tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801806904348236141.post1513068732708483338..comments2023-04-12T07:19:49.617-04:00Comments on Wendy's Colony: Day 18- CattailsWendyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11557512606416161272noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801806904348236141.post-13441552303610792682012-11-07T12:48:13.911-05:002012-11-07T12:48:13.911-05:00lol- I had a pile of papers, and stacks of magazin...lol- I had a pile of papers, and stacks of magazines- until I read that in one of your old colony posts. Then it occurred to me that a binder would be much easier to organize. I just bought a couple packs of those clear page holders, then went through a bunch of magazines ripping out articles and stuffing them in the page holders.Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11557512606416161272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801806904348236141.post-83836093501043250762012-11-06T13:50:11.216-05:002012-11-06T13:50:11.216-05:00I have a binder too and a folder and a...pile of p...I have a binder too and a folder and a...pile of papers, lol. I really need to go through it and straighten it up but there is noever enough time. <br />I have heard of using cattails but also heard they aren't real tasty. Never tried it though. becky3086https://www.blogger.com/profile/01026872543168452124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801806904348236141.post-88627949687121004872012-11-03T09:58:15.070-04:002012-11-03T09:58:15.070-04:00Thanks, herdog. I'm learning as I go as well....Thanks, herdog. I'm learning as I go as well.<br /><br />I changed the link colours on this blog as well. Hopefully they'll show up better. <br /><br />I do have a binder with assorted interesting survival stuff, most from magazines that I didn't want to keep the whole magazine for the sake of one article, and a few things I've printed out to try.<br /><br />I've read a fair bit on edible weeds, though unfortunately my memory isn't great. I try to keep my eyes open to see what grows locally, and make sure that I'm identifying the plants properly. To date, we've eaten dandelions, plantain, wild carrot, fiddleheads (ferns), purslane, chickweed, clover, and assorted fruits. This year I collected a few things to try as teas and tinctures- yarrow, raspberry leaves, etc. <br /><br />The entire cattail plant is edible, at different stages of the year. Every year I go out in the woods (for other reasons) and look at them, and think to myself, I really ought to try that. Except I never do. Cattails grow in water, and I don't want wet feet, lol. Some day I am going to make a special trip to pick cattails with rubber boots on. Or I'm going to get lost or stranded out there and have no choice but to dive in, lol. In the meantime, I try to arm myself with information, and the writing helps me remember.<br /><br />The first link gives a great step by step tutorial on the process of extracting the starch/flour from the roots (rhizomes).<br /><br />That actually doesn't surprise me. Cattails are supposed to be very efficient in removing contaminants from the water. Even though in my story I'm picking cattails from the ditches, in real life it's not recommended. The pollution the plants pick up from roadways is apparently very toxic. My theory here though- my roadways are not highways. There is minimal road use- about three cars/day, and just a little salt used through the winter. My ditches are also not really 'ditches'. The roads here were cut through the woods years ago, and though they've been built up, the ditches are mostly wild, bumping up against streams and creeks, trees growing within 4 feet. The cattails aren't growing in rainwater runoff from the roads, but rather, their natural marshy habitat that a road has been built over.<br /><br />Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11557512606416161272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4801806904348236141.post-36585159762128060192012-11-02T21:00:07.536-04:002012-11-02T21:00:07.536-04:00Wendy, I hope you know how much we are enjoying th...Wendy, I hope you know how much we are enjoying this story AND learning as we go. Your alround abilities amaze me. You're one smart cookie!<br /><br />Is it the root of the cattail you use for the flour? Hope you go into it more on day 19.<br /><br />I had seen a Man VS wild TV show with the guy surviviing the wild ate a cattail root which cleaned him out pretty good the next morning. My thinking was the pond in which he found the cattail was what made him sick. But I'm interested if you have actually use cattail. As a side note and I'm sure you'll get a good laugh at this, it's illeagal to pick cattails here in California. yep, you got it. The eco-lobbiest have a pretty big lobby here. Told you, you'd laugh.herdoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05931435597196563588noreply@blogger.com