Horse Hoof Fungus

Video on how to process Horse Hoof Fungus:

-Chisel out inside of fungus
-Chisel off hard exterior
-wet amadou then hammer out

Tanning and Processing Hides

Process Hides (There are many different methods. Dry-scrape, wet-scrape, braining, smoking, pre-smoking and fur tanning ...)

 ----------------------------

How to Defrorst Skins

 When I bring home deer hides that are frozen and rolled two to a plastic trash bag, I hit them with a hose on the outside, then drop them in a 33 ga. Rubbermaid trash container for a while. I work on them a little, unrolling them as  they thaw a bit. After 3 hrs or so I expect to have them at least pulled apart. At that point I will change the water, wash  them well with the hose and return to fresh water in the barrel . Using the warm water will help for sure at the first step, and I have done that many times, but be sure to change to cold for soak till you are ready to transport to avoid spoilage.

Soak overnight/ thaw

---------------------------- 

-Skin hide from carcass

-If you do not plan to tan the hide immediately after skinning it, remove as much of the flesh, fat, membranous tissue as possible. Lightly sprinkle salt over the inside (hairless) of the hide, tightly roll it and place in a freezer. 

-The removal of the fat, flesh and tissue is the most important step. Place the hide on a large flat surface for scraping the flesh side of the hide. Make sure all the fat and flesh is completely removed or the hide will not tan properly. Warning: this process should not be rushed. It is hard work and requires time and patience. A sharp knife makes for quick work, but there is too much risk of ruining the hide with a slip. Scrapers made of bone or brass tube with a flattened end

- Hair Removal (or skip to next step if want hair on)

If you plan to tan both sides of the hide to make buckskin. Mix One (1) gallon of hardwood ashes, Two (2) pounds of slaked lime, with five gallons of warm water in a large barrel. Stir until dissolved. Immerse the hide. Stir two or three times daily for three to four days or until all the hair comes off easily. Warning: If the hide is left in the mixture too long, it will deteriorate.

Remove the hide from the barrel and rinse in cold water. Place the hide on a raised surface with the hair side up. Use the back of a knife blade or wood scraper to scrape off the hair. Rinse the de-haired skin several times with clean water. Place the hide back in the empty barrel. Pour in ten (10) gallons of cold water and two (2) quarts of vinegar. Replace the hide and soak for 24 hours. Stir every 4 hours. After 24 hours, empty the garbage can and fill it with clean water. Soak the hide in the clean water overnight.

-CLEANING- NEUTRALIZING
 Dissolve one (1) pound of alum in one (1) gallon of warm water in a small bucket. Pour 2 ½ pounds of salt in the large barrel with four (4) gallon of cold water. Pour the contents of the small bucket into the large barrel and mix thoroughly. Replace the hide in the large barrel and soak for six (6) to seven nine (9) days, depending on the weather. Stir the mixture a couple of times a day making sure the entire hide is always immersed. After soaking, remove the hide, drain and thoroughly rinse.

-DRYING - SOFTENING
 Place the wet hide out of the direct sunlight on an upright flat plywood surface with flesh-side out. Allow to partially dry and rub lightly with warm Neat’s Foot Oil. Remove it from the board and repeat the process on the other side. Remove excess oil with an absorbent cloth.

-SOFTENING 
Lightly dampen the hide with a cloth. Remove excess water. Gently rub the hide using a back-and forth motion across a smooth (no splinters please) surface, a log, saw horse, metal pole. Continue the process until the hide is soft and supple. Very lightly apply Neat’s Foot Oil when needed.

-SANDING
 After softening the hide, rub fine grit sandpaper over the surface of the hide to remove tool marks and further soften the leather. When it looks very soft and smooth, your buckskin is ready for use in making clothing, bags, wall handing or anything else you desire.

---------------

How to Tan using Leder Tanning Kit:

-Flesh them, removing all meat, fat or inner membrane off the skin

 - Skin should be salted immediately after skinned, rub salt well into the skin and fold in half, and then half again the other way. when folding, it's flesh to flesh, so theres just hair showing on the outside, then just fold over, you don't want exposed skin air drying so much faster then the salted inner parts.

 -if wish to store then follow step otherwise skip
Then place on a slope of around 10 to 20 degrees with the open ends downhill and place a flat piece of wood on top and few blocks, brick or rocks to press it down and squeeze out the moisture. the next day scrape off all the old wet salt, save this to dry and re-use on another skin, and re-apply dry salt, refold and weigh down again. Drying to a stiff stage like heavy old damp oilskin will do, but better is to about the stiffness of old cardboard.
Skin must be tanned within one month.

- Mix Leder Tanning Formula with water in a suitable bucket or tub. Place skins and salt into the solution. The tanning process takes between 3 to 10 days depending on the thickness of the skins.

- When the tanning process is complete, wash skin and apply Leder Leather Lube with a soft brush. Peg out skin to dry.

---------------

More details Tan with Leder tanning Kit:


good link : Eight Acres: Tanning a hide

9.5 Seconds? (or: Skinning Newbie) - New Zealand Airgunners Forum


http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/lsb-forum/showthread.php?t=13017

---------------

Preparing Hides

 http://www.ehow.com/how_5728456_prepare-hides-tanning.html

---------------
 How to Smoke Tan Skin

http://www.wikihow.com/Tan-a-Hide

1. Clean the flesh side of the hide by scraping it with a blade. Bone fleshers were once used for this purpose. You want to remove all the flesh and blood stains.
   
   
2. Soak the fleshed hide in clean water for three days and three nights. If you want a plain skin rather than a fur, de-hair it: wring the hide out and fasten one end of it to a fence or tree, and scrape the hide to remove the hair. If the hair is really long, cut it first. Go against the grain of the hair, and scrape away from yourself.
3. Soak the fleshed and de-haired hide in a mixture of brains and water. Every animal has just enough brains to tan its hide. Simmer the brains in water with a little fat in it, then rub the mixture onto both sides. Rub it in well until it is almost absorbed. If the hide is dry, get it wet and soft before rubbing on the brain mixture. Now sprinkle the hide with warm water and roll it up tightly. Let it set overnight.
   • There are also more convenient chemical tanning methods.
4. 

   Loop the hide over a stout stick, then take the two ends and twist the hide into a thick rope.
   Loop the hide over a stout stick, then take the two ends and twist the hide into a thick rope. Roll the sides up toward the middle first. Use another stout stick at the other end and overlap the ends. Grab hold of the ends and the stick and wring the moisture out of the hide. This also stretches it. Place the hide on a big piece of wood and scrape it again on both sides to remove any remaining little scraps of flesh, hair, or liquid. Now you need to stretch the hide back to its original size.
5. Hold onto the hide tightly and use your hands and feet to stretch it as much as you can. Make a rough wooden frame larger than the original hide. Punch holes all around the edges of the hide, about 3 inches (7.6 cm) apart. Use leather thongs or waterproof cord to attach the hide to the frame, making the hide taut.
6. Turn to the hair side and work the hide with your hands and a tool to soften the hide and stretch it. In the old days people used a bone or antler with a stone lashed to it, but later on people used a tool like a small hoe. Guide the scraper with your left hand and use your right hand to press hard to break the hide down and soften it. You'll have to tighten up the cords now and then to keep it taut.
7. Note that once the skin is soft, pliable, and dry it is ready to be smoked. Stitch up any holes in the hide, then sew it up the sides of the hide to make a bag. Close one end so it is pretty tight - tight enough to hold the smoke. Invert the skin bag over a hole about a foot across and half that deep. Use sticks to make a rough frame to hold the skin bag open, and you can tie the closed end to a tree or use another long stick to keep it up.
8. Make a small smoky fire built in the hole to smoke the skin. Once the little fire has a coal bed built up, start adding smoke chips to it and peg the skin around the hole. A little channel tunneled out to one side will allow you to keep the fire supplied. Once the inside is smoked, turn the bag inside out and smoke the other side. The smoking doesn't take very long. A very thin hide might be done in ten minutes (one side). Thick moccasin hide might take an hour.

---------------

Tools:

-C clamps (useful for stretching out skins without piercing/ tearing)
-Sapling frame or slanted plywood
-Bucket
-Brass tube with flattened end (seen on Ray Mears)
-wooden clothes pegs

Materials: (optional)

-Hide
-Oak Bark
-Lime
-Vinegar
Borax

------------

How to Tan with Borax

http://www.ehow.com/how_7317939_tan-borax.html


----------------

How to make Sheepskin

http://www.ehow.com/way_5537857_directions-make-sheepskin.html

---------------

Ray Mears and Trapper Jake


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QxaO4teWmA

----------------

Hair on Skin Tanning

http://www.manataka.org/page27.html

----------------

There are three cardinal rules in hunting wild life. Violate them and you risk becoming nothing more than a bloodthirsty butcher of life.

Preservation:  Never take the first animal you see.  Let it go.  The chances are you will see more.  If you do not see another all day, chances are your decision to allow the first to go free was a wise one.  It is obvious the population in the area is small and killing the first animal may be among the last you will see in that area for many years.  Do not be greedy in thinking "If I do not kill this one, someone else will."  Do not be lazy by thinking, "Oh gosh, should I continue to tromp around these woods all day?  This may be my last chance."   Do not rely on government bureaucrat so-called scientific population counts.  Do your part to keep a strong population by never killing the first in-season animal you see.   

  

Respect:  Kneel where the animal fell and give thanks to the animal spirits and the Creator for providing food for your family. Show respect for the animal and its family. Apologize to the animal for taking its life. Leave in the place where the animal fell something useful to its cousins. Corn or a small piece of salt lick is good for deer. This last piece of advise about leaving a gift can cause a problem because it may be at first thought by a game warden that the gift is "baiting", an illegal act in most jurisdictions.  We do not have any suggestions for avoiding this conflict of thought, however, we believe that an act of kindness, even if temporarily misunderstood, will be sorted out by a discerning game official in a good way -- especially if you live in the area, they know you and you have informed them of your philosophy before hunting.  

Responsible Use:  Use every bit of the animal. Leave as little as possible. Again, the key word is respect. Wasting precious life is a violation of the Creator’s laws of nature. There are many good uses for the less desirable parts of the animal.

 http://www.manataka.org/page27.html

Red and White Clover

Red Clover:

-The leaves, flowers, seeds, and roots of clovers are all edible.

-The young leaves, taken before the plant flowers, can be eaten raw in salads. As the plant matures, cooking the leaves is recommended. The dried leaves are said to add a slightly vanilla-like flavor to baked goods. In my own experience with clover leaves, I found them to be rather bitter (maybe I picked them at the wrong time). I stick to the flowers.

-The roots should be eaten cooked.

-The flowers and seeds are the parts of the clover that are of greatest interest to most foragers. The flowers are used raw in salads as well as sauteed, stir-fried, or fried as fritters. They are also popular for making teas and wines.

-The flowers and seeds can be dried and ground into a flour.

Here are a few clover recipes:

• White clover snow (followed by a few clover honey recipes)


• A set of red clover recipes, including tea, lemonade, juice, pancakes, and biscuits.


• Red clover jelly


• This page of flower recipes includes a recipe for pickled clover.


• A few red clover wine recipes
  
  
  Red Clover from other studies seems more edible than white clover
  
  
  Clover - A nutritious edible weed
  
  

Crocosmia, the orange invassive plant

Crocosmia aurea, an iris family plant native to South Africa, has several edible uses. Its orange flowers produce edible yellow dye for coloring foods. East Africans treat malaria with a beverage made from its leaf sap and corms, and a rheumatism-treating drink from its roots.

Read more: Is Crocosmia Edible? | Garden Guides http://www.gardenguides.com/125430-crocosmia-edible.html#ixzz29HxWbT7o

Bull Whip Kelp baskets, rattles and fishing line

Bull Whip Kelp can be used for a number of uses; here is a list of a variety of uses:

http://www.primitiveways.com/bull_whip_kelp.html

It can also be used on the garden:

"I dry it in the sun and then shred it.It does contain a natural growth hormone,so don't use a lot of it on your tomatoes.I also dig some in with compost.works really great for nitrogen loving plants.It also contains most of the trace elements that plants need for healthy growth"

 http://www.backwoodshome.com/forum/vb/showthread.php?t=355

Guide to making bull whip baskets

http://www.deepcraft.org/deep/archives/120

Fireweed for food and other uses

Edible Uses:
Leaves and young shoot tips of fireweed are edible, raw or cooked. Early season shoots are considered to be delicacy by some, and are harvested late spring or early in the summer. Shoots and young stems are peeled and can be eaten raw or steamed as a substitute for asparagus. When properly prepared soon after picking they are a good source of vitamin C and pro-vitamin A. Yupik eskimos preserved the stems in seal oil in order to have them year-round, and their name for Fireweed, Pahmeyuktuk, referred to its edibility. The peelings of the stems were not wasted as they were dried and used to weave strong twine for fishing nets. Very young leaves are also edible in salads or in soups or steeped for use as a tonic tea for upset stomach. The leaves should only be used when they are young, and with moderation. Infusions of leaves have been known to cause nausea. Mature leaves become tough and bitter, but by then the unopened flowerbuds are tasty for salads or in stir-fries. A syrup was traditionally extracted from the stems and flowers, having a high mucilage content that made it useful among native peoples in preparing berry-cakes that dry solidly. Today the flowers are harvested to make Fireweed Jelly, available from small cottage-industry canning companies. Pioneer Alaskans used the sweet pith in the manufacture of ales and vinegars. The root can be eaten raw, cooked or dried and ground into a powder. Used in spring, it has a sweet taste. 

Medicinal Uses:
Although sometimes considered a weed, it has a long history of use as a medicinal plant. The herb is antispasmodic, hypnotic, laxative and tonic, and has agents that cause tissue to contract, and that soften and soothe the skin when applied locally. Historically, medicinal use includes oral use of the plant extracts, often in the form of an infusion or tea, as a treatment for prostate and urinary problems including benign prostatic hyperplasia or enlarged prostate, and for various gastrointestinal disorders such as dysentery or diarrhea. Topically the plant has been used traditionally as a soothing, cleansing and healing agent to treat minor burns, skin rashes, ulcers, and numerous other skin irritations and afflictions.
Chemically, the plant contains an abundance of phenolic compounds, tannins and flavonoids, many of which appear to have biological activity. Fireweed is also a medicine of the Upper Inlet Denalina, who treat pus-filled boils or cuts by placing a piece of the raw stem on the afflicted area. This is said to draw the pus out of the cut or boil and prevents a cut with pus in it from healing over too quickly. The Blackfoot Indians used the powdered inner cortex rubbed on the hands and face to protect them from the cold during the winter. They also made a tea of roots and inner cortex given to babies as an enema for constipation.

Other Uses:
A fiber obtained from the outer stems can be used to make cordage. The 'cottony' seed hairs has been used as a stuffing material or as tinder.

Cleaver Coffee

Recently I was reading that Cleavers make good Coffee, as it is the time of year(September) when they produce seeds I thought I better give it a try.




I found out that Cleavers are very closely related to Coffee in the family Rubiaceae, so hopefully it yealds good results.

Once picked, I then dried and roasted them at 50 degrees for about 30 minutes in the Oven.

Alternatively you can leave them to dry for a week then roast for 5 minutes in the Oven.

Once dried/roasted I...



How to make Cleaver Coffee

Along with a few other tips I picked up:

The seeds make a reasonable coffee substitute when dried for a week, then roasted in a hot oven for 5 minutes, ground and steeped in boiling water as you would for ground coffee beans. Similarly to coffee and not surprisingly due to them both being members of the family Rubiaceae, goosegrass coffee contains caffeine although at a much lower level than real coffee beans.

Traditionally, (among the traditional and cash-strapped) roasting of coffee beans, seeds and other botannicals was done in the omniprescient black iron skillet; dry and over a medium flame. You must stir constantly however to avoid scorching. Modern folk however have been known to try those air-pump popcorn machines with similar success. Given their relative density, I should think this would work for goosefoot as well, but eww, the prickery outer skin! Never leave such a project unmanned, or for a minute stop stirring or shaking the pan if you're working with that.

Slow-roasted (low temperature) roasted ripe seeds when ground make a good coffee substitute without caffein. 

Cleavers seed is one of the best coffee substitutes, it merely needs to be dried and lightly roasted and has much the same flavor as coffee.

http://www.altnature.com/gallery/cleavers.htm