Wintergreen is one of my favorite wild edibles to share with beginners of plant foraging. Whenever I see this common little shrub growing in the woods, I can’t help but grab a leaf and tear it open to get that beautiful minty wintergreen scent. Wintergreen is a great way to get started with learning about plants because it’s super delicious and there are some unmistakable identification … [Read more...] about How To Make Wintergreen Tea: Plant ID & Video Demonstration
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Quick Guide To Mast Trees: Magic of Bumper Crops, 7 Examples & Implications For Wildlife
As the growing season comes to a close every autumn, something magical happens in the forest which has massive implications for the lives of billions of creatures. They’re called mast trees! And today I’m going to share a quick introduction with all the basics you need to know to identify mast trees and reap the benefits of their harvest. So what are mast trees? A mast tree is any tree … [Read more...] about Quick Guide To Mast Trees: Magic of Bumper Crops, 7 Examples & Implications For Wildlife
How To Make A Bow Drill (Fire Demo & Practice Guide)
One of the quintessential primitive survival skills is being able to light fires by rubbing sticks together. Friction fire using a tool like bow drill can be incredibly inspiring to witness, and rewarding to do it yourself! So today I’m going to walk you through step-by-step how to make your first bow drill kit and get a fire started with it. This video shows the END RESULT of what … [Read more...] about How To Make A Bow Drill (Fire Demo & Practice Guide)
How Did Early Humans Deal With Mosquitoes? (7 natural ways to become insect-proof!)
If you’re like me and live in a place where mosquito swarms are a regular part of life outside, you’ve probably wondered while being eaten alive - how the heck did people deal with mosquitoes back in the day? I was curious to find out which traditional insect repellant strategies are most effective and also which methods are easy to apply in modern times. In general early humans dealt with … [Read more...] about How Did Early Humans Deal With Mosquitoes? (7 natural ways to become insect-proof!)
Raccoon Scat: How To Identify & Find Latrines + Possible Dangers To Know
Raccoons are fun animals to track and one of the most useful skills I ever learned to help me do that is finding and identifying raccoon scat. Raccoon scat is fairly common but it’s also commonly misidentified because it has similar characteristics to the droppings of other animals. Many people don’t know how to tell raccoon scat from dog, coyote, fox or even otter scat.There are also some … [Read more...] about Raccoon Scat: How To Identify & Find Latrines + Possible Dangers To Know
How To Start Learning About Plants (Plant basics & steps for ID)
When I first started learning about plants, I loved the idea of foraging for wild foods while helping to appreciate and understand nature on a much deeper level. But as you may have noticed, plants can also be incredibly intimidating! In fact, it’s perfectly normal for every new plant lover to occasionally experience that mixture of awe & confusion when faced with the great wall of … [Read more...] about How To Start Learning About Plants (Plant basics & steps for ID)
How To Predict Weather With Clouds (8 types of clouds and what they mean)
Before the invention of modern forecasting, humans knew how to predict weather by looking at clouds. So on my quest to learn ancient survival & awareness skills, I decided to investigate what clouds can tell us about the weather. To predict weather with clouds, you simply have to look at observable patterns like cloud size, cloud shape, altitude, vertical depth, and color shading within … [Read more...] about How To Predict Weather With Clouds (8 types of clouds and what they mean)
Beginner’s Guide To Bird Language: How to know what birds say in the wild
Imagine you’re walking in the forest when suddenly you hear a bird making a loud & repeating call in the distant woods. Do you know what that bird is saying?Would you know how to interpret that bird’s language? For most modern humans, the vocal expressions of bird songs, calls & other distant sounds appear like a random jumble of noise & information. But to the trained … [Read more...] about Beginner’s Guide To Bird Language: How to know what birds say in the wild
12 Easy Ways To Navigate Without A Compass
When I first began exploring nature, one of my goals was to navigate without any man-made tools like compass or GPS. There’s a real sense of confidence and security that comes from knowing exactly where you are in the woods, and being deeply tuned with your surroundings through traditional methods. Yet most aspiring wanderers and explorers become way too dependant on modern navigation tools, … [Read more...] about 12 Easy Ways To Navigate Without A Compass
How To Walk Silently In The Woods
You can tell a lot about a person by how they walk. From their personality & emotional state, to how mindful or aware they are of the surrounding environment. So what does it say when you can’t walk in the woods without causing a huge disturbance of noise & frightened wildlife? Most people never learned how to walk silently in the woods, but this is a basic naturalist skill that has very … [Read more...] about How To Walk Silently In The Woods