The other day my buddy Wayne stopped by at 10am. For some reason this guy always has some neat rusty relic to bring to me. I have to start carving him something, he’s given me half the tools I own now. He dropped this off..
A hewing or side axe in GREAT condition. The only flaw is the flat side has a secondary bevel… tisk tisk old farmer that thought this would aid him. It’s basically a chopper now. I’ll start working on that. Kind of strange how I’ve been looking around the internet for small hewer for my kuksa making.
So we set out for some fishing. I don’t have a fishing pole nor do I ever want one after this trip.
Wayne’s arm got tired so I got to carry the tacklebox. How does that work? I bring a piece of wood with a string and hook that fits in my pocket and I carry the tackle??! Well, he supplied the worms so I guess that’s payment.
(waiting to hear Barry White music playing) GET A ROOM TOADS!
This was a first..spring is here. Beautiful reflections tho
4 legged 2 head toad.
This bass was a little too small to keep (according to regulations) So I let it go.
If I was hungry and lost, I would’ve been so pleased. Infact I was pleased… I don’t know how to fish, and never tried on a handline and caught something within 15 minutes of dunking the worm. I think I’ve only fished 5 times my whole life. I’ve also never cleaned one….:27:
Then I caught a Yellow Perch. I’ve never landed one before…. the colors were so vivid you could tell what kind of fish it was before I even took it out of the water. Can you make fish scale boots?
:dblthumb: Hobo handline strikes again!
Wayne used my puukko to clean our catch. Two Yellow Perch and a Sunny (blue-gil) I asked if my yellow perch was something to be happy about… he said it’s his favorite fish to eat! What a score.
Our fish and some Garlic Mustard. Wild edible #2.
Wayne is a hunter, and a woodsman at heart but has never really been interested in the wild edible side. As I said in my last posts, this is my goal this year. I seek confidence in feeding myself when I’m out and about. I don’t believe in fast food or corporate grocery stores, and try to steer clear as much as possible. So on our walk, I tried to ID as many things as I could. The forest is a lot more friendly and interesting after being able to learn some names of friends growing out there.
After seeing The Professor’s fried dandelion recipe, I had to try this out. You will not believe the great medicinal and nutritional value of these ‘weeds’! I’m including some links below that blew my mind. Makes one think of conspiracies when you go to buy weed killer and all the cans of poison SHOW DANDELIONS! This is food that saved countless lives in the great depression, and now we poison our 100% no work involved farm because we all want astroturf growing in our lawn. Yellow lawn/carpet revolution!
The other coincidence is they just happen to grow right next to my other favorite edible… Garlic Mustard. They hang out together… Go out in your yard and search the perimeter for yellow flowers and foot tall green weeds with little white flowers… it’s that easy. I now see them everywhere, there’s no point in even harvesting and storing them. I can pick them fresh everytime anywhere.
These were even growing along our garage. They grow everywhere there is dirt.
Two evil WEEDS KILL KILL! Still can’t believe I was taught to hate these. They’re delicious!
Corn meal batter for the dandelion flowers.
I’ll never look at another dandelion with disgust like I used to.
I decided I must cook this meal in my ‘ultralight’ cast iron boat anchor today.
Nothing tastes better than cast iron!
For lunch today, nature gave us a free meal. Yellow perch, sunny, and dandelions. Talk about low calorie low fat meal!
The Perch looks like it’s swimming in the pan. I think that means well done.
Crunching up
Tossed some Garlic Mustard on just before removing it from the heat. I’m assuming it reacts like garlic does when burnt. Burnt is bitter.
Leaves a perfect fish bone like on the cartoons!
One of the best meals I have ever had. It is a very satisfying feeling bringing home a nice round meal that you found with your mind and bare hands. This to me is living the life at it’s fullest.
[url]http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-dandelion.html[/url]
[url]http://www.leaflady.org/health_benefits_of_dandelions.htm[/url]
I’ll be posting more about these yellow wonders. The roots are good for coffee substitute, and the greens are great for salad. Jess and I made a separate [URL=”http://bushcraftusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=64884”]post[/URL] for that meal. We had that for dinner after the fish lunch!
