Honey As Medicine

I love honey, always have and always will. My love of honey has grown deeper as I discover all the wonderful properties it possesses. As my research into alternative natural remedies has progressed I find RAW, unprocessed honey (the ONLY honey you should buy) mentioned in nearly every source I find, so I thought I would share some of that information with you. I have said many times before that, IF a collapse situation occurs, eventually all of us will run out of pharmaceutical medications. No question about it, they will either get used up or become expired (after a long time) and useless. So you need to learn how to live without antibiotics produced in a lab.

Honey has been used for thousands of years for it's healing properties. It was commonly used until WW II, when lab antibiotics came into fashion. The use of honey is called apitherapy, which includes replenishing energy, enhancing physical stamina, and improving immune systems. Honey is produced in the bee's gut and is then regurgitated into wax cells within the hive. This gut production is part of the reason for honey's healing and antimicrobial properties. It forms a hydrogen peroxide effect in wounds and destroys bacteria, including MRSA and strep infections.

Within wounds, honey not only destroys bacterial infections, it creates a moist healing environment that allows skin cells to regrow naturally. This helps prevent raised scarring. Honey both prevents and kills bacterial infections. It has an acidic pH that is inhospitable for bacteria. It also has an osmotic effect which kills by drawing out fluid from the bacteria. Several studies have shown honey heals wounds better and faster, with a dramatic decrease in infection rates, especially in burn injuries. Apply to cuts, scrapes, burns of any depth if medical help is NOT available, rashes, or any open skin injury, after good wound cleaning.

In the event of a severe second degree burn or any third degree burn, immediate medical help should be sought. In the event this help is not available, using RAW honey would be the best choice for healing and prevention of infection. Do not rinse off the honey, just add more at least once daily and cover with plastic wrap or a clean linen or cotton wrap to hold the honey in place. Severe burn patients are at a serious risk for many problems and need to be monitored by the best medical personnel possible.

Honey is known to have a calming effect on the mind and promotes sleep. It may have a positive effect on heart disease by reducing C-reactive protein levels. Honey may reduce blood sugar levels and help stabilize wild swings of high and low levels. It has also been shown to have antiviral properties and is used frequently to help combat colds and influenza. Honey is helpful in the treatment and prevention of oral infections and disease. It soothes a sore throat and speeds healing of a strep throat infection.

Make sure you store honey as part of your preparedness plan. It never spoils or goes bad. If it crystallizes, just heat it up just a little and it will be as good as new!
One more important piece of advice: Manuka honey is NO different then regular honey. They claim it is made from "tea tree" pollen, however, the "tea tree" they site is a relative, and is NOT the true tea tree called melaleuca (just check your tea tree oil label). This is a fraud perpetrated to make money from unsuspecting customers.

Buy your local honey, save money AND reduce allergies. Local honey is made by bees from pollen that you might be allergic to. However, the minute doses of this allergen in the honey is like an ALLERGY SHOT and will help desensitize you to that pollen. That's right, it helps decrease or eliminate allergies caused by your local environment. So eat the honey produced in your area and you will be healthier and save money!

Healthy Habit of the Week: Water

Water plays a key role in supporting health, during weight loss and on in to maintenance! This is a habit we want to keep FOREVER! It helps remove toxins and other unhealthy substances stored in your fat cells. Being well-hydrated helps all your organs and systems function properly. In fact, every function in your body takes place in water!! Benefits of water: Maintain proper muscle tone Prevent sagging skin Relieve constipation Improves endocrine (hormone) function Increases metabolic function Decreases appetite Increases fat used for energy Liver function improves Decreases fluid retention Increases natural thirst Signs of dehydration: Excessive thirst Fatigue Headache Dry mouth Little or no urination Muscle weakness Dizziness Lightheadedness Have you ever experienced some of the above symptoms and thought that you needed to eat? I have! Tips to Get it in! Guzzling 30 ounces right when you wake up.  At first it might be hard, but your body will get used to it. Then throughout the day spread out your consumption. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between. Don't let yourself get thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you are already becoming dehydrated. Drink when you're not thirsty yet. It's probably a good idea to stop drinking water a few hours before you go to bed. YOU KNOW WHY!

The Lord Warns and Forewarns

“In mercy the Lord warns and forewarns. He sees the coming storm, knows the forces operating to produce it, and calls aloud through His prophets, advises, counsels, exhorts, even commands— that we prepare for what is about to befall and take shelter while yet there is time. But we go our several ways, feasting and making merry, consoling conscience with the easy fancy of ‘time enough’ and in idle hope that the tempest will pass us by, or that, when it begins to gather thick and black about us we can turn back and find shelter.”

- James E Talmage, The Parables of James E. Talmage, p. 50

How to Compost and Why

Compost your livestock manure. Manure is a very valuable and underutilized resource. It’s estimated that one horse can produce $175 a year or more in compost, with cattle doing a little better than that. Start by using a cart attached to a tractor or ATV or you can even use a wheelbarrow. Survey your property a few times each month, and pick up all the manure. While this may seem like an unnecessary chore I usually wrap it in with another chore like, checking the fence lines or moving hay. Combine that manure with any used shavings, straw, or grass clippings you may have and form a compost pile. You can make a large bin with treated lumber to hold the manure, if you aren’t concerned about how a compost pile will look on your property or you can simply make a pile - making sure it’s located on flat ground to reduce run off .

Heat: Although the composting process will occur naturally over several months or years, with human help the entire process can be completed in as little as 4-6 weeks. Four essential ingredients are needed: oxygen, moisture, and a proper Carbon:Nitrogen ratio. When these components are present, the compost will heat up naturally to approximately 130-140º F. This heat will kill most internal parasites and many weed seeds present in the manure. If you are composting correctly, you won’t be breeding flies.

Oxygen: The decomposition process takes place when particle surfaces come in contact with air. To increase oxygen intake, turn your compost piles / bins as often as possible (anywhere from 3 times per week to a few times per month). The more you turn, the faster you reach the end result. Turning the pile can be done by hand or with a tractor, in a rotating drum that you can build yourself, or in a bin that you can buy from the store. This Increases the surface area by chopping, shredding, or breaking up the material speeds up the composting process. If the compost lacks oxygen, it will have a bad odor - turn it more frequently.

Moisture: Your compost pile should be about the consistency of a well wrung-out sponge. You don’t want it too wet and you don’t want it too dry. If the compost appears too wet, turn it or add dry materials such as leaves or straw. If it’s too dry, simply add some water. Maintain moisture levels by covering your compost piles with either composting fabric or plastic tarps.

Carbon:Nitrogen: Carbon and nitrogen are the two fundamental elements in composting. The bacteria and fungi that break down the manure and turn it into compost are fueled by carbon and nitrogen. The bulk of your compost pile should be carbon with just enough nitrogen thrown in to aid in the decomposition process. Carbon is found in ‘browns’ (leaves, sawdust, straw, shredded newspaper, ashes, cornstalks) and higher nitrogen is available in ‘greens’ (clover, manures, alfalfa, garden waste, grass clippings, hay, seaweed, weeds). If you have too much nitrogen, ammonia gas will be produced and you’ll notice a foul odor. The ideal C:N ratio is 25-30:1. Below are some examples of materials that might be added to your compost and their corresponding C:N ratios.

Source Carbon:Nitrogen ratio

Manure 15:1

Dry Weeds 90:1

Weeds (fresh) 25:1

Cardboard 300-400:1

Grass clippings 15-20:1

Pine Needles 80:1

Alfalfa 12:1

Seaweed 20:1

Vegetable waste/produce 19-25:1

Garden Waste 30:1


Leaves 50-60:1

Sawdust 300-400:1 


Wood chips 500-600:1 


Straw, cornstalks 60-80:1

Locate your pile in a spot that tends to remain dry so that you can access the pile with equipment to turn it when needed. To reach the proper temperatures, a compost pile needs to be at least 3 feet square by 3-4 feet high. Composting in a bin decreases the size required for adequate temperatures, but involves more cost initially.

Compost piles are combustible. Keep your pile away from housing facilities, and just like hay storage facilities, don’t allow smoking near your compost piles! If a pile smells like alcohol, the conditions are ripe for combustion. DO NOT add water at this time; instead, turn the pile to aerate it. Your compost pile will cool off on its own and will be approximately 1/2 its original size. Finished compost will smell and look like rich soil!

You can take this compost and use it on your own garden and save money not having to buy fertilizer, or you can sell it to your neighbors, or spread it on your pasture. Livestock grazing on pastures spread with composted manure (instead of fresh manure) are more likely to graze normally and are less likely to restrict grazing to areas with the thinnest application rates. Your pasture will produce more grass meaning you will have to buy less hay.

How to Maximize the Range of your FRS/GMRS Radios

If you collect any random group of radio owners together and asked them what they would most like to improve on their radios, the chances are most of them would emphatically say ‘more range’.

Now, when we talk about greater range, it is important to realize there are two parts to a radio’s range.  The first part is how far away its transmission can be heard, the second part is from how far away it can receive transmissions from other radios.

There is usually little point in improving one part of a radio transceiver’s range without improving the other part as well.  What is the point of being able to transmit further than you can receive (or vice versa)?  The whole idea of a two-way radio transceiver is that you can communicate bi-directionally, both to and from some other person.

On the other hand, if you made some tweak to your receiving circuit so you could now hear stations twice as far away, and if they were to do the same thing to their receiving circuits too, then that would balance out and you’d both be able to send and receive to each other again.

So if you are seeking to optimize conditions among your own group’s radios, making an ‘unbalanced’ improvement to your radios is okay if you make the change to all the radios.  And of course, always, any better performing feature is to be preferred to an under-performing feature.

Number 1 Priority :  Antenna

The most important thing you can do to improve your radio’s range – both for transmitting and receiving – is to improve its antenna.  For some strange reason (mainly cost, secondarily size) the standard default antenna that most radios come with is very disappointing and does not perform as well as an antenna is theoretically capable of doing.

A ‘good’ antenna may be a bit larger than the standard default the radio comes with (the ideal length for an ‘on radio’ FRS/GMRS antenna is about six inches) but that’s not a huge increase in size so is almost an essential ‘must do’ upgrade.

A poster on a Yahoo group about the Baofeng UV-5R transceivers gave a great example of the impact the antenna can have on the radio.  He measured the strength of transmitted signal from a UV-5Rwith its standard antenna, and with two different after-market antennas instead.

The standard antenna gave a signal strength of -19 dBm.  The first of the two after market antennas gave a strength of -12 dBm and the second one came in at -10 dBm (lower numbers are better).

Now for the amazing thing.  These are logarithmic measurements, so a 9dBm change is about the same as an 8.5-fold increase in transmitting power AND receiver sensitivity.  Oh – the cost of this amazing antenna that converted the radio from an average performer to a super-performer (the Nagoya NA-701)?  Less than $10 on Amazon!

Now if you have a FRS radio, you probably can’t replace the factory antenna, because it almost certainly comes with a fixed ‘hard wired’ antenna.  The same is true of most but not all GMRS radios (especially the low-priced ‘blister pack’ consumer units).  The importance of a good antenna can not be overstated, and so you should make this a part of your buying evaluation of radios – do they have removable antennas or not.

A good antenna is by far the best thing you can do to improve your radio’s performance.  It will give you a balanced improvement in both transmitting and receiving capabilities, and will give you the equivalent of a hugely overpowered transmitter, without breaking the law/restrictions on transmitter power, and without using up your batteries more quickly (which would happen if the transmitter was consuming power at a much greater rate).

If you have a radio to be used in your car or at your home/retreat/wherever, you have more options for antennas without needing to be quite so concerned about antenna size/weight/portability.  In particular, there’s another amazing transformation you can do for a fixed ‘base’ station, and that is to mount your antenna outside the building, and as high up as possible.

Getting your antenna up higher not only gives a clearer line of sight to nearby radios, but also extends the line of sight distance for further away ones.  At typical heights when your radio is being held to your head, the horizon is only 3 miles away (and if the other radio you are communicating with is also, say, 5.5 ft above ground level, then the total distance between you should be under 6 miles for line of sight conditions).  But if your antenna is 20 ft up, you’ve almost doubled the distance to the horizon, and you could now be almost 9 miles away from the tower antenna.

If your communications will always be in one general direction, you can also consider choosing a directional antenna to focus your transmitting power (and your receiving sensitivity too of course) in only one part of the hemisphere that otherwise radiates out from your antenna.  Even if that is not the case, there can be advantages to having both a general antenna and also a very directionally focused one, and if you need to, switch from the general to the directional antenna and point it where the other radio you want to communicate with is, and that will surely give you another doubling or quadrupling of equivalent transmitter power and receiver sensitivity.

Number 2 Priority :  Power and Voltage

If you have a portable unit, maybe it is designed to operate with a rechargeable battery pack that it is provided with.  If so, well and good.  But maybe it is designed to work with standard AA or AAA type batteries, or perhaps even a 9V battery.

If that is the case, there is a temptation to replace the standard single-use batteries with rechargeable Ni-MH batteries.  Normally, this is a great thing to do, but rechargeable batteries (both Ni-Cd and Ni-MH) are 1.2V per battery, whereas standard single-use batteries are 1.5V.  Rechargeable batteries have 20% less voltage.

How important is this?

Your radio’s receiver will work pretty much the same with either voltage.  But your radio’s transmitting power is probably proportional to the square of the battery voltage.  In theory this is true, but maybe the radio has a voltage limiting circuit inside it and cuts down the voltage from the standard batteries and runs at full power with rechargeables.

Assuming no voltage limiting circuitry, then with the rechargeable batteries, your radio might be only developing 64% of the power it would with the standard batteries.  That’s an appreciable power reduction – not as significant as with an antenna change, for sure, but still an appreciable one, and if you’re in an area of marginal coverage, it might make all the difference between getting a signal out or not.

What to do in such cases?  Either use single-use batteries, or have an external power pack with sufficient rechargeable batteries to equate to or slightly exceed the standard battery voltage and a wire running in to the radio from the external power pack.

Oh – in addition, if you’re in a marginal coverage area, make sure your batteries are reasonably fully charged.  That could help, too.

Number 3 Priority :  Hold Your Radio High, Don’t Shield It

We suggest you get an external microphone/speaker or earpiece/microphone for your radio, so that when you are transmitting, or struggling to receive a weak signal, you can hold your radio not at your mouth but high above your head.

Not only does this give your signal a bit more clearance, but it prevents your body from soaking up some/much of the signal.

If this is not practical, at the very least, and as best you know where the other people you wish to talk with are, don’t put your body between the radio and the direction you want to transmit/receive.  That can sometimes make a small bit of difference too.

Number 4 Priority :  Move Your Position

If there’s a big barn immediately next to you and blocking your line of sight to the other radio you are trying to communicate with, then (if the signal is poor) move so that the barn is no longer blocking you.

If you’re in a small dip in the land, climb out of it and onto the highest ground you can find.

While radio waves will go through objects to some extent, as a general rule of thumb, the more clearly you can see the other person you want to communicate with, the more clearly your radio signal will reach him, and the more obstructions between you, the lower the signal quality will be.

Other Comments

The preceding items are about all you can do once you’ve bought your radio(s).

But you need to consider performance issues when first buying your radios to start with.  We’ll be writing about this separately and soon.

In general, we suggest the most important part of your radio to optimize is its receiving ability.  Think in real life – which super-power would you prefer :  Super-hearing or a super-loud voice?  Most people would choose super-hearing, and you should too.

Your objective is not to be heard by everyone, everywhere, within an extraordinary radius of your radio.  Rather, you want to be able to hear everyone – friend, foe, and neutral stranger – and communicate primarily with those you need to communicate with and ideally without being overheard by any more people than you absolutely can’t avoid.

The less transmitting power you need and use, the better.  That keeps your transmissions closer to ‘below the radar’ of other people who might be out there, and saves the batteries in your radio.

Save Your Own “Survival Seeds” [Part 2]

Seed Saving: The Seed

Seed saving techniques vary from crop to crop, but typically start with having a good gene pool from the start.

Most crops that cross pollinate will need a number of parent plants of the same variety to prevent inbreeding. Inbreeding is when related plants (i.e. siblings or relatives) mate or cross. This causes the offspring to have limited genes, which means that they may not grow well or survive stress. This is important for seed savers to remember if they want productive gardens year after year.

Inbred crops lose vitality and productivity over time- something called “inbreeding depression.” Crops like carrots are especially susceptible to inbreeding depression. Having a large population that can cross pollinate will prevent this from happening over time. Sharing seed with other folks in your region is another great way to prevent inbreeding depression. This essentially injects new genes into your gene pool.

In order for plants to set seed, they have to be able to flower, and in order to flower, they must have a long enough growing season. If you have a hard frost while your crops are flowering, it may kill the crop or prevent seed from growing. This may mean that you need to start some of your crops indoors in order to give them a long enough growing season.

Once your crops have flowered and begun to set seed, you must pick a number of individuals to gather seed from. The more plants that you choose the better, but it’s also important to exclude plants that seem weak, have diseases or are less productive than the others. Choosing seed from the healthiest plants is wise, but make sure that you’re still choosing seed from as many of your healthy plants as possible to prevent inbreeding depression.

Allow the seed to mature on the plant. Harvesting seeds before they are ripe may reduce their viability (i.e. it may kill the developing seed). This is a tricky business- seed must be harvested once it is mature, but before the plant begins to “let go” of the seed. Most plants don’t hold onto their seeds forever. At a certain point, the plants begin to allow their seeds to be released or spread a number of different ways. For the gardener this typically means that the capsules containing the seeds will begin to break, shatter or even explode, spreading the seeds out on the ground around the parent plant. It’s important that seed savers observe their plants and remove the seed before this stage.

Collecting Seed

Collecting the seeds is a fairly simple procedure- the seed pods should be picked, or seeds stripped from the plant by hand. Because there are so many different types of seed pods, this procedure can be different for different plants. Crops like lettuce that send up a spike can be hung to dry over paper bags or cookie trays to catch the drying seed. Some crops like tomatoes and cucumbers may need some extra work to get the seed cleaned up and ready to store.

For many greens and crops like beans, the seed is ready when it is dry. Bean pods should be dry and hard when the beans are harvested, and the beans should have dried down so that they rattle in the shell. These seeds are already dry, so they typically don’t need a long drying period. These seeds are also fairly simple to remove from the seed pods- either by rubbing the pods between your hands, crushing, or cracking the pods by hand. Many other seeds must be processed and rinsed before they can be saved and stored. Here are a few:

Tips for Collecting Seed From Specific Crops

Peppers: When peppers are very ripe, they can be cut open and the seed removed from the central cone. The seed should scrape easily from the flesh of the pepper. The seed can begin the drying process immediately without rinsing.

Eggplant: Several eggplant fruit should be left on the plant. When they harden and begin to shrivel slightly, the eggplant can be cut open and the seeds removed. The seeds can be treated the same way as peppers.

Tomatoes: Tomatoes are tricky because the seeds have a fleshy, gelatinous sack around them that needs to be removed before the seed can be dried for storage. To remove this sack the traditional way, squeeze or scoop the seed from the ripe tomatoes into a bowl or jar. If there isn’t much seed, add a little water to the seed mass. Cover the bowl or jar with a cloth and allow the jar to sit to sit at room temperature, out of direct light for several days. Stir the seeds once or twice a day. Soon you will begin to see mold or fungus grow on the surface of the seed mass. This mold will essentially eat the slimy coat around the seeds. This sack is nature’s way of preventing the seeds from germinating inside the tomato, and the fermentation of this coat is the tomato plants way of removing the coat so that the seeds can germinate, but also using fermentation and the fungus to produce antibiotics that destroy viruses and bacteria that would otherwise infect the seed.

After several days, pour some water into the jar. Bad and immature seed as well as the decomposing sacks will float to the surface and can be poured down the drain. The good seed will sink to the bottom of the jar. You may need to pour water into the jar several times, but you will eventually end up with pulp-free, good tomato seed that you can strain out and dry for storage.

Squash and pumpkin: Squash and pumpkin seed should not be harvested until it is very ripe- squashes should be left on the vine until they harden up. Chop the fruit open and scoop out the seed- wash the filaments and flesh from the seed using slightly warm water.

Drying seed:

Dry seed in a cool dry place over the course of several days- dry seed will be brittle rather than flexible. Do not dry seed in an oven as the heat will kill the seeds.

Once the seeds are dry they can be stored. Beans, peas and other legumes prefer to “breathe,” and should be placed in a plastic bag with some air exchange. Most other seed can be stored in mason jars, or in plastic bags inside of mason jars.

Seed must be stored in a dry, cool, dark location to keep it viable. A dry cellar out of light is the best type of location. In humid environments it pays to purchase silica gel packets (or recycle ones from products you purchase) to include in the seed storage jars. This will keep humidity low and prolong the shelf life of your seed.

Most seed will last for several years if stored in this manner.

Seed saving can be a huge benefit to anyone interested in self-sufficiency. For many gardeners, seed saving allows crops to adapt and respond to local conditions, resulting in productive, resilient crops over time. The diversity of crops grown on this planet has plummeted over the last 100 years, and with it the resilience of agricultural systems. In this regard, saving seed helps reduce the losses of ancient, well-adapted crops to the onslaught of commercial seed companies and monocultural systems.

Seed savers are not only providing for their families and preserving a legacy thousands of years old, but also protesting the new, unsustainable ways of producing food. Saving seed is not only a wise thing to do, but a fun thing to do as a family! Kids love helping save seed, and teaching them how to be more independent and live sustainably is an incredibly fun and rewarding activity.

Now you have the information you need to get started. You have the ability and knowledge to begin harvesting, cleaning and storing seed from year to year, saving money, growing better crops, and living more independently. Have fun as you put this information to use and start down the road to seed independence.

Nate Storey PhD

Save Your Own “Survival Seeds” [Part 1]

This article is the firies about seed saving. I’ll show you how to do it, and why to do it… because many modern seeds don’t grow well year after year.This means that if you value your independence or self-sufficiency, you have to buy new seed to plant every year.

This is good for seed companies’ bottom line, but it’s bad for both your independence and your pocketbook. If you needed seed and the seed company wasn’t around to supply you, where would you go? Where would you get seed for the next growing season? What if the seed company didn’t have a variety suited to your climate or region? What if the seed companies ceased to exist?While some people feel comfortable buying seed year after year, many others have begun to save and share seed. Learning how to save your own seeds, especially from heirloom and locally adapted crops, frees you from dependence on seed companies. This gives you power over the future of your garden, the food you consume, and your ability to feed your family.

Seed saving is a very ancient tradition

In fact, saving seed is the very thing that made agriculture possible. Today, producing seed and saving seed is done by big business. In the past it was done by primitive people, who noticed which crop plants grew the best, and shook some of that plants seed into a bag. They would save this seed to plant the next season. Because many modern crops are very complicated, it’s easy to forget that the practice is just as simple and powerful as it was for our primitive forefathers.

Seed saving is an important skill both for the survival of people and the survival of the many crops that were bred over the centuries- “heirloom” varieties uniquely adapted to the conditions and stresses of the environment in which they originated. These crops typically breed true and offer unique solutions to nature’s problems; problems like drought, blight, insects, frosts, soil alkalinity, etc. Many of these crops represent thousands of years of careful observation and cultivation, and the primary way they have been, and will be preserved is through seed saving.

An accomplished seed saver will consistently have his own seed, uniquely adapted to his garden to plant year after year. If seed is selected and saved carefully, many gardeners can develop their own unique gene pools that are resilient, appropriate and productive.

Almost all crops can be cultivated from seed. Some are easy to select, harvest and save, while others are more difficult. To begin saving seed, a gardener must understand a few things:

Different crops live and reproduce on different timelines.

Annual shave short life-spans, germinating from seed, growing and reproducing in the course of a single summer. These crops are usually much easier to collect seed from year after year. There are many annual garden crops, including tomatoes, squash, corn, beans and lettuce.

Biennial crops germinate from seed one year, growing over the course of a growing season (this is called vegetative growth), overwintering, and then flowering and going to seed the following year. Good examples of biennials are beets and chard.

Perennial crops often survive for many years, and may flower and produce seeds every year once the crop is sexually mature. Many garden herbs, berries and fruits fall into this category.

This is important to understand what type of crop you are growing, because if you are waiting for a beet to flower the first year you will be very disappointed!

Seeds are produced by sexual reproduction.

This means that the offspring that result from seeds from a parent plant don’t always resemble the parent plant! Pollen from another type of plant may have fertilized the flowers on the parent plant, leading to strange looking crops. This is especially important to remember with crops like melons, cucumbers and squash as well as the many different varieties of peppers. Different varieties in these groups of plants cross readily. So, in order to control what kind of a plant the seed will grow, the pollination of some crops must be controlled by planting them far apart, or putting a screen around them to keep insects out.

Hybrid crops will typically not breed true.

Many modern crops are hybrids. Hybrids are stronger and bigger in the first generation because they have lots of genes. But, if two hybrids cross, then all of those genes cause the offspring to be very different from the parents. This means that the seed from hybrids is pretty useless, because you don’t know what you will get if you grow it.

Seeds are alive!

This means that seeds can be killed if they are not cared for properly. You must be careful with how you collect, dry and store your seeds or you will kill them.

Hope you enjoyed this primer – stay tuned for more specific info on seed saving techniques!

Nate Storey, PhD

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52 Wild Plants You Can Eat

We all know which vegetables and fruits are safe to eat, but what about other wild edibles? Here are a few common North American goodies that are safe to eat if you find yourself stuck in the wild:

Blackberries:

Many wild berries are not safe to eat, it’s best to stay away from them. But wild blackberries are 100% safe to eat and easy to recognize. They have red branches that have long thorns similar to a rose, the green leaves are wide and jagged. They are best to find in the spring when their white flowers bloom, they are clustered all around the bush and their flowers have 5 points. The berries ripen around August to September.


Dandelions:
The easiest to recognize if the dandelion, in the spring they show their bright yellow buds. You can eat the entire thing raw or cook them to take away the bitterness, usually in the spring they are less bitter. They are packed with Vitamin A and Vitamin C, and beta carotene.

Asparagus:
The vegetable that makes your pee smell funny grows in the wild in most of Europe and parts of North Africa, West Asia, and North America. Wild asparagus has a much thinner stalk than the grocery-store variety. It’s a great source of source of vitamin C, thiamine, potassium and vitamin B6. Eat it raw or boil it like you would your asparagus at home.

Elderberries:

An elderberry shrub can grow easily grow about 10 feet and yield tons of food, their leaf structure is usually 7 main leaves on a long stretched out stem, the leaves are long and round and the leaves themselves have jagged edges. These are easiest to identify in the spring as they blossom white clustered flowers that resembles an umbrella. Mark the spot and harvest the berries when they’re ripe around September. Elderberries are known for their flu and cold healing properties, you can make jelly from them and are very sweet and delicious.

Gooseberries:

These are also common in the woods in northern Missouri, the branches are grey and have long red thorns, and the leaves are bright green and have 5 points, they have rounded edges and look similar to the shape of a maple leaf. The flowers in the spring are very odd looking, they are bright red and hang down, the berries ripen around late May early June.


Mulberries:
Mulberry leaves have two types, one spade shape and a 5 fingered leaf. Both have pointed edges.


Pine:

There are over a hundred different species of pine. Not only can the food be used as a supply of nourishment but, also can be used for medicinal purposes. Simmer a bowl of water and add some pine needles to make tea. Native americans used to ground up pine to cure skurvy, its rich in vitamin C.



Kudzu:
Pretty much the entire plant is edible and is also known for medicinal values. We were blessed to find this great patch of Kudzu surrounded by Blackberries. The leaves can be eaten raw, steam or boiled. The root can be eaten as well.

Daylily:
You can find this plant in many parts of the country, they have bright orange flowers and foliage that comes straight up from the ground, no stem. You can eat the flower buds before they open, just cook it like a vegetable.

Pecans:

The trees mature around 20-30 ft, some can grow up to 100 ft tall. The leaves are bright green and long, smooth edges and the peacans themselves are grown in green pods and when ripe the pods open and the seeds fall to the ground.

Hazelnuts:
Hazelnut trees are short and tend to be around 12-20 ft tall, the leaves are bright green and have pointed edges, the hazelnuts themselves grown in long strands of pods and generally ripen by September and October.


Walnuts:
Walnut trees are the most recognisable and the tallest nut tree in North America, they can range from 30-130 feet tall. The leaf structure is very similar to the peacan, the leaves are spear like and grow on a long stem 6-8 leaves on both sides. The leaves edges are smooth and green. The walnuts tend to grow in clusters and ripen in the fall.

Acorns:

Acorns can tend to be bitter, they are highly recognizable as well, they should be eaten cooked and a limited amount.

Hickory Nuts:

Hickory nut trees can grow about 50-60 ft tall, their green leaves are spear like and can grow very large, they have pointed edges. The hickory nut is round and ten to ripen in September or October.

Clovers:

Clovers are everywhere if you’re lucky *pun*, and edible! If you find grass you will most likely see this sprouting everywhere, their distinctive trifoil leafs are easy to spot, you can eat them raw but they taste better boiled.


Red Clovers:
Blossoms can be eaten fresh or steeped in hot water for tea. And you can toss both the green leaves and blossoms into a salad.

Chicory:

You can find these in Europe, North America and Australia. The entire plant can be eaten along with its white flowers.

Coltsfoot:


Edible parts: Flowers and young leaves can be eaten. Flowers can be eaten raw and mixed into a salad adding a wonderful aromatic flavor. Use the flower head and place them into a glass jar adding raw honey and storing it for a few weeks for its strength; this makes a great home remedy to help calm a cough, or just add some of this coltsfoot honey into your tea. You may dry the flower heads and use them as tea or in cooking/baking recipes. Young leaves are bitter but better after boiled them and then in salads, stews, or just add lemon & extra virgin olive oil & seasoning.


Creeping Charlie:
Edible parts: Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. The leaves have a mild bitter flavor with a aromatic tang great for salads or jucing. You can cook these young leaves like spinach, or add to soups, stews, and omelet. Tea is made from the fresh or dried leaves. This wild edible has been known to be added to beer in much the same way as hops, for flavor and clarity.

Cattail:

Known as cattails or punks in North America and bullrush and reedmace in England, the typha genus of plants is usually found near the edges of freshwater wetlands. Cattails were a staple in the diet of many Native American tribes. Most of a cattail is edible. You can boil or eat raw the rootstock, or rhizomes, of the plant. The rootstock is usually found underground. Make sure to wash off all the mud. The best part of the stem is near the bottom where the plant is mainly white. Either boil or eat the stem raw. Boil the leaves like you would spinach. The corn dog-looking female flower spike can be broken off and eaten like corn on the cob in the early summer when the plant is first developing. It actually has a corn-like taste to it.

Garlic Mustard:
Edible parts: Flowers, leaves, roots and seeds. Leaves can be eaten in any season, when the weather gets hot, the leaves will have a taste bitter. Flowers can be chopped and tossed into salads. The roots can be collected in early spring and again in late fall, when no flower stalks are present. Garlic mustard roots taste very spicy somewhat like horseradish…. yummy! In the fall the seed can be collected and eaten.

Chickweed:
These usually appear May and July, you can eat the leaves raw or boiled, they’re high in vitamins and minerals!

Hop Clover:
Edible parts: The flowers, leaves and seeds are edible. All clover types are known to be part of the paleo diet of the First Nations people. Flowers can be put into teas. Seeds (in autumn) can be collected and eaten as is or roasted and can be ground into flour as well. Leaves can be tossed into salads, omelets, juicing, sandwiches, etc.

Herb Robert:
Edible parts: The entire plant. Fresh leaves can be used in salads or to make tea. The flower, leaves and root can be dried and stored using it later as a tea or herbs as a nutrient booster. Rubbing fresh leaves on the skin is known to repel mosquitoes, and the entire plant repels rabbits and deer which would compliment and protect your garden.


Beach Lovage:
Use the leaves raw in salads or salsas, or cooked in soups, with rice, or in mixed cooked greens. Beach lovage can have a strong flavor and is best used as a seasoning, like parsley, rather than eaten on its own. Beach lovage tastes best before flowers appear, and is also called Scotch lovage, sea lovage, wild celery, and petrushki.

Plantain:

Is another one of those plants that seems to thrive right on the edge of gardens and driveways, but it’s also edible. Pick the green, rippled leaves and leave the tall flower stems. Blanch the leaves and sauté with some butter and garlic just as you would with kale or any other tough green.

Garlic Grass:

Garlic grass (Allium vineale or wild garlic) is an herbal treat often found lurking in fields, pastures, forests and disturbed soil. It resembles cultivated garlic or spring onions, but the shoots are often very thin. Use it in sandwiches, salads, pesto or chopped on main courses like scallions.

Watercress:

Cresses (Garden cress, water cress, rock cress, pepper cress) are leafy greens long cultivated in much of Northern Europe. They have a spicy tang and are great in salads, sandwiches, and soups.

Lamb’s Quarters:

Use the leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, in mixed cooked greens, or in any dish that calls for cooking greens. Lamb’s Quarters are susceptible to leaf miners; be careful to harvest plants that are not infested. Although Lamb’s Quarters are best before the flowers appear, if the fresh young tips are continuously harvested, lamb’s quarters can be eaten all summer. Lamb’s Quarters is also called Pigweed, Fat Hen, and Goosefoot.


Goosetongue:

Use the young leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, in mixed cooked greens, or in any dish that calls for cooking greens. Goosetongue is best in spring and early summer, before the flowers appear. Goosetongue can be confused with poisonous Arrowgrass, so careful identification is essential. Goosetongue is also called Seashore Plantain.

Joe Pye Weed:

Edible parts: The entire plant can be used including the root. The leaves and stems can be harvested in the summer before the flower buds open and can be dried and stored for later use. The roots are harvested in the autumn. Fresh flowers can be used to make an herbal tea.

Joe Pye weed is named after a legendary Indian healer who used a decoction of the plant to cure typhus fever in colonial America. Native tribes used gravel root as a healing tonic included relieving constipation, washing wounds with a strong tea made from the root to prevent infection.

Pigweed:
Edible parts: The whole plant – leaves, roots, stem, seeds. The Amarath seed is small and very nutritious and easy to harvest, the seed grain is used to make flour for baking uses. Roasting the seeds can enhance the flavor, also you can sprout the raw seeds using them in salads, and in sandwiches, etc. Young leaves can be eaten raw or cooked like spinach, sautéed, etc. Fresh or dried pigweed leaves can be used to make tea.

Fireweed:

This pretty little plant is found primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. You can identify fireweed by its purple flower and the unique structure of the leaves’ veins; the veins are circular rather than terminating on the edges of the leaves. Several Native American tribes included fireweed in their diet. It’s best eaten young when the leaves are tender. Mature fireweed plants have tough and bitter tasting leaves. You can eat the stalk of the plant as well. The flowers and seeds have a peppery taste. Fireweed is a great source of vitamins A and C.

Monkey Flower:
Use the leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, mixed cooked greens, or any dish that calls for cooking greens. Monkey flower is best before the flowers appear, although the flowers are also edible and are good in salads or as a garnish.

Prunella vulgaris:


Edible parts: the young leaves and stems can be eaten raw in salads; the whole plant can be boiled and eaten as a potherb; and the aerial parts of the plant can be powdered and brewed in a cold infusion to make a tasty beverage. The plant contains vitamins A, C, and K, as well as flavonoids and rutin. Medicinally, the whole plant is poulticed onto wounds to promote healing. A mouthwash made from an infusion of the whole plant can be used to treat sore throats, thrush and gum infections. Internally, a tea can be used to treat diarrhea and internal bleeding.

Shepherd’s Purse:

Use the young leaves raw in salads, or cooked in soups, in mixed cooked greens or in any dish that calls for cooking greens. Although the leaves may be eaten throughout the summer, the mature leaves have a peppery taste that does not appeal to all palates.

Mallow Malva neglecta:

Edible parts:All parts of the mallow plant are edible — the leaves, the stems, the flowers, the seeds, and the roots (it’s from the roots that cousin Althaea gives the sap that was used for marshmallows). Because it’s a weed that grows plentifully in neglected areas, mallows have been used throughout history as a survival food during times of crop failure or war. Mallows are high in mucilage, a sticky substance that gives them a slightly slimy texture, similar to okra, great in soups. Mallow has a nice pleasant nutty flavor. One of the most popular uses of mallows is as a salad green.

Miner’s Lettuce:
Parts: Flowers, Leaves, Root. Leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. A fairly bland flavor with a mucilaginous texture, it is quite nice in a salad. The young leaves are best, older leaves can turn bitter especially in the summer and if the plant is growing in a hot dry position. Although individual leaves are fairly small, they are produced in abundance and are easily picked. Stalks and flowers can be eaten raw. A nice addition to the salad bowl. Bulb also can be eaten raw. Although very small and labor-intensive to harvest, the boiled and peeled root has the flavor of chestnuts. Another report says that the plant has a fibrous root system so this report seems to be erroneous.

Field Pennycress:
Field Pennycress is a weed found in most parts of the world. Its growing season is early spring to late winter. You can eat the seeds and leaves of field pennycress raw or boiled. The only caveat with field pennycress is not to eat it if it’s growing in contaminated soil. Pennycress is a hyperaccumulator of minerals, meaning it sucks up any and all minerals around it. General rule is don’t eat pennycress if it’s growing by the side of the road or is near a Superfund site.

Sweet Rocket:



This plant is often mistaken for Phlox. Phlox has five petals, Dame’s Rocket has just four. The flowers, which resemble phlox, are deep lavender, and sometimes pink to white. The plant is part of the mustard family, which also includes radishes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and, mustard. The plant and flowers are edible, but fairly bitter. The flowers are attractive added to green salads. The young leaves can also be added to your salad greens (for culinary purposes, the leaves should be picked before the plant flowers). The seed can also be sprouted and added to salads. NOTE: It is not the same variety as the herb commonly called Rocket, which is used as a green in salads.

Wild Bee Balm:
Edible parts: Leaves boiled for tea, used for seasoning, chewed raw or dried; flowers edible. Wild bee balm tastes like oregano and mint. The taste of bee balm is reminiscent of citrus with soft mingling of lemon and orange. The red flowers have a minty flavor. Any place you use oregano, you can use bee balm blossoms. The leaves and flower petals can also be used in both fruit and regular salads. The leaves taste like the main ingredient in Earl Gray Tea and can be used as a substitute.

Mallow:


Mallow is a soft tasty leaf good in fresh salads. Use it like lettuce and other leafy greens. You may find the smaller younger leaves a tad more tender. Toss in salads, or cook as you would other tender greens like spinach. The larger leave can be used for stuffing, like grape leaves. The seed pods are also edible while green and soft before they harden, later turning woody and brown. I hear they can be cooked like a vegetable. I’ve harvested and eaten them raw, and want to try steaming, pickling, fermenting, and preparing like ocra.


Pineapple Weed:
Edible parts: Pineapple weed flowers and leaves are a tasty finger food while hiking or toss in salads. Flowers can also be dried out and crushed so that it can be used as flour. As with chamomile, pineapple weed is very good as a tea. Native Americans used a leaf infusion (medicine prepared by steeping flower or leaves in a liquid without boiling) for stomach gas pains and as a laxative.

Milk Thistle:

Milk thistle is most commonly sought for its medicial properties of preventing and repairing liver damage. But most parts of the plants are also edible and tasty. Until recently, it was commonly cultivated in Eurpoean vegetable gardens. Leaves can be de-spined for use as salad greens or sautéed like collard greens; water-soaked stems prepared like asparugus; roots boiled or baked; flower pods used like artichoke heads.

Prickly Pear Cactus:
Found in the deserts of North America, the prickly pear cactus is a very tasty and nutritional plant that can help you survive the next time you’re stranded in the desert. The fruit of the prickly pear cactus looks like a red or purplish pear. Hence the name. Before eating the plant, carefully remove the small spines on the outer skin or else it will feel like you’re swallowing a porcupine. You can also eat the young stem of the prickly pear cactus. It’s best to boil the stems before eating.


Mullein Verbascum thapsus:
Edible parts: Leaves and flowers. The flowers are fragrant and taste sweet, the leaves are not fragrant and taste slightly bitter. This plant is best known for a good cup of tea and can be consumed as a regular beverage. Containing vitamins B2, B5, B12, and D, choline, hesperidin, para amino benzoic acid, magnesium, and sulfur, but mullein tea is primarily valued as an effective treatment for coughs and lung disorders.

Wild Grape Vine:



Edible parts: Grapes and leaves. The ripe grape can be eaten but tastes better after the first frost. Juicing the grapes or making wine is most common. The leaves are also edible. A nutritional mediterranean dish called “dolmades”, made from grape leaves are stuffed with rice, meat and spices. The leaves can be blanched and frozen for use throughout the winter months.

Yellow Rocket:
It tends to grow in damp places such as hedges, stream banks and waysides and comes into flower from May to August. Yellow Rocket was cultivated in England as an early salad vegetable. It makes a wonderful salad green when young and the greens are also an excellent vegetable if treated kindly. Lightly steam or gently sweat in butter until just wilted. The unopened inflorescences can also be picked and steamed like broccoli.


Purslane:
While considered an obnoxious weed in the United States, purslane can provide much needed vitamins and minerals in a wilderness survival situation. Ghandi actually numbered purslane among his favorite foods. It’s a small plant with smooth fat leaves that have a refreshingly sour taste. Purslane grows from the beginning of summer to the start of fall. You can eat purslane raw or boiled. If you’d like to remove the sour taste, boil the leaves before eating.


Sheep Sorrel:
Sheep sorrel is native to Europe and Asia but has been naturalized in North America. It’s a common weed in fields, grasslands, and woodlands. It flourishes in highly acidic soil. Sheep sorrel has a tall, reddish stem and can reach heights of 18 inches. Sheep sorrel contains oxalates and shouldn’t be eaten in large quantities. You can eat the leaves raw. They have a nice tart, almost lemony flavor.


Wild Mustard:
Wild mustard is found in the wild in many parts of the world. It blooms between February and March. You can eat all parts of the plant- seeds, flowers, and leaves.

Wood Sorrel:
You’ll find wood sorrel in all parts of the world; species diversity is particularly rich in South America. Humans have used wood sorrel for food and medicine for millennia. The Kiowa Indians chewed on wood sorrel to alleviate thirst, and the Cherokee ate the plant to cure mouth sores. The leaves are a great source of vitamin C. The roots of the wood sorrel can be boiled. They’re starchy and taste a bit like a potato.