Wilderness Urban Tips

7/29/2019 Wilderness Urban Tips

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Wilderness & Urban Tips

- From the kitchen of Barbara KavanaghThis spray is so pure and good for you that you can spray it freely all over your skin, including your face. You can even safely inhale it.1. Pure and Natural Insect Repellant

1/2 tsp. peppermint1 tsp. cedarwood1 tsp. eucalyptus2 tsp. citronella1 1/2 tsp. lemongrass

In an 8 ounce spray bottle mix: 1 tsp. peppermint2 tsp. cedarwood2 tsp. eucalyptus3 tsp. citronella3 tsp. lemongrass

In a 24 ounce spray bottle mix:

Filling the remainder of the bottle with Witch Hazel. SHAKE WELL before each use and apply often.

Essential oils can be bought at health food stores. Be sure the bottle says "pure" essential oil, otherwise you arewasting your money and will not get the desired results. Treats in San Andreas, California has the best price in town

for Witch Hazel.

To keep your fish catch from drying out while transporting it to your cooking site, wrap the fish in grass and dip the bound bundle in creek watermoisten the fish. Field dress your fish first, if you will be traveling for a long distance. The cordage for tying the bundle was made from braidedgrass.

2. Keeping Your Fish Moist

When looking for a spindle or a hearthboard to use for the fire-by-friction method, gather dead wood off of the appropriate plant. The dead wood3. Gathering Fire-by-Friction Wood

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found on the plant should be completely dry and have some firmness to the structure. Disregard dead wood that is too crumbly or breaks very easin your hands. Do not use wood that has been lying on the ground for a long time. Decomposing or punky wood do not make suitable spindle orhearthboard materials. Some large, downed dead wood that still has a firm core can still be utilized for a hearthboard. Check to see if the center isstill solid and not rotted or soft.

If you are going to use the material immediately, do not gather green wood directly from the plant. Green wood can still be utilized, but only if youthoroughly dry out the moist material or the sap in the cells of the wood. Drying time depends upon the size of the wood, its age when cut (oldertrees have less sap), season of cutting, and climate. If you have the time, it's best to prepare your spindle and hearthboard by drying out greenmaterial.

4. Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)

Coyote brush or coyote bush is a common shrub around riparian or creek areas in California. It tends to have a rounded shape and grows up to 8feet tall. It is covered with small, toothed leaves that remain green year round.

Coyote brush was a useful medicinal plant for the Ohlone people who lived along theCoast Range of central California long ago. The coyote brush is still useful today as asalve for an itchy mosquito bite or the effects of Stringing Nettle. First, chew up severa

leaves (note: never put any plant in your mouth unless a trained professional hasidentified it for you and said it is all right to do so). Next, spit the chewed leaves into yohand, form a green poultice and place it on the irritation. The itching is quickly relievedthe astringent properties of the plant dry out the bite or stinging effects.

A leaf poultice for insect bites and cuts was also made fromand .

Broadleaf plantainNarrowleaf plantain

How do you get rid of the smell that comes from two tiny but ingenious glands at the business end of a skunk? A gardenhose is impotent, soap is utterly useless, and tomato juice is a quaint old wives' tale that has left many people with skunk-sprayed dogs that not only stink, but are pink.Krebaum came up with a formula that neutralized the foul smelling thiols in skunk spray. His formula was 1 quart of 3

percent hydrogen peroxide, which costs about $2 at a drugstore, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of liquid soap,which breaks up the oils in skunk spray and allows the other ingredients in the solution to do their stuff. The solution, afterapplying, should be rinsed off your pet with tap water. It works!

5. Paul Krebaum, a chemist at Molex Inc. added a dash of soap to hydrogen peroxide and baking soda,and developed the first home remedy for skunk spray.




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Keeping a carving of green wood covered in plastic between carving sessions will preventrapid drying and changes in stress. Splitting as the result of drying always starts from theoutside of a log as the sapwood shrinks more than theheartwood. If you cannot work on your roughed out woodfor a long period of time, submerge the carving in a bucket ofwater and add some bleach. The outer surface color willdarken over time, but it can be removed with additionalcarving and sanding. The wood will still have it's naturalcolor under the surface. It will be odor free and with no

cracks. When you're finished with your carving, apply acoating of Saffola (pure safflower oil) or mineral oil.If you have the time, it's best to seal the ends of the log and letit dry naturally until the wood has stabilized. This may takemonths to a year, depending on the type of wood and the

climate.

6. Carving with Green Wood.

The 12th and 13th century Japanese potters used a clay mixture of equal amounts of clay and volcanic ash. To age the clay, they placed a bit of yapeels wrapped in rags and added it to the mixture to assist in the aging process. It started bacterial growth that melted the ash and clay. The clay waged for several months before use.

7. Aging clay

8. Fire Starting Tinder

Create your own fire starting tinder with petroleum jelly, cotton balls (100% cotton), and an empty film canister. Saturate the individual cotton balin petroleum jelly. Then store the cotton balls in the film canister. That's all there is to it. Whenever you need a reliable tinder to ignite your campfitake out one of the cotton balls, fuzz up the edge by pulling on the loose cotton fibers, and light it with a match. The cotton ball will burn for a lontime, enabling your twigs and logs to catch on fire.




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What are your wilderness or urban tips?

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E-mail your comments to "Dino Labiste" at [email protected]

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