family, because their flowers have four petals arranged in the shape of a cross. But now we call it the Brassicaceae family, in honor of its most edible genus: Brassica. (See sidebar.)
In addition to four petals — which are usually colored white, yellow, or pink — plants in the Brassicaceae family have four sepals (green parts that protect the flower bud). There are six pollen-producing stamen in each flower: four tall and two short. The female part (the pistil) has a two-chambered ovary which produces seeds in a conspicuous, often upright, seed pod.
Lunaria, or silver dollar plant — an old favorite for the flower garden — is a Brassicaceae that’s grown not for its leaves or flowers (which are a beautiful shade of dark pink), but for its large, showy, silvery, round membranes: the divider that separated the two chambers of the seed pod. Queen of the Night is another flower garden
Brassicaceae; its tall stalks of purple, pink, and white flowers have a swooningly wonderful smell in the evening.
It is visited by the hummingbird moth, a sight never to be forgotten. Lucky me; it’s a wildflower where I live. Wallflowers, another old favorite, also in the cabbage family, are prized for their boldly-colored flowers and ease of cultivation.
All species of the cabbage family are very easy to grow, in fact; they need only cool soil to germinate in. Even poor, dry, clayey soils can produce big crops of Brassicaceae plants. Humans have been cultivating the Brassicaceae for such a long time (several thousand years at least), that we have created an enormous number of plants that look different, but are, in reality, just different forms of cabbage.
In previous columns we learned that each and every plant, indeed each thing in nature, has its own specific (species) name. So it is likely to surprise you, maybe even cause you to wrinkle your brow, when I tell you that kale, collards, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and all cultivated cabbages including red cabbage, white cabbage, savoy cabbage, and “flowering” cabbage are all Brassica oleracea. And although they have different species names now, turnips and rutabagas were once considered Brassica oleracea too. See why this family makes me smile? It’s full of pleasant surprises.
The Brassicaceae also make the Chinese smile; they grow thousands of varieties of edible cabbage family greens including bok choy, Chinese cabbage, pak choi, chicli, shungiku, wong bok, pe tsai, and many others. And they, like Europeans, rely on Brassicaceae roots — turnips, swedes, and the many varieties of radish — to bulk out their diet.
The Japanese grow and enjoy Brassicaceae roots, too, especially those — such as daikon and wasabi — that pack a spicy punch. Europeans and Americans like spicy mustard family plants too, like mustard greens and horseradish, but when they want a “breath of fire” to liven up their weiners or hot dogs, they go for Brassicaceae seeds, not roots, and grind them into familiar yellow “mustard.” Mustard plasters — a mixture of finely-ground mustard seeds, wheat flour and water — were a favorite folk remedy in the pioneer days, but may blister the skin if left on too long.
Oil can be pressed from mustard seeds, but it is generally poisonous. But rape (pronounced “rah-pay”), a type of mustard seed, was modified to produce an edible oil known as canola oil. Mustard seed oil is the basis of mustard gas, a vicious chemical used in World War One (which caused blistering and burning of the skin and lungs), and the progenitor of today’s anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents.
Yes, the Brassicaceae family is accepted by orthodox and alternative practitioners alike as an important anti-cancer and cancer-preventative ally. Four servings a week of cabbage family plants reduce overall risk of cancer by half. That makes me grin. What fun; how easy; and how kind to the budget. The cabbage family offers us a different cooked 1 green for every night of the week and then some, including the darling of high society: watercress. Its botanical name — Nasturtium officinale — is rather confusing; watercress is not even related to garden nasturtium, Trapaeolum majus.
Herbalists rejoice when they see shepherd’s purse, or, as one of my students prefers to call it, shaman’s pouch. This small cabbage family plant packs a big wallop when tinctured. I harvest the above-ground parts of the plant — including leaves, stalks, seed pods and flowers — and tincture it in 100 proof vodka for six weeks to make a remedy that slows and stops menstrual, menopausal, and post-partum hemorrhages. Midwives tell me that a dropperful under the tongue can stop profuse bleeding in seconds.
Are you smiling yet? You will be if this introduction encourages you to get chummy with the delicious, useful, friendly Brassicaceae family! I’ll be back in the next issue to share more fun with plant families.
Some Medicinal and Edible Brassicaceae
Armoracea lapathifolia: Horseradish (counters sinus problems, gum disease; diuretic)
Brassica chinensis: Chinese cabbage
Brassica napus var napobrassica: Rutabaga, Swede
Brassica nigra: Black mustard (seed plaster counters lung congestion, joint pain)
Brassica oleracea var acephala: Kale, Collards (counters cancer; builds bones)
Brassica oleracea var botrytis: Cauliflower (counter colon cancer)
Brassica oleracea var italica: Broccoli (counters cervical, colon, lung cancers)
Brassica oleracea var gemmifera: Brussels sprouts (counters cancer)
Brassica oleracea: Cabbage (protects against radiation; juice heals ulcers, acne, colds)
Brassica oleracea rubra: Red cabbage (counters cancer, lowers cholesterol)
Brassica rapa: Turnip, Field mustard, Broccoli di rappe (counters cancer)
Brassica sylvestris: Wild cabbage
Barbarea vulgaris: St. Barbara’s cress, Yellow rocket (wound healer)
Capsella bursa-pastoris: Shepherd’s purse (anti-hemmoragic)
Cheiranthus cheiri: Wallflower (emmenagogue, cardiac stimulant, nervine)
Dentaria diphylla: Toothwort
Eruca sativa: Arugula, Rocket
Hesperis matronalis: Dame’s rocket; Queen of the Night (diuretic, diaphoretic, expectorant)
Lepidium sativum: Garden cress
Lepidium virginicum: Poor person’s pepper
Nasturtium officinale: Watercress (aphrodisiac, contraceptive, laxative, nervine)
Sinapis alba: Yellow mustard (plaster counters chronic pain)
Sisymbrium officinale: Singer’s Rocket, Hedge mustard (counters laryngitis, colds, canker sores)
Notes: It is wise to eat cabbage family plants such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, and cabbage raw or lightly-steamed. They interfere with iodine uptake and contribute to thyroid malfunction by lowering the rate at which it produces hormones
There’s nothing like the taste of fresh huckleberries in the summertime. Lucky for us in the Pacific Northwest, we have three species of huckleberries to choose from: black huckleberry, red huckleberry and evergreen huckleberry. Huckleberries are in the Heath family, which includes other edibles like blueberries, wintergreen, cranberry and salal. Heath family members commonly like acidic soils, have alternate leaf and branching patterns, and have bell or urn-shaped flowers.
Black huckleberry, Vaccinium membranaceum, as its name suggests, produces black berries that are said to be one of the most delicious in the area. Its flowers are creamy pink to yellow pink and urn-shaped. The leaves are deciduous with a fine toothed margin and the shrub grows to 1.5 meters tall. The Black Huckleberry thrives in areas which have recently experienced wild fires. Due to modern day fire suppression, critical habitat for this shrub has dwindled. The berries are ready to pick around late summer or early fall.
Red huckleberry, Vaccinium parvifolium, is also named for the color of its berries. Red and translucent, they are about 1 centimeter across. The leaves of Red huckleberry are not toothed and are up to 3 cm long. The shrub grows to 4 m tall. Its flowers are greenish-yellowish to pink, and urn or bell shaped. Red huckleberry is the dominant huckleberry of the Oregon coast ranges, growing at low to middle elevations. It is found in coniferous forests, and it loves to grow atop decaying stumps and logs. Red huckleberry was popular with all native peoples of its range. Dried individually or mashed into cakes, they were stored for winter. They could be so plentiful that a rake-like implement was used in some instances to harvest these berries. This huckleberry plant also has medicinal uses, such as a remedy for sore throat and inflamed gums. This was done by using the leaves or bark in a decoction that was gargled. Due to their resemblance to salmon eggs, the berries were also used as fish bait.
Evergreen huckleberry, Vaccinium ovatum, is an evergreen shrub which produces dark purplish-black berries. The berries begin to ripen in early fall but persist into the winter. Evergreen huckleberry leaves have toothed edges and are shiny green and leathery. The flowers are pink and bell shaped, and the shrub grows to 4 m tall. The habitat of the evergreen huckleberry is coniferous forests at low elevations, especially in openings or on edges. They are commonly found in the salt spray zone and near tidal zones. Some native peoples traveled far and wide to gather the berries of Evergreen huckleberry due to their delicious taste.
Huckleberries are a great treat in the late summer or early fall, and can be enjoyed in many ways. Eat them fresh off the bush or take them home and bake them into any number of recipes like huckleberry muffins, huckleberry cakes or huckleberry pies. They also make great jams and jellies, or you could simply dry them like raisins. Huckleberries also freeze well. To freeze them, spread them out on a cookie tray and place them in the freezer. This keeps them from sticking together in one large mass. Then place them in a freezer safe container and place them back in the freezer.
This summer, take a hike into your local woods to look for these amazing shrubs and to enjoy the taste of their plentiful berries.
Huckleberries
Maiden Hair Fern
This time of year, the most common form of disease is the cold and flu. Maiden hair fern can help in creating some balance and harmony because it is a gentle, subtle herb that can help soothe and cleanse your system.
Maiden hair fern grows in the dark, moist forests here in Western Washington, up into Canada and into southern Alaska. It likes the rocky areas near stream banks and cliffs in the spray zone of waterfalls. I have found it up to middle elevations, in shady, sheltered, rich loamy sites. It has long, delicate, dark stems that divide into two stalks then divide again and which resemble a hand or “palmate.” The delicacy of this plant is sure to catch your eye. With its fine leaflets that are oblong, alternate and are cleft into rectangular lobes, it will cause you to stop and catch your breath. Every time I find this plant in the woods, it is a reminder to stop and smell the air, to admire its simple beauty and note the colors on the stalks.
Maiden hair fern stalks are used for design in baskets. When they are fresh, the stalks are split, the pith removed and the fragile stalks are then woven into the basket as an overlay. When they are dried, the stalks need to be soaked for a time in order to make them somewhat pliable again. The native peoples used them in beautiful, intricate basket designs.
I am told the leaves were used by many native peoples here in this area (Northwestern Coastal First Peoples) as a hair rinse. One method was to soak the leaves for an infusion and another was to use the ashes from burnt leaves on the hair to make it shiny. Today, when combined with yarrow or chamomile and made into a tea, the results are luster and shine and will surely have people asking what shampoo and rinse you use!!
In Europe and Latin America a related species has been used for stimulating slow and crampy menses and helping the menses become more regular. It is very useful in young women for regulation after childbirth and also for nursing mothers.
Maiden hair fern has a very subtle strengthening effect on the connective tissues, especially those under chronic stress. When combined with other herbs that contain silica, it helps to clean the filtering organs, such as the kidneys and liver.
The most common use today is for coughing and lung ailments because of the mucilaginous and tannic properties. It has proven helpful to drink a cup of tea each day if you are exposed to air pollution or smog. This herb has subtle effects and should be used when you think maybe you might be getting a small cough or irritation. It is more for a preventative soothing tea than for use during the height of cold. Also, I am sure it will help at the tail end of a cold to cleanse the tissues of the lungs and soothe the throat and airways.
One of the changes I made was to gather this herb in the neighbor’s garden. I have discovered that when I find it in the wild, it is a rare beauty and is there to admire. I have also found that it is not always in abundance – just a plant or two that should be left to spread and grow. My neighbor knew that I wove baskets and asked if I would like to harvest her plant because she was going to transplant it in the spring to another location. I was delighted. I cut the stalks low to the ground, bound the ends and hung them to dry in my kitchen. I found them to smell like the rich loam of the forest as they dried, but after they dried, they smelled like cat urine. So I completed the harvest, put the stalks in a dark cool place, so the color wouldn’t change and am making tea from the leaves for external and internal use.
When you are out wandering, thinking of the changes you have made, take note of Adiantum pedatum. This is the plant that made the Maiden’s Hair so beautiful and lush. Get to know Maiden Hair Fern.
Medicinal Plants Using Nourishing Herbs Simply and Safely
Are nourishing herbs or medicinal plants “dilute forms of drugs” – and therefore dangerous? Or are they “natural” – and therefore safe? If you sell medicinal plants, you probably hear these questions often. What is the “right” answer? It depends on the herb! These thoughts on herbs will help you explain to your customers (and yourself) how safe–or dangerous– any herb might be.
To prevent problems when selling or using medicinal herbs:
Be certain you have the correct plant.
Use simples.
Understand that different preparations of the same herb can work differently.
Use nourishing, tonifying, stimulating, and potentially poisonous herbs wisely.
Be certain you have the correct plant.
One of the easiest ways to get into trouble with an herb is to use the “wrong” one. How could that happen? Common names for medicinal plants overlap, causing confusion as to the proper identity. Herbs that are labeled correctly may contain extraneous material from other, more dangerous, medicinal plants. Herbs may be picked at the wrong stage of growth or handled incorrectly after harvesting, causing them to develop detrimental qualities.
Protect yourself and your customers with these simple steps:
Buy herbs and tinctures only from reputable suppliers.
Only buy herbs or medicinal plants that are labeled with their botanical name. Botanical names are specific, but the same common name can refer to several different plants. “Marigold” can be Calendula officinalis, a medicinal herb, or Tagetes, an annual used as a bedding plant.
If you grow the herbs you sell, be meticulous about keeping different plants separate when you harvest and dry them, and obsessive about labeling.
Use simples
A simple is one herb. For optimum safety, I prepare, buy, sell, teach about and use herbal simples, that is: preparations containing only one herb. (Occasionally I use will add some mint to flavor a remedy.)
The more herbs there are in a formula, the more likelihood there is of unwanted side-effects. Understandably, the public seeks combinations, hoping to get more for less. And many mistakenly believe that herbs must be used together to be effective (probably because potentially poisonous herbs are often combined with protective herbs to mitigate the damage they cause). But combining herbs with the same properties, such as goldenseal and echinacea, is counter-productive and more likely to cause trouble than a simple. A simple tincture of echinacea is more effective than any combination and much safer.)
Different people have different reactions to substances, whether drugs, foods, or herbs. When herbs are mixed together in a formula and someone taking it has distressing side effects, there is no way to determine which herb is the cause. With simples, it’s easy to tell which herb is doing what. If there’s an adverse reaction, other herbs with similar properties can be tried. Limiting the number of herbs used in any one day (to no more than four) offers added protection.
Side effects from herbs are less common than side effects from drugs and usually less severe. If an herb disturbs the digestion, it may be that the body is learning to process it. Give it a few more tries before giving up. Stop taking any herb that causes nausea, dizziness, sharp stomach pains, diarrhea, headache, or blurred vision. (These effects will generally occur quite quickly.) Slippery elm is an excellent antidote to any type of poison.
If you are allergic to any foods or medicines, it is especially important to consult resources that list the side effects of herbs before you use them.
Understand that different preparations of the same herb can work differently. The safety of any herbal remedy is dependent on the way it is prepared and used.
Tinctures and extracts contain the alkaloids, or poisonous, parts of plants and need to be used with care and wisdom. Tinctures are as safe as the herb involved (see cautions below for tonifying, stimulating, sedating, or potentially poisonous herbs). Best used/sold as simples, not combinations, especially when strong herbs are being used.
Dried herbs made into teas or infusions contain the nourishing aspects of the plants and are usually quite safe, especially when nourishing or tonifying herbs are used.
Dried herbs in capsules are generally the least effective way to use herbs. They are poorly digested, poorly utilized, often stale or ineffective, and quite expensive.
Infused herbal oils are available as is, or thickened into ointments. They are much safer than essential oils, which are highly concentrated and can be lethal if taken internally.
Herbal vinegars are not only decorative but mineral-rich as well. A good medium for nourishing and tonifying herbs; not as strong as tinctures for stimulants/sedatives.
Herbal glycerins are available for those who prefer to avoid alcohol but are usually weaker in action than tinctures.
Use nourishing, tonifying, stimulating, and potentially poisonous herbs wisely.
Herbs comprise a group of several thousand plants with widely varying actions. Some are nourishers, some tonifiers, some stimulants and sedatives, and some are potential poisons. To use them wisely and well, we need to understand each category, its uses, best manner of preparation, and usual dosage range.
Nourishing herbs are the safest of all herbs; side effects are rare. Nourishing herbs are taken in any quantity for any length of time. They are used as foods, just like spinach and kale. Nourishing herbs provide high levels of proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, carotenes, and essential fatty acids. Examples of nourishing herbs are: alfalfa, amaranth, astragalus, calendula flowers, chickweed, comfrey leaves, dandelion, fenugreek, flax seeds, honeysuckle flowers, lamb’s quarter, marshmallow, nettles, oatstraw, plantain (leaves/seeds), purslane, red clover blossoms, seaweed, Siberian ginseng, slippery elm, violet leaves, and wild mushrooms.
Tonifying herbs act slowly in the body and have a cumulative, rather than immediate, effect. They build the functional ability of an organ (like the liver) or a system (like the immune system). Tonifying herbs are most beneficial when they are used in small quantities for extended periods of time. The more bitter the tonic tastes, the less you need to take. Bland tonics may be used in quantity, like nourishing herbs.
Side effects occasionally occur with tonics, but are usually quite short-term. Many older herbals mistakenly equated stimulating herbs with tonifying herbs, leading to widespread misuse of many herbs, and severe side effects. Examples of tonifying herbs are: barberry bark, burdock root/seeds, chaste tree, crone(mug)wort, dandelion root, echinacea, elecampane, fennel, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, ground ivy, hawthorn berries, horsetail, lady’s mantle, lemon balm, milk thistle seeds, motherwort, mullein, pau d’arco, raspberry leaves, schisandra berries, St. Joan’s wort, turmeric root, usnea, wild yam, and yellow dock.
Sedating and stimulating herbs cause a variety of rapid reactions, some of which may be unwanted. Some parts of the person may be stressed in order to help other parts. Strong sedatives and stimulants, whether herbs or drugs, push us outside our normal ranges of activity and may cause strong side effects. If we rely on them and then try to function without them, we wind up more agitated (or depressed) than before we began. Habitual use of strong sedatives and stimulants-whether opium, rhubarb root, cayenne, or coffee-leads to loss of tone, impairment of functioning, and even physical dependency. The stronger the herb, the more moderate the dose needs to be, and the shorter the duration of its use.
Herbs that tonify and nourish while sedating/stimulating are some of my favorite herbs. I use them freely, as they do not cause dependency. Sedating/stimulating herbs that also tonify or nourish: boneset, catnip, citrus peel, cleavers, ginger, hops, lavender, marjoram, motherwort, oatstraw, passion flower, peppermint, rosemary, sage, skullcap.
Strongly sedating/stimulating herbs include: angelica, black pepper, blessed thistle root, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, coffee, licorice, opium poppy, osha root, shepherd’s purse, sweet woodruff, turkey rhubarb root, uva ursu leaves, valerian root, wild lettuce sap, willow bark, and wintergreen leaves.
Potentially poisonous herbs are intense, potent medicines that are taken in tiny amounts and only for as long as needed. Side effects are common. Examples of potentially poisonous herbs are: belladonna, blood-root, celandine, chaparral, foxglove, goldenseal, henbane, iris root, Jimson weed, lobelia, May apple (American mandrake), mistletoe, poke root, poison hemlock, stillingia root, turkey corn root, wild cucumber root.
In addition, consider these thoughts on using herbs safely:
Respect the power of plants to change the body and spirit in dramatic ways.
Increase trust in the healing effectiveness of plants by trying remedies for minor or external problems before, or while, working with major and internal problems.
Develop ongoing relationships with knowledgeable healers-in person or in books-who are interested in herbal medicine.
Honor the uniqueness of every plant, every person, every situation.
Remember that each person becomes whole and healed in their own unique way, at their own speed. People, plants, and animals can help in this process. But it is the body/spirit that does the healing. Don’t expect plants to be cure-alls.
