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Blog & Forum Archives Summary for 2007To make it into the Wolf Camp Cooperative Blog Forum Archives: Email us and if we like it, we'll post it on the blog. Take a look at some of our Original Articles, for ideas: May 27, 2007 • DAY OFF, OF SUN • Posted by: Chris Finally rained again today. We invented a new rain category in our endeavor to create as many terms for rain here in the northwest as the Inuit have for kinds of snow. We're shooting for 150 or so terms. Everyone knows that "liquid sunshine" is the classic light drizzle fog that we seem to get less and less now that the climate has changed. That was the morning. Then, in the afternoon, we had what I now call "spit shine". May 26, 2007 • EARTH SKILLS CHALLENGE - DAY SIX - SKILLS OF THE SCOUT • Posted by: Andrew Dena took the afternoon off as Greg, Laird, Chris and myself played a variation of capture the flag. The goal being to stalk up and take each others' flags without being seen or heard. Within many indigenous cultures there were individuals we call scouts whose role was to keep their tribes safe. For me the more exciting scout tactics employed by the scouts include invisibility, tracking, espionage and psychological warfare. The point of today’s exercise was to practice our stalking (stealth) skills, which are invaluable for the hunter as well as the scout. While other tactics were employed today, the true spirit of the game, and that of the scout is the art of invisibility. I spent the last hour of the game completely immersed in this ancient art. Chris had taken my flag and while he was off trying to nab Laird's flag I ran in to get it back. The rules stated that after capturing a flag you must escape without being seen and return to your own flag site. While retaking my flag I accidentally triggered a couple noisy booby traps Chris had set around his spot. Having alarmed Chris to my presence I ran, crashing loudly through the thick brush that lies between his spot and mine. After a distance I decided this tactic would inevitably fail and that Chris would catch me. At that point I switched into stealth mode. I knew Chris would soon come looking for me and that he had been alarmed to my general location by all the noise I‘d made. So I quickly found a good place to crawl under and hide. I made myself as small as possible and threw some leaves on top of myself to break up my outline. By now I could hear Chris in near pursuit. In a full run only moments ago and now folded in half under some vegetation I struggled to control my breathing as he approached to within two feet of my hiding spot where he turned and went off in another direction. Listening intently, I thought I’d heard him walk far enough away that I felt comfortable moving once again. Getting out of my position in a silent manner was painstakingly slow and required intense focus and muscle power. I was so deep in thickets that my movements were well camouflaged, but moving silently through such terrain and without causing the tops of the bushes to wave around was very challenging. Having focused so intensely on being stealthy, I had lost track of the sound of Chris’ movements and could not be sure of his location. Knowing your enemy's location is an important advantage and losing it made things much more difficult. Had he left the area? Was it safe to make a quick escape or was he close by, listening and waiting? Not knowing the answers made things a little stressful. Yet I am now glad of it because it allowed me to practice the skill of moving invisibly across the landscape. Had I realized he was far off trying to capture someone else’s flag I would have just got up and ran. Then I would have missed the while point of the game. I won't tell you how the game turned out. It just doesn't matter. The point is, being able to blend into your environment and remain undetected is an essential tool for the primitive hunter for obvious reasons. Also it enables you to witness many marvels of nature that few people ever see. Observing nature in such a manner is the absolute best way to learn about it. Understanding the cycles of nature in detail is key to living off of the bounty it provides. May 24, 2007 • EARTH SKILLS CHALLENGE - DAY FOUR - HUNTING WITH CAMERAS, THEN TRACKING & RESCUE • Posted by: Chris The task this morning was to photograph at least one mammal, one bird, one insect, one arachnid, one fish, one reptile and one amphibian. Andrew got a townsend chipmonk, bullfrog, stellar's jay, un-id'ed bug, a northwest garder snake, and a large-mouth bass. Laird spent 55 minutes (I noted the time and periodically filmed him out of the office window) stalking a bullfrog, which he touched but wasn't able to hold onto when it jumped. He got a close picture of it, and also went on to red racer garder snake, a black/yellow centipede, a largemouth bass, and a bee. Greg and Dena both camouflaged up in the spirit of hunting, and their picture is hecka cute. I'll try to post it but my digital camera is on the fritz. Dena found a robin's nest, and the parents tried to lure her away with frantic calls, but she got a picture of them and of the nest, though nothing was in it. Perhaps there was a fledgeling nearby. In the afternoon, we went to our swimming hole on the Skykomish River. Of course, the crew was warned that I would probably end up lost and injured somewhere along the river, so they prepared to have to stay out overnight looking for me, bringing food, water, tracking kits, first aid kits, a litter, and a heck-of-a-good attitude. Sure enough, when they weren't looking, I wandered across the stream, down a wash, into the woods through thick brush, made my way out onto the river sands, and proceeded to set up a moch trauma site where I "fell" of a large upturned root-ball had several "injuries". I managed to call them on the cell phone, and was barely able to relate that they had to come find me and they couldn't call an ambulance because I didn't have health insurance. 16:30 Sneaking back around to check on their progress a half hour later, I saw that they had placed biodegradable blue tape (we got from Joel Harden a couple years ago) in my footsteps, having progressed about 100 yards up the wet wash. They seemed to be working excellently as a team, calling out my name periodically since they didn't know how far up the river I was, and also that the river drowns out sound beyond about 100 yards. I was actually (supposed to be) about 1/2 mile up, so seeing that they were doing great, I snuck back around (on the trail) and prepared my camera for taking pictures of them (from a camouflaged position) once they got out of the woods and onto the river bar. 20:00 Three hours later, they had progressed diligently through a quarter mile of thick woods and appeared on the river bar, right on track. I got a couple distant pictures of them, and realized that they were effectively "jumping track" which means they send a winger out in an arch pattern ahead of the point tracker, looking for tracks up ahead without disturbing the site too much in case the subject makes an unexpected turn and the winger misses that. But on the sands, this is an effective strategy since the tracks are easier to see. Seeing their rapid progress, I had to scurry fast back to my station, and within 10 minutes they had progressed another quarter mile, and I could see them 100 yards away, still jumping track and right on! Although I had warned them that the point tracker should never, ever leave the Last Confimred Track, when they arrived at my last sand track (before I walked up a log to "fall") they began to doubt they were on track, and didn't used their measured tracking stick nor well-drawn out tracking card (again from Joel Harden's trainings) to verify, and they abandoned their Track & Rescue strategy in favor of a Search & Rescue strategy. In real life, this would have been a tragedy, because I was lying 20 feet away, with my backpack and a couple other items in plain sight, and I could see them clear as day. But since I was "unconcious" and didn't move, they didn't spot me, left the Lask Confimed Track, and began some kind of grid search up the river bar. I was worried about them, but I also knew that this was exactly what they needed to learn; that they would have thought tracking was easy, or that jump-tracking wasn't full of big error risk, if they had seen me right there. My tracks went right up the log, and later, they saw that if they had left even one tracker there to follow the sand/grime trail up the log, they would have been able to extract me before nightfall. So the next couple hours were a great learning, and I am so thankful for that. Had they found me at 20:20, they would have felt joyfully successful, but they would have become unconciously incompetent. Instead, they hung in there, finally realized their mistake, and now have become much more conciously competent. (Those terms are from Paul Nicolazzo's Site Management & Wilderness Medicine trainings that I like so much.) 22:30 The team is back, picking up and confirming my trail just 100 feet back. This time, they spend the necessary time, just like at the beginning of the exercise, going track-to-track and finding me in 15 minutes using their flashlights to confirm each track. Not to complain, but by this time I really did feel injured, with my whole body aching from laying in my twisted position, though I had gotten up to put on more layers several times over the past 2 hours. 23:15 Since Andrew and Laird had the most wilderness medicine training, Greg and Dena went back (on the trail they remembered using the last time we were at the river) in the dark to ge the litter. A & L found that I was merely verbal - not alert and oriented - and reallized that I had a possible spine injury, A. stabilized my head while L. did an assessment. He found (despite my tickleishness) that my front ribs and arms seemed okay. Then he found my broken, mangled ankle which had caught in the root ball when I slipped, but decided that despite my cries of pain, it was a secondary injury compared to other possibilities. He did finally lower my leg with some traction but still kept it slightly elevated, and cut off both pant legs to assess for any other injuries, since he couldn't tell whether my tickleishness was pain or what. He decided to leave my shoe on since when he tried to remove it I screamed, and he left the right lower leg exposed which made me cold but probably kept the injury from swelling too much. Despite their knowledge that it is dangerous to move a possible spine-injured patient, the exercise simulated that we were in the wilderness with no hope of contacting professional medical personell within the next couple days, so they would have to turn me over to assess my back. Good thing, because they found "blood" on the rock below my head, and a knife lieing under my back, then "blood" again on the back of my shirt. After struggling with trying to tape a gauze pad onto my back while wearing latex gloves (you try it) but finally doing so, they removed the hazard, and L. proceeded to "clear my spine", and a discussion ensued about whether my spine was cleared. It wasn't cleared, because wilderness responders can never clear a spine after a "fall" mechanism of injury that resulted in a concussion (loss of memory/unconciousness) head injury. Unfortunately, despite the painful, throbbing back of my head (moaning and growning whenever it was touched or when A. would push my forhead to keep my head stable) they didn't bandage it or put my hat on me (having checked my vitals and found my heart rate good even though I tried to eleveate it consciously at the last second - but too late - they found it at 66 bpm) and my forhead "very warm" which was only because their hands were extremely cold. They did an excellent job stabilizing my spine when turning me, holding me on my side, and turning me back, then they put a cervical collar on me. From what I could tell, they never killed me even once during that whole effort. 23:45 Greg and Dena returned about the time A & L turned me back onto my back again, which in real life, if I had been found within a few minutes, might not have been a good call due to the fact that I was "bleeding" out of my back and back of head, but after 6 hours not having bled to death lying in my back, it was probably a good call since hey, it hadn't killed me yet. I wondered when I set up the scenario whether they would decide to evacuate me on my stomach so they could protect the back of my head and keep pressure on my back wound, but decided they wouldn't since I would have either died by that time, or the blood would have coagulated in place like that, so better not mess with the current healing process in the field. My resperatory rate was extremely elevated, so the crew decided that extraction was the next order of business, that at this point, treating the wounds in the field would be a waste of time. 00:15 They did an excellent job communicating the execution (of moving me into the litter) and then strapping me down, padding me, and they learned a lot about how to arrange themselves according to height and strength, plus whether to use straps over the shoulder or not, depending on litter position. They started off but forgot to verify their route beforehand, so had to set me down and do that before continuing safely. After 5 minutes of carrying, I heard someone mention back pain, and since there was nothing left to learn after realizing how painfully hard it is to extract someone, and since no training is worth a real injury, I called off the scenario. We joked about how they really did want to kill me at that point, but they were pleasantly surprized to hear that they were the best novice trackers I've ever taught, successfully tracking me a half mile, which is more than twice as far as any other class accomplished. 1:15 We arrive back at camp. Everyone slept in this morning. May 23, 2007 • EARTH SKILLS CHALLENGE - DAY THREE - HERBALISM AND THE LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS • Posted by: Chris I took notes on the presentations everyone made at the end of our morning session, so I thought I'd jump in here and post them. An herbal challenge seems like it might be an oxymoron to those who see herbalism as an airy-fairy pursuit geared toward preventative medicine. To us, the herbalist is the healer in a community, and if we didn't have hospitals nearby, the herbalist would be our doctor. So, in a crisis, the herbalists have the greatest of challenges: to heal the wounded and the severely ill, while also keeping the community thinking positively, or helping people deal with grief upon loss. "This medicine thing is pretty rewarding. Getting to meditate and interact with these beings - it's rewarding," said Greg, who worked with salmonberry. It was a joy to watch Greg walk around working with this wonderful plant all morning, and he described really meditating on it. He found that salmonberry can teach us to let other things live and grow and thrive within our own community - that diversity is a good thing, that it keeps a community living and growing - and helps us interact with one another well. Taking a fresh leaf to chew each morning helps us with that. Greg also found that the new growth seemed goot for the emotions and spirit - the lighter essences of ourselves - while the older leafs seemed good for the body and mind, which makes sense since those leaves are more astringent. Greg's goal was to gather 2 gallons of leaves for his year's supply, which provides trace minerals and therefore is a good daily tonic in small amounds every day. "Plants remind us to give freely, like the salmonberry which attracts all the animals to feed freely of them. Tonics remind us to take care of ourselves every day, fostering a change toward health that happens gradually," said Dena, who worked with hucklebarry and salal leaf today. Dena pointed out that the white color of those leaves reminds us of our higher consciousness, that those leaves can help us to develop a clear aura in that area. Dena taught us that huckleberry helps to balance blood sugar, so that's good to take after eating sugary foods, or for diabetic and hypoglycemic patients. Salal is a diaretic, an astringent, and is antibacterial, working on the urinary and intestinal tracts, and she's heard that it's good to take when a person switches over to wild plant foods, or perhaps foods that one is not used to. "I had willow on my mind today. I knew it was a plant that was calling me, that I needed. And I like it because it's a river bum - hangs out by the water where I like to be." said Laird, and he went on to remind us of the eastern philosophy that we "be like the willow and bend with the river." He pointed out from his research that the salycilic acid (aspirin) is present in the leaves as well as the bark. Pojar & McKinnon reports that regional tribes used different species of willow differently. Interestingly, despite the fact that all willows are said to have salycilic acid, which thins the blood and therefore should be used with care in case of bleeding (internal or external), that the Scouler's Willow (which Laird was working with today along with the Pacific Willow) was used as a bark tea in recovery after childbirth and to facilitate nursing, and that a crused bark / sap ppoultice was used on bleeding wounds and broken bones, and a root tea was used for diarhea, so maybe it has som coagulant qualities about it as well? He also found that an infusion of willow and rosemary leaves is good since willow/aspirin can be hard on the stomach, and in fact, Linda Quintana mentioned last week that one needs to infuse the willow to remove its toxic qualities if used over time. Cinnimon bark, licorice root (and maybe vanilla leaf with its coumarin compound) were also used, perhaps to make the medicine taste better as well. Rosemary is also good for headaches and joint issues, so that combination is good for three reasons, then. Laird also pointed out his readings indicated that the inner bark of willow should be powdered down for storage. Andrew as so blissed out walking around identifying plants, that he didn't come back upon hearing the group call, nor for lunch. And even though he was the only one to have read the Last Child in the Woods, he was feeling too fine to drive into Seattle with us to hear Richard Louv speak at Town Hall in Capital Hill. We were invited to set up a display booth along with other organizations that teach children in the outdoors. Louv's work seems to be causing some of the most important environmental impacts since Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day, and, by the way, Louv's introductory speaker, Robert Michael Pyle, pointed out that this Sunday would be Rachel Carson's 100 birthday. Her book Silent Spring, of course, woke us up to the horrid environmental abuses of certain industrial companies, and her many works are credited with inspiring the comeback of the eagles and so many other animals being poisoned to near extinction. Richard Louv is causing developers to re-think how they are not creating any habitat for children to play outside in the woods, and parents to think of how they can provide their children with freedom to play outside despite our society's overriding fear of violence/abuse from strangers. My question is, when did parent's generally stop encouraging their children to to play freely outside? When did schools start putting "no running" signs up on the playground? Which year was it that the last children were born who had those freedoms - and I know there are exceptions to these generalizations - but really, many parents think it's some kind of neglect to let children go out and play! When did this happen? With children born in 1985, after local violent news in city parks became the mainstay of national news broadcasts? Which year, then? Are those children 22 years old now? And if so, will they have any desire to save natural areas since all the studies show that the only common thread separating environmentalists from the rest of the population is that they had significant experiences in nature as children? Certainly, as Mr. Louv pointed out, the new generation will have to create a completely new society since our climates are changing. Let's get them into the woods, into the desert, onto the ocean, upon the mountaintop, and swimming in the lakes and rivers! Check out Richard Louv's No Child Left Inside initiative for the latest. May 19-20, 2007 • WEEKEND OFF • Posted by: Chris We were going to travel down to the Native Shores Rendezvous run by John Kallas, Ph.D. and Native Shores Rendezvous run by John Kallas, Ph.D. and his Wild Food Adventures, but decided we needed a weekend off. Next year the Native Shores Rendezvous is scheduled into the Cooperative Residential Intensives programs, so we'll be sure to go. Dr. Kallas has many programs that come very highly recommended, including the Ginger Root Rendezvous running June 22-25 in Oregon. May 17, 2007 • LOWEST TIDE OF THE YEAR AT DECEPTION PASS • Posted by: Chris I added my notes from today to those that Dena took two weeks ago, so if you would like to read about all the seaweeds and sea creatures that we discoverd with Ryan Drum today, scroll down to May 3 for that information. What a beautiful day at Deception Pass! One of the fascinating discussions we had with Ryan today was on the topic of whether it is lack of calcium, too much calcium, or too little fatty acids which cause osteoperosis and/or hardened arteries. What Ryan was hypothosizing runs very contrary to modern medical practice which suggests adding more and more calcium to a diet, and less and less fat/cholesterol, in case of osteoperosis, etc. But what Ryan was suggesting needs to be studied is whether the high levels of calcium are actually what is causing brittle bones, resulting in osteoperosis, and hardened arteries, resulting in heart disease. Since 70% of bone is protein, not primarilly calcium as is commonly thought. The bone is, however, the body's calcium reserve which is needed for about 200 uses in the body. When there is too much calcium, the bicuspid valves of the heart become calcified and actually, it will look as though there are bones in the heart; in fact, there are! So the body will have lots of EDTA enzyme working overtime all over the body to break down calcium (I think he said something like that). Further, calcium requires Vitimin D, which is stored in teh liver, tongue and brains, and it is created in the subdermal layer under our skin (so those who cover up all the time with make-up, etc, aren't getting natural Vit. D but possibly only the chemically derived version which is more difficult to process, so the body can't deal with all the calcium taken in and therefore causing overly-calcified brittle bones and possibly hardened arteries) but to do so, it requires high quality fatty acids (oil) to convert it into D2 in the liver, then calciferal in the kidneys whic controls excretion and absorbsion of the final form of Vit. D into the blood. (Not sure I got all that right, so don't quote me or think I took notes from Ryan correctly.) Similar to the problems our body as in processing chemically-derived Vitimin D, ascorbic acid is not real Vitimin C, and it is only about 40-60% usable due to being the wrong isotopic isomer causing possible overload on the kidneys and stomach. At the end of the discussion, Ryan advised us to "not be trapped in doctrine" but rather be open to the possibility that we need natural vitimins, not necessarily artificial ones that may have negative side-effects, and that we need good fatty acids for healthy body function. Could a study be done to determine if unbalanced calcium intake is actually causing osteoperosis and heart disease? May 16, 2007 • ROB SANDELIN IS THE GOD OF BUGS • Posted by: Chris Rob blew our minds today with an incredible overview of bugs, clearing up so many myths about mosquitos, yellow jackets, the only native poisonous spider in our area, which is different than what everyone seems to think! Read on! Okay, it's the Hobe Spider, not the Brown Recluse, that is the poisonous spider of our region. The symptoms are the same, and the treatment at the hospital appears to be the same, so no one knows the difference. There are no brown recluses in the northwest. The hobe spider, however, is a big hairy scary lookiing spider that lives primarily in houses, though only 25% of big, hairy, scary looking spiders in houses in our area are hobes. If you want to discover new species, specialize in entimology, because if you collect bugs every once in a while, you are bound to find ones never before catalogued. Not conviced? Check out these stats: Scientists estimate that there may be 6-10 million species in the animal kingdom, but only 1,200,000 or so have been described. Bugs make up most of those, about 83%. In a typical northwest forest, scientists estimate there are 200 billion insects per acre! That's 1 trillion on your 5 acre parcel of property! Beetles make up 27% of the animal kingdom. Order Ordonata (meaning toothed, includ dragonflies which sit with wings extended and damselflies which sit with wings folded back against the body) preceded the dinosaurs, to 380 million years back. They spend most off their life (1-5 years) as larvae - some of the most voracious predators per size in the world, extending an arm from under thier chin to grab anything (including fish) up to 3 times their size. To transform, they all of a sudden decide to climb up into the air onto a piece of vegetation sticking out of the water, harden their shell around themselves, grow new body parts for about 3 weeks, then molt out as a white color, shed the shell, then pulsate color into themselves for about 15 minutes, then take another 15 minutes or so to unfold their wings and take off. (little red dragonflies are usually called meadow hawks). Then they go around defending their little terretories of air and hooking onto each other to mate, with males plugging up the females (although other males could later scrape that plug out and replace it with theirs) who then fly-hop on the water dropping their eggs, or landing on floating vegetation to do so. Order Hemiptera (meaning partial-wing, are mostly plant bugs, but also include fleas, lice and silverfish) include stink bugs which are brown and green aroun dhere, but brightly colored in sagebrush, etc, areas. They are considered pests by farmers, etc, and therefore are the target of pesticides, etc. since they eat tobaccos, corn, soy, etc, but they aren't the big population-boom insects like grasshoppers. Order Coleoptera (meaning shield winged, are beetles and weevils) most can fly; some examples include 3 species of Tiger Beetles in the northwest; Bark Beetles that are devestating monocrop forests of the west right now, such as the pine bark beetle in the Rockies, and the spruce beetle in Alaska. The jewel beetle or golden bupresid is a shiny metalic colored one that can lilve for around 50 years as larvae in dry wooden beams or the heartwood of trees, so you never know if you have beetles in your house! They like burn-damaged forests. Ceryambicids, or wood-boring beetles are the long-horned beetles which make long pencil-size holes in wood. They are the primary invaders of fallen trees, smelling the photosynthesized sugar water in the floem (cambium) when it starts to ferment after dying; the first beetles like Ambrosia go gather mushroom spores using a bar on their heads to scoop up the spores, then go find the dying trees to bore holes into, and lay eggs in galleries there, depositing the spores also which grow there and which the larvae feed on after hatching. However, the moisture content has too be just right: not too dry or the spores won't reproduce; not too wet or the spores will smother the larvae. The presence of certain beetles indicates the stage of tree deterioration. Carrion Beetles have red mites on them which travel from carrion to carrion to find fly larvae to eat, which benefits toe carrion beetle since the fly larvae compete with their own be-be-s. The Skafinotis Beetle is our area's largest terrestrial beetle, and it chews through snail's cirpical to eat it, or it will group-attack slugs. Weevels are the problem beetle for farmers. Click Beetles are the ones that click-jump a huge distance. Long Horn beetles like the Aler Beetle emerge from rotton alders in September. Horned Beetles are another kind. June Bugs are beetles with 13 lines or stripes on them. Order Diptera (meaning two winged, includ flies - bugs with 2 wings) has 108 described families in the continental US, 32,241 described genus, and 118,750 described species just in the continental US. The Dance Fly shows up first outside here in March, coming to the same place where the males dance after nabbing the biggest bug it can to show off to the female, who chooses the biggest offering, whereupon the pair drops to the ground to mate. They're the ones with a round head and a beak. House Flies have a spongy mouth part, which is perfect to spread bacteria from say, scat, to say, your food, so that's why they are frowned upon by say, the health department. There are many species, and those are determined by looking at their wing veination undera a scope. Mosquitos cause the greatest human deaths per year of any animal: about 1.4 million folks die of things like malaria; there are 2 methods by which they locate us: the long-range method is to use their antanea to follow our CO2 (and H2O) vapors, and can do this for up to a half mile, so when you hike, etc, don't stop whatever you do! jk. Then, at about 8 feet away, their antenae switch to a short-range heat-seeking method, so where your skin is exposed, or warmer people in a crowd, will get bitten first. Of course, only the females bite and draw blood, needing the protein to lay their eggs, with a successful bite making you the cause for the reproduction of about 1,000 more of these wonderful creatures. Males just eat pollen and plant juices, but hang around you in order to be where the females would come, and you can tell them apart because the males have very hairy antenae DEET molecules fit exactly into the antenae of mosquitos perfectly, making them unable to feel heat, so maybe the natural repellents do the same? Also note that lab tests have determined again and again that mosquitos are mysteriously attracted to those with the exact same blood type as the blood their mother's sucked to raise them, which is another reason why certain people attract more mosquitos than others. (Some students in B'ham taught me once that if you raise your arms straight over your head, mosquitos will keep circling above you because your heat rises and is not trapped down below. Of course, this only works if there are a few mosquitos around, not Alaska or Minnesota numbers present. Order Hymenoptera (meaning membrane winged, include bees, wasps, ants, etc.) have 4 wings (though the 2 on each side are hooked together, giving rise to their latin name, meaning married-wings) whereas flies just have 2 wings (one on each side). Most are in the parasidic wasp family, which lay eggs on other things like caterpillars and beetles, then the wasp larvae eat the hosts alive, making them popular amongst farmers as a natural pest-control device. The Ignomos Wasp is also known as the stump-stabber due to its long ova-depositor that is not a stinger but which it uses to bore into wood after stopping and listening to find beetle larvae moving around under bark, etc, then lays its eggs on the beetle larvae. The Bald-Faced Hornet is the one with big paper nests in the trees, whereas Yellow Jackets are the only social ground-dwelling hymenoptera (so that clears up that myth), and both, like most social bees, can sting several times without dying, whereras the Solitary Wasp is a single mom and will die if it stings us because it's hard for them to remove a stinger from our skin so it breaks off and she dies, so it won't sting if it doesn't need to, because she has sole responsibility to care for her young back in the nest, so they just look like yellow jackets as a defense mechanism to keep predators away. Instead, hey sting and eat caterpillars, cut them into chunks, and carry the chunks back to their nest for the larvae to feed on, nesting under eaves, dry overhanging branches, etc. Bumblebees are similar - being solitary so not wanting to sting - and they can be pet like a cat, but will lift up a leg to warn you to stop (you know cats) before stinging. They like taking over old deer mouse nests because they are often placed in dry, insulated locations, and they find them in the early spring crawling on the ground, fly-hopping around to look under debris, etc. As is know with Honey Bees, hymenoptera first birthe a brood that are all female workers. The second brood are all males (drones) and a couple queens, and at the end of the summer, their social order breaks down, with queens taking off followed by the rest, or as with yellow jackets, no one is being fed anymore, so they swarm picnics looking for free food. Although there are many competing theories about the recent phenomenon of Nest Collapse Syndrome which has devestated many honey bee operations, no one really knows why it is happening, though our neighbor who raises bees reports that last year and this spring seem to have brought a decline in this phenomenon. In social humenoptera, guard-bees fly around you to determine if you are a threat to a nest, then one will first land on you just to lay a phermone which attracts all the other bees which will then sting you en-masse unless you skidaddle (but the problem is, as Dena will discover on Friday, that you should go wash off that phermone because other bees elsewhere will then come sting you if you walk near another nest. But just chew up some lance-leaf plantain and swallow the juice, then take the green parts and apply to the sting directly, tieing it with another fresh plantain if possible. Works better than anything you could ever buy in a store - see yesterdays notes from Linda Quintana.) The bees and the ants may be in the same order because they have similar social worker dynamics, using phermones to communicate very specific information to each other, being able to describe where things are to 6 inches, communicate exactly how many workers need to go to get a job done, etc. Ants, of course, are the strongest animal per size, being able to carry several times their body weight. Carpenter Ants are the big black ones in rotten wood. This one species, depending on the nest, can choose two lifestyles: ranching or hunter/gatherer. Yes, it's true. The ranchers raise aphids, working to segregate thos that will reproduce, move them out of the rain, etc, and maximize production of those that make what the ants are looking for: a drop of honeydew sugar enzyme nutrient that the ants need! The hunter/gatherers climb to the top of the highest tree and scower it for insect larvae, which they kill and bring back to the nest for their own larvae. So, they work to minimize plant-killing insects. What else is amazing is that they will only live in shelf fungi also known as bracket fungi of which there are two or three species including the Artist Conch, which in turn, have a dependent relationship with bacteria because they need a certain bacteria to make their spores regenerate because those bacteria exude a waste product that feeds the mushroom spore, and it was recently discovered by a Cornell lab student doing research funded by our newest big federal beaurocratic department that Pileated Woodpeckers are the only currently-known species which transfers the needed bacteria from tree to tree. Anyway, Rob explained it well, and if you want to get on his somewhat monthly This Week in the Woods email list of naturalist reflections, email him at floriferous@msn.com One species of wasp is know to be able to give off an ant phermone in order to fein entrance to a colony in order to eat all the baby ants. Order Lepidoptera (meaning scale winged, include butterflies which have clubbed antenae or in other words a ball on the end of their antenae, and moths which have no club on the end and are hairy-looking) have 2 wings, though it looks like one since they seem fused, and seem to have a pattern of "many scales" thus the latin name similar to "leopard". The larvae, commonly known as caterpillars, of each species can specialize on just one species of plant, or be able to feed on many, such as the Tiger Butterfly which Rob has seen on cottonwood, willow, ocean spray, rred flowering currant, etc. Of course, it's amazing that after just 14-21 days in a cocoon, this animal has completely new body parts, and no one knows exactly how they do it. Five species of caterpillars are known to mimick ant phermones in order to avoid being eaten - either not picked-off by ants, or if taken to an ant colony, then instead fed and cared-for by the ants, who think the caterpillar is a baby ant! One is known to later send out a phermone to say that the colony is under attack by other ants, and all the ants will turn on each other, allowing the caterpillar to escape while all the ants are attacking each other. Order Orthoptera (meaning straight winged, include grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, roaches, walking sticks, katydids, mantises, etc.) include the Camel Cricket which gives a mating buzz that sounds like a cicada (not in this order) up in our tall tree-tops on the warmest of summer days around here, and they use a comb-like structure on their backs to make the souind. Notes from Golden Guide's Insects: Other orders include Dermaptera (earwigs), Isoptera (termites), Anoplura (lice), Homoptera (leafhoppers, aphids, scale insects, cicadas), Ephemerida (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), Neuroptera (nerve-winged insects with those pinchers), Mecoptera (scorpionflies), Trichoptera (caddisflies). Non-Insects, or those animals in a different class, have the head and thorax joined, including the Arachnids (spiders and ticks) which have only two body divisions and four pairs of legs, Crustaceans are closely related to insects since both have exo-skeletons, but crustaceans have at least five pairs of legs and two pairs of antennae, most of which live in the water like crabs, lobster, shrimp, but the Pill & Sow Bugs, plus Sand Fleas are crustaceans (half of which live on land) that can be confused with insects. Even more closely related to insects, and having many body segments are Centipedes which have one pair of legs per body segment with long antennae, and Millipedes which have two pair per segment and a short pair of antennae. Insects have three body parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. The thorax has 3 segments, each witha pair of jointed legs. Most insects also have 2 pairs of wings attached to the thorax, but some have only one pair, and some have none. Insects usually have two sets of jaws, two kinds of eyes - simple and compound - and one pair of antennae. The thorax and abdomen may appear to run together, however. insect larvae of many insects are worm-like, though their six true legs and maybe some false ones may be counted. All the above mentioned Anthropods evolved from the worm-like animals in the Annelid Phylum. Here's some relevant taxonomy from Biology: Principles & Explorations: The Animal Kingdom is divided into the following Phyla, having evolved from a common Protist ancestor: • Porifera (sponges) Anthropods are broken into three Subphyla, inlcuding: • Subphylum Uniramia
• Subphylum Crustacea (with only one class: malacostraca)
• Subphylum Chelicerata
Identified Species of Living Organisms (identified doesn't say much, however, since for example, there are said to be a million roundworms-nematodes in one shovel-full of dirt. 13,000 nematodes have been identified, but scientists estimate there may be more than a half million kinds of nematodes) 2% are fungi. May 15, 2007 • LINDA QUINTANA HERBAL STUDIES • Posted by: Chris It was another wonderful day with Linda. I seem to be elected to post the class notes on the blog because no one else seems to be able to keep up with the rapid-fire note-taking necessary to catch everything that the instructors we've chosen for our every-other-week classes dole out. No one is complaining, though, because they are so incredibly fascinating, and the problem with Linda is that we are working all the while she is telling us about the plants; but decades of note-taking allow me to do both at the same time. My gardening productivity suffers as I take notes, but wearing garden gloves definitely helps that, and I just can't bear to miss a word Linda says. Rob and Ryan on Wed & Thurs, too. Anyway, here's what Linda had to say today, though my accuracy is not at all guaranteed: Ribwort Longleaf Plaintain works on the bladder and lungs, inflamed gums, mucusy cougs and colds; is nature's band-aid and is great as a spit-poultice on the skin as it cools and absorbs toxins; has all trace minerals; is strengthening like its veined ribs, and is astringent, pulling tissues together; phsyllium are its seeds whcih are mususy and good for thickening soups, again holding things together, but it cools the intestinal tract slowing digestion and thereby moving things through you faster, so especially if you have a yeast infection or climidia, mix with a warming herb. Lemon Balm is an anti-viral, so eating some and keeping some on a canker sore for instance might work well. Wood Beteny is the "meloncoly herb" as it helps you think more clearly when you just don't know what to do like if overwhelmed and depressed; it's good for nerves, and helps you focus on your mental vision. Lady's Mantle catches dew which reportedly helps you fly if you drink it; it's an ancient alchemy herb which was used inside monestaries since its fluted leaf catches everything so it is associated with hollow organs like the kidneys, spleen and uterus; it tones and keeps those tissues sharp; use its leaf for a tea for indernal bleeding as it is very astringent; use the flow for a faery arrangment. We used the nearly budding Lady's Mangle flower today as part of a flower essence along with hawthorn flower, sweet cicily flower, and blue camus flower in order to bring together and encompass overwhelming energies and focus us. Linda placed spring water in a crystal vase with these flowers inside, set in sun for 2 hours, then preserved as a "mother essence" in the English tradition using brandy, also called a single dilution, or the straight stock of the essence. 4 drops is excellent when much needed. For travels or taking it diluted, preserve the mother essence by doing a 4x dilution, which means 4 drops in another bottle of spring water. (Laird did the honors and climbed up into the Hawthorne Tree to prune it as Linda does every year with this one medium-sized yard tree which provides her with all the resource she needs for the entire year in her store - Wonderland Teas & Herbs no Railroad Ave. in Bellingham - and then we all sat and pulled the flowers off with 2 underleaves and put into baskets. Very beautiful - will try posting pics. Anyway, here are the things we talkeda about:) English Hawthorne flower and leaf (not berry which is more of a nutritional antioxidant food and better as a tincture using the dry berry, not fresh berry because it will become sludgy, and it nourishes the circulatory system) slows the heart to treat anxiety, hypertension, so it helps to relax and open constictions such as asthma; helps people who are holding their breath from being overwhelmed. Our native Black Hawthorne is used on vericose veins. leg cramps, tired legs. Has mineral content that works on the blood/brain barrior called the "gotukola". Hawthorne whould be dried without any heat: leave out in baskets for one week. Like all herbs, freeze every couple of months for 24-48 hours after dried to kill off any parasites which would eat it in storage. Motherwort, similarly, is excellent to soothe the heart in the winter when we are so busy and overwhelmed that we feel it effect the heart. Nettle seeds are good for adrenal glands, but use a small amount like one teaspoon. Mallows are good to moisurize the body internally, so good to eat in winter when we are using dried meats and berries. Dandelion also keeps you alkeline when we eat (acidifying) meats. Huckleberry tea is good to balance the blood sugar. Use a tablespoon of the dried leaf, or two tablespoons of the fresh in a cold infusion overnight to preserve Vitimin C. Spruce tips are great for Vit. C also. Elder flowers should not be stacked over 2-3 inches high or they will crush, so use flat boxes when harvesting. Birch leaves are edible. Quack Grass is good for kidneys since it detoxifies, is a diaretic (so drink plenty of water simultaneous to drinking grass infusions) and is alkeline. Cava is good for insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks since it works on motor muscles, so don't drive after taking - it's that strong, and you must be 18 years old to purchase. Ginkgo has cumidin which thins the blood. May 14, 2007 • SUNNY MISTY DAWN CHORUS • Posted by: Chris 0420 Song Sparrow sings once. May 12, 2007 • WORK PARTY • Posted by: Chris It was another beautiful day - one week straight of sun - but I'm starting to worry about summer in case there isn't enough rain since the forcast is for sunny skies as far out as they can predict. I'm sure that'll change, but if it doesn't, we'll have to curtail our campfires and keep an extra eye out for smoke during the summer. About 25 folks spent some of the day touring the property and working on our myriad projects. There were about 35 last week for the auction celebration and concert, and I realize now that I should have combined the events. Would have been a lot easier on the board of directors. They've been contributing so much time and so many resources! I've already made that change on the 2008 Schedule and my website person created a new 2007-2008 Visual Calendar since we've had a few requests for that. It sure does make it easier to see and understand the year! The beach restoration project is nearly complete, with the causeway and dock in place but both still needing stabilization before our lifeguard training and summer camps begin. Next year we'll add another couple dock pieces and add sand to the road in order to fully complete the restoration and protection of this vital cove on the lake. The pioneer village is also coming along swimmingly. Greg has installed the flintknapping pit, plus he got a lot of help yesterday from Xionlong to finish the paths. Laird completed the pioneer fence around the old foundation, and a friend is bringing in a forge to install during the Permaculture Pioneering week in late June. Dena and Andrew nearly finished planting the summer veggies as well since the week has warmed the soil, and the prediction is for more of the same. Stan and Beth brought an abundance of food - bbq and sweets - while Kim and some visitors added vegetarian fair. It was a perfectly balanced day, and I want to thank all of you who joined us! May 11, 2007 • EARTH SKILLS - DAY 5 - SEARCH & RESCUE, FLINT KNAPPING, STEAM PIT COOKING, CATTAIL BASKETRY • Posted by: Chris After this full day, I didn't really want to ask anyone to type their notes into the blog. What they all needed was some rest. But thanks to Greg for running a great pit cooking lesson and giving us a good demonstration of flintknapping, and to Andrew for teaching us cattail visors as an introduction to basketry. That sure made my day easier! May 9, 2007 • EARTH SKILLS - DAY 3 - FIRE, PIONEERING, ANIMAL CRAFTS • Posted by: Judy It began as another beautiful day. Unlike most of the previous weeks this week has been brilliant sunshine and not too hot or not too cold. May 6, 2007 • DELECTIBLE CATTAILS & NETTLES • Posted by: Andrew Today was a good day. Sundays are our day to relax and we did just that. To make it even better we had some visitors today. I cannot think of a visitor we've had here yet who wasn't a joy to have around. All ages and personalities, each individual with something different to contribute to the comunity that is Wolf Camp. Yet we are all drawn together for the same basic reasons. Yesterday Swil Kanim (who blessed us and the land yesterday with his violin music) quoted his elders who at a gathering say something close to: " Thank you for being here and blessing us with your presence. Out of anywhere in the world you could be today you chose to be here, Thank you." Those words will certainly stick in my mind. I would like to extend those words myself to those who chose to be here at Wolf Camp this weekend, no matter how brief their visit. Today both Emily and Carl blessed us with their presence as their did parents later on. It was also great to have Krista here for breakfast. Too bad she had to bounce so early though. Dena, Emily, Laird, Carl and myself made a trip to a nearby pond to harvest some cattail shoots and nettles. We made the same trip last week and I hope it will be a weekend ritual for as long as there are new cattail shoots coming up in abundance. By then I think we'll be gathering berries. This evening Laird applied his "fantabulous" cooking expertise to the bounty we harvested. SO. Delicous! I never imagined I'd eat so good at a 'survival camp.' I like to refer to wild places as "God's garden." One of my favorite things to do is enjoy the delicous food that grows in such a place. I am so pleased to be able to share the experience with others. In fact I reckon that's the reason I found my way to Wolf Camp, to do what I love and connect to others through it. I am looking forward to the Earth Skills week that begins tommorow morning. Speaking of which I better head back to the stump. It's getting late. Peace. May 5, 2007 • MUSICAL BLESSING OF THE LAND • Posted by: Chris Well, this morning we worked to make the property presentable for the afternoon's big musical event. Laird and I worked on the causeway in hopes of hooking the floating dock back up to where it should be. Greg cut the new growth that was hanging into the trails while also tieing back the rare plants he's discovered such as twin berry. Dena and Andrew worked to pick up remaining sticks downed during the winter around center camp, plus they monitored our first-ever burn pile which is located to create habitat for oaks and camus to grow (what we plant to plant there). Normally it's much more environmentally appropriate to put debris into piles so it can decay naturally, giving home to myriad animals, and keeping nutrients right at home rather than releasing carbon into the air which exaserbates global warming Swil Kanim arrived at 3:00 in time for he and his wife Lori to get to know the land and trees and waters a little before his performance. Initially playful and silly, Swil Kanim became quite serene in the presence of these trees: the young cedars, the ancient bog pines, and the legacy sitka spruces, from whose species I assume his violin was crafted by Ray Bastien (sp), although I never asked specifically. Many friends arrived for the concert, including Janet Jewell, one of my (very few) pedagogical mentors. She has come a couple years during our Earth Skills Training weeks to provide insight from the Waldorf educational tradition regarding subjects like what and how to best present information to which age groups (and what not to). And so many people to donating so much time, money and energy into the scholarship fundraising auction! See the camp store page and scroll down to read all they have given. It was such an uplifting experience to have so many of them here together! Then the real blessing for the land and all of us who listened began, with Swil Kanim just playing, not speaking the stories which normally accompany his songs; playing in unison with the trees, with music reflecting off the pond and lake, filling the valley with nourishment for the prayer(s) which were once spoken by unknown hearts to save and heal this watershed. And it has come to pass, at least now, the last preserved lowland lake; no constant background noise, no visual development. I won't even attempt to do justice to Swil Kanim's musical blessing through my words. Just visit his website and go hear him perform around the region and country, or invite him to share with your people. May 3, 2007 • SEAWEEDY DAY • Posted by: Notes from Students (with edits added by Chris after our May 17 class with Ryan) Notes from our class on Fidalgo Island today with Ryan Drum, Ph.D., master of all things seaweedy. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of our notes, however, so please go to www.ryandrum.com to read his extensive essays. All seaweeds are edible, but not all are tasty, depending on personal preference. They are divided into three categories: green (most of which are sea lettuces), brown (like kelp), and red. Seaweeds will take up heavy metals in high concentrations; they don't seem to mind it, but we'll be contaminated, so they are a good indicator of pollution if studied, and we should harvest in clean areas. Seaweeds washed up on shore won't deteriorate on their own since they don't have any bacteria on them - apparently bacteria haven't evolved to eat algea - so on shore they 90% deteriorate through bivalves eating them. In other words, shrimps, barnicles, etc. are eating fragmented pieces of seaweeds as the wave surf fragments them; enzymes will deteriorate them, but no animals will eat seaweeds except marine iguanas in the Galapagos Islands. Most seaweeds have a life span of less than 10 years.
Blatterwracks (fucus garderi in the pacific, other fucus in the atlantic) have floating sacks that are filled with aloe vera like substance that may act like sunscreen. Have small bumps on the surface known as the receptacle which contain either 8 eggs or 28 sperm. When mature they have a hole in the receptacle from which the female egg sack ones release phermones to attract sperm from others. The swimming sperm and egg reproduce by swimming into the same receptacle. Winged Kelp (wakame) Reproductive structures are found near the holdfast, when harvesting be sure to cut above this. Bull Kelp - (nariosisis glutquiana = has floats, bleached if not submerged) 14-16 month life span, have a slime that allows them to shed other growth to keep themselves in working order so they can use the light for photosynthesis. New growth appears floating on surface in April around here. May grow up to 1-2 feet per day. They stop grooming their epidermis when they are ready to die, so let parisites take itself over. Pseudo Kelp - (hetofelum sessisle = blade seaweed rather than filimentus, meaning that it uses a blade to reduce its "sail factor" rather than filterning water through holes in a wide leaf) is very mottled and must stay less than 1 feet in size to avoid ripping off its anchor. Brionitis - is a filimente seaweed, has smell of bromine (the smell of the sea) which is volitile and can be as poisonous as chlorine though we need some in our thyroid glands at the expense of iodine (so we can't have too much), and it can supress virus. Pickleweed (jasmarastia) - wispy brown, contains sulfuric acid which eliminates competition. When collecting seaweeds make sure to keep this one separate because it will kill/bleach other seaweeds. Can be hazardous to the enamel on your teeth. We also looked at a second kind of jasmarastia with wide leaves, not wispy like the first. Kombu - (laminaria digitada) doesn't have a bulb like bull kelp, and its leaves are like fingers (hence the latin name) and can grow up to 20 feet long (although the ones we saw, just below the lowest tide line of the year, were about 3 feet long) growing from a hold-fast. MSG is found on the surface of laminarias ("makes you think you're eating meat but doesn't deliver") though the sweet-tasting surface of, say laminaria sacarina, is manatol (alcohol sugar) which makes it taste sweet. Dulse (sp) has finger-like leaves like the digitada (kombu above), but has a rougher surface, though the newer leaves are plenty smooth until the spores grow inside (making it rough), after which they mature and the leaf deteriorates in order to release the spores. It is high in iodine and fatty acids. This is a popular seaweed in british isle pubs, known as "" since it fills you up in order to slow alcohol absorption. Sea Cabbage or Sea Cauliflower - (lethesia deformus) are good tasting.
Sea Sacks - (halosachion) have a little shower squirter and are not so palitable. Seersuckers - have a dimpled surface whcih acts as a particle trap. Nori is the most abundantly eaten seaweed. You can harvest it anytime during the 24 hour tide cycle since it rinses its salt off itself so well. Rich in Vitamin A and Iron, low in fatty acids, and low in iodine so those who are iodine sensitive or need less can eat lots, and about 30% of it is protein. Low essential fatty acids. Dependent on the changing tides so they can spend part of their life in the sunshine. Since it is an epophite, it requires sunshine and air exposure every three days. When we first started farming Nori nobody could figure out why it was dying, they soon realized they had to mechanically lift it out of the water so it could be exposed to similar conditions as if it were on the shore line. Coralan Red algae (caliacthron smittii, geniculum meaning attached joint) This pink stuff has sringy margins with a long narrow armor with flexible joints. The armor is made of highly modified calcium carbonate. Makes it look like coral. Carolinas are red coral algea. It's recently been discovered by Pattrick Matrone in this Bead Coral that we looked at that lignon is in the joint which is also found in vascular plants, making it so strong yet flexible. Gigartina Papilada - presence is good sign of a clean beach; (lots of sea lettuce (green) means the opposite;) forms a tar-like leathery bio-film (like a lichen would on land rocks) which is so smooth and hard the limpits can't get them, so they can cover a large area. Turkish Towel (exasperata) is related to the Gigartina, and grows 2-3 square feet - great to scrub the skin, but rinse it out between uses because critters like our dandruff, and then they'll start eating it and thereby deteriorating the towel; produces lots of gelatinous mucus upon cooking so it works to make pudding or thicken soups, etc. Whispy Red Cellophane doesn't need to be rinsed - just hang it to dry as it doesn't drip due to the salt water sequestered in folds. Eridia (sp) has some holes, is iridescent and looks like oil because of its rainbow reflection. Kelps and Reds improve calcium absorption, and briazoans grow on them whcih are little coral that are of course great sources of calcium, but they putrify soon after harvesting since they are animal matter. Seaweeds in the intertidal are resistant to sun deterioration (so they store well after drying)
Most are a variation of sea lettuce, though there are many genus. They increase in abundance near high sources of nitrogen and phospheros, so they may indicate pollution.
Diatoms - are any of numerous microscopic, unicellular, marine or fresh-water algae having siliceous (silicon dioxide) cell walls. These have a huge impact on whether other things can grow on the rocks, since they basically eat away at the other algea, etc. The brown foam on the surface around the eel grass we saw were the diatoms producing a loose terrestrial substrate to pad themselves in the surf - the bubbles are secretions of serfactins which reduce drag. Biofilm are also diatoms, like blue-green algae, and they can kill of other algea such as the gigartina and the dimpled, thouth the crustes red algae biofilm can withstand it since it is so smooth and hard, because the diatoms can't attach their secreted musilige which they use for mobility and to make colonies, fixing themselves on the rocks. Having too much of this on a beach can indicate pollution from fertilizer run-off.
Eel Grass is the prolific breeding ground for crabs, larvae of clams to grow, foraging fish, etc. since it is collapsed cover. It also has underground rhizomes which are edible since they store sugars and starches, but might be just 2-3 inches long but can grow up to 2 feet deep with the right bottom conditions. The rhizomes look like sugar cane stocks and are a good "spring green" after long winters without sugars, though they can be good for 6 months of the year.
Limpids control environment by scraping off green algae with their razor sharp tongue known as a radula. They are always in season and can be found in rocky inlets where there isn't much surge and no river otters. (The one I ate was about penny size, we pried it off the rocks with a knife and then slurped it from the shell.) Have a mazimum 14 year life span, and stay within 50 feet within their whole life. Kiton - are not so palatable. Olympic Oyster - is our native oyster, though Pacific Oysters have been around a long time but are repuded to have escaped from Japanese fishing gear. The olympic was decimated during the gold rush, since a big market was created with the influx of the 49ers, and collecters still made money even if many of the oysters died by the time they got to San Fransisco. We saw Pacific Oyster Catchers nesting on the rarely accessible rocks off Rosario Point, although no one has really documented whether they really catch oysters. Old shells of many animals will serve as settling place for the "spat" which are the young larvae Sea Anenome - dissolves proteins by digesting them, can paralyze a shrimp or other similar creatures, can't dissolve calcium carbonate. Sea Urchins - reproduce when they are older, like rock fish who begin breeding at 40 years of age, with most reproduction at 80-200 years old, so we have to be so careful if ever harvesting. Sea Cucumber - are related to sea stars, as they are both built upon the construction of 5 parts. (see notes from May 16 above for some taxometric classification of intertidal animals) Crustaceans contain glucosamine, and although it does cause patient improvements in joint pain, etc, no one knows why. Barnacles - are mollusks. (again, see notes from May 16 above for some taxometric classification of intertidal animals) and they have a fixed life span, then fall out of their outside shell-like fortress which protects their bi-valve self, and having them does maintain calcium in the intertidal environment. Drills - are mollusks which drill holes in oysters, clams, etc., and these are called Puka Shells in Hawaii. Dungeness Crab - following the moon cycle, the male will clamp onto the female for 2 full weeks until her caripice molts off so that his stylets enter her pore. So in other words, don't pull them apart if you find them like this. You'll also see the males congreating and grappling in a cluster for dominance in Feb-Mar around here. Black Stone Crab - grows of the southeast coast of the u.s., and they can re-grow clipped-off claw arms, when the crabbers in those parts realized this, it saved their industry because they didn't have to kill the crabs to get the meat. Abalone contains lucre which cases cronic wasting and nuerologic diseases, especially in jewelers who work with them without breathing protection because arsinic in the the dust from cutting is the source. Betsy Peabody on Lummi is a specialist with pink abalones and olympic oysters. Sculpins - tidepool johnny fish Welks & Conch - saw eggs hanging under protected ledge in intertidal zone Biologically derived younger shells of all types probably have lower amounts of heavy metals due to less calcium carbonate buildup, so May 2, 2007 • AMPHIBIAN CLASS NOTES • Posted by: Chris Edits of Student Notes Notes from Rob Sandelin's first Hidden Wilderness class on Amphibians of the Pacific Northwest: Amphibians spend part of their life in the water and part on land. Around here a couple of salamander species just live in the forest and lay eggs on the forest floor (no part of their life cycle is in the water). Many spend winters in the forest and move to the water to breed. Salamanders and newts are opportunistic, pretty much eating whatever they can find- fish, bugs, eggs, worms etc. Newts have a limited ability to breath through their skin; they are adapted to drier environments than salamanders. Amphibians are divided into two groups- frogs and salamanders. Salamander larvae have external gills, frog larve do not. It takes 2-3 weeks for a hatchling to become a larvae. Hatchling lungs are stuck to their body. They have two appendages that act as stabilizers in the water, sticking out horizontally to their body. The larvae eventually absorb their tail. Water temperature is the primary factor that determines how fast a larvae turns into an adult. During the coldest months of the year amphibians dig under mud or leaves and go into a cold narcosis. Some can completely stop breathing and absorb oxygen through their skin for up to five months. In lowlands, amphibians will burrow when temperature drops below 35 degrees, so for instance, frogs tend to stay near their "refugia" in winter, like under sword ferns, in order to go in and out of hibernation like above and below about 35 degrees farenheit. Amphibians lay eggs in masses on vegetation in the water. The eggs start out small and then quickly absorb water and expand. Sometimes algae grows in between eggs and camouflages them. Eggs are usually laid near the surface of the water to absorb warmth from the sun. Always have wet hands if handling amphibians, and cool your hands first, and never hold for more than 40 seconds. Tailed frog for istance, will die if held in your hands for 2 minutes. Also wash off lotions, insect repellant, because they'll absorb it through the skin and die. Use a leaf! Salamandar Larvae have "rasta braids" which are external gills, frogs do not. Hatchlings have gills that are still stuck to side of head, though, and have balancers (like whisters) on each side of the head. In cold water, some never grow up, but can still breed ("neotony") and will always stay in water. When turning rocks over and removing something, turn the rock back, then put salimander next to rock to crawl back under it; in other words, don't put it under the rock or the rock might crush it. Salamanders: Order Candata
Frogs: Order Anura (meaning colored)
Reptiles around Wolf Camp
Millipedes are vegetarians; have 2 legs off each segment; shake and smell the "almondy" cyanide odor; ours seem to be yellow like the Clown Millipede. Centipedes are predators with fangs; have 1 leg off each segment; mostly blue transluscent ones here in the debris. Bugs next time! May 1, 2007 • BELTAINE MAY DAY • Posted by: Chris from Linda's Class Laterfolia Skullcap, from mint family, used for rebuilding the nervous system due to its effect on healing the mylene sheath (nerve endings) by means of smoothing out nervous energy such as for those with M.S. or drug (especially meth) abusers in recovery, and we can use it to be calm in the face of peple with nervous energy, or if we are commuting, can't tolerate city life well, etc. It likes growing around the edges of wet areas, but be sure to plant it in 2-3 places because a very wet season can cause root rot since its roots spread just below the surface only. Roots are yellowish as we found out while weeding them today. Melissa Officianalis, Lemon Balm, is excellent for viral infections which is so important in today's world of increasing incidents of shingles, hiv, herpes, hives, etc. and can be used to lessen the effects of chicken pox for example as well. Plus it smells so nice and is a great taasting tea in my experience. Sweet Cicily nutralizes oxalic acid that is found in those wonderful lemony-tasting (due to oxalic acid) wild plants of the Pacific Northwest, including sorrel, japanese knotweed, rhubarb (leaves of which and old stems can be very toxic by the way) and all parts of the sweet cicily can be used in different ways - leaves and flowers - we ate the young leaves (4-5 inches long and 2-3 inches wide) with dandelion today to balance a bitter with a sweet - the dandelion cleansing our energies and balancing any acidic ph with its alkeloids, and the cicily to freshen us up and give healthy glycogens for uplifting spirits. So put a cupful of sweet cicily into your rhubarb pie mix to sweeten it, but mostly to nutralize the oxalic acid, because ocalic acid suppresses calcium absorbption otherwise, and those who eat too much of those lemony plant types can start to feel the effects of weaker bone structure. If you want to use willow bark in place of commercial aspirin (which of course originally came from willow bark and is still the same compound) then be sure to make an infusion of a jar full of the bark covered in water (start hot or cold) and let sit for 4 hours in order to remove the salycilic acid from the willow before ingesting. Dandelion has glycogens which are natural sugars that work well with the pancreas and so it's great for folks with hypoglycemia and diabetes, so dandelion should be highly regarded in today's world of sugar-induced diabetes, and helps us balance out blood sugar if we taste some each morning, reducing our cravings and mood swings for instance. The spring root is bitter since plants like these that overwinter have used up their sugars, and that bitter taste which is so lacking in most of our modern food consumption is important for balancing hormones like estrogen production, and it's also great for the liver since it is the fastest herb to alkelize the body, balancing our acidic tendencies if we are coffee drinkers, for instance. Vinegar is a great way to preserve mineral content in herbal preparations, while tinctures bring out alkeloids and glycogens. 1 oz. of apple cider vinegar has 200 mg of calcium which of course strengthens bones, works to help arthritis and rhumetism, etc. Be sure to screw wax paper between the jar and the metal lid when making an infusion or else the vinegar will make the metal rust or otherwise deteriorate or pull minerals from it into the infusion. (An infusion is when you pour water or another liquid over your herbs and let it sit to absorb content into the liquid, wheter you use water, vinegar, oil, etc. and no matter how long you let it sit, and whether you start with cold liquid, room temperature, or hot water, the latter of which would be called a hot infusion, but then probably used within 24 hours.) If you are making a water-based infusion (basically a tea that steeps for 4-24 hours) for use with leafy herbs specifically to attain mineral content, then try to wait 6 hours before drinking because it takes that long for minerals to come out, and you should start with hot water then allow to cool as the infusion sits. Dock (we worked with yellow dock today, although curled dock is similar but has thinner leaves and curly edges) is critical to use in infusions when we want to assimilate minerals like iron, so combine it with dandelion or other high mineral herbs or else those minerals will not absorb into the body because dock works with the mucus membranes of the small intestine (which is I guess why everyone says burdock is so good for healing the digestive system, and we're working with the root here). So, include dock for mineral infusions in order to allow the intestines to absorb the minerals, and use vinegar as your liquid in order to preserve the minerals, and let sit for 6 weeks, then use as salad dressing if you like. We put 2 inches of diced dock root, then 3 inches of dandelion leaf cut into 1 inch pieces without much leaf base, then 2 inches of diced dandelion root, and filled with vinegar into a quart jar, and put wax paper between the jar and lid. Herbs are used to work on the kidneys in order to treat weepy emotions, while other herbs are used to work on the liver in order to treat aggressive emotions. The liver deals breaks down the intially absorbed blood sugars (more superficial/acute issues) and then the blood goes to the kidneys to deal with deeper stuff. If you are making a tea to receive nutritional/medicinal content from flower herbs (say chamomile, white teas, green tees for instance) then let your boiling water sit for a minute to cool a tad before pouring over the herbal tea and be sure to cover it as it steeps say 4-12 minutes in order to retain the volitile oils from those flowers and delicate leaf types. April 30, 2007 • BIRDS-BIRDS-BIRDS • Posted by: Chris Check out the new Species List for the Woods Lake Watershed we've posted in the essays section of the website. It includes a list of birds we've observed here at Wolf Camp, including an update today because we watched a couple Brown Creepers working their way up Western Hemlock trees in the Northwest Corner of the property. April 20, 2007 • TRANSITION • Posted by: Chris Well, it's time we transition into the busy late-spring classes and intensive courses schedule, so we're going to take a week off the blog probably, put these postings into the archives, and start a new set of daily postings on May Day. In the meantime, check out our Online Auction that is taking place this Wedensday, April 25, to next Wednesday, May 2, 2007 and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised at the diversity of offerings we have to raise funds for summer scholarships. Now, a weekend off, a 21st birthday party for Dena on Monday in Seattle listening to a lecture on global warming and bird migrations hosted by the Audoban Society, and the preparing to teach for the North Cascades Institute later in the week. See you on May 5 for a violin blessing of the land by Swil Kanim and on May 12 for our Open House and Work-A-Thon. April 19, 2007 • VISITOR • Posted by: Andrew The other day I was standing next to the wigwam frame, envisioning the great home it will become when my eyes caught a movement down the hill say 100 feet. There, a deer was munching on some greens. I stood still and watched as it slowly browsed its way up to my camp. It walked past my stumphouse, to within twelve feet of where I stood and stopped for a moment, using it's left rear hoof to scratch itself on the front shoulder and then turned its head to lick the same spot. It took another step towards me but paused, and sniffing in my direction, decided to come no further . Instead it casually turned, and using the main trail, stepped out from under the cedars and nibbled on some salmonberry. I watched it dissapear around the bend, confident I knew the path it would follow, having often seen it's tracks in the past month. I was sure this was the same deer Dena had encountered in the Herb Spiral. As it approached, I had intentionally not focused my eyes directly upon it except in short glances. The deer must have known I was a there. It was as if we had both pretended not to see each other. I gave it about five minutes before I began to follow. I did not want her to feel threatened, as if she was being stalked. I moved silently but at a pace fast enough to catch up to her, meanwhile glacing at the ground to confirm by her tracks that I was still headed in the right direction. As I approached some intersecting trails that she's been known to use, I slowed down. Having stepped past such a trail I realized there were no fresh tracks ahead of me. I looked to the right and found her twenty feet off the main trail grubbing on some shrubbery. I watched her for twenty minutes as she slowly browsed along her route until she again left my sight, this time dissapearing into dense brush through which I cared not to follow at this point in the day. I suspected she would be crossing the driveway before too long so I skirted around and positioned myself where I could see up and down most of the driveway. As I sat and waited, I reflected on our encounter. Had she really not known I was there? I found that hard to believe. Did she feel comfortable knowing I was there? That seemed to make a little more sense. I'm still not sure. April 15, 2007 • SPRING SUNSHINE • Posted by: Chris Watch out for Greg. He's out there camouflaged up somewhere, supposedly stalking the grouse that haunts his study site. I was paranoid all day that he'd put a clothes-pin on me as I worked to make improvements to the mushroom yurt, and laid out new trails in the northwest corner deciduous forest. Andrew and I spent the morning setting up workshops for him to teach in the fall with Greg, Dena and Laird's help, which you can read about by clicking on Adult & Family Camps & Workshops or on his website which is www.geocities.com/insidethegourd@verizon.net/brain_tan_class.html once he updates it after his move from Maryland to spend the year here. Laird and Dena, bless their hearts, spent the day pulling out Himalaya Blackberries along the driveway, and burly, yearly event until the cedar trees grow tall enough to overhang and block out their light, or maybe the native berries plus roses, etc, that we plant will out-compete them eventually. We should have journeyed across the lake to primitive camp to celebrate the sunny Sunday afternoon instead. April 14, 2007 • CLASSIC DAY • Posted by: Chris I posted a work-trade list this morning thinking it would provide everyone with plenty to do for the coming week, but this group was able to cross out half the list by dinnertime. They better be studying as hard as they are working! I know they are, with two of them well into Book Two of Wolf Journey, right on schedule to start Book Three by the time we begin studying herbalism with Linda Quintana and Ryan Drum in May, and the other two right on schedule with Book One which they need to do more in-depth since they have more specific herbal and survival goals at this time. Anyway, it's a classic day because the weather changed about 100 times. We had two bouts of hail, three rainstorms, some thunder here and there, a double rainbow around dinnertime, a nice warm sunny afternoon, a chilly drizzly morning, etc, etc. No snow, though. It was incredibly beautiful. I hope the chickens liked it since the spring weather here is probably a bit more variable and chilly than down in the valley where they came from. Of course, it was 10 degrees warmer than Seattle earlier in the week when we had a high pressure system which often - most of the summer actually and some stretches of the late fall - causes a temperature inversion where it's cooler in the valleys (and especially by the sea water) and warmer up in the hills. It was rare that it happened in the spring, but it was great, because the air was totally clean - no haze in the valleys - and every volcano in the Cascade Range was perfectly visible. April 13, 2007 • AIN'T COMPLAININ' • Posted by: Chris It's been another great week here. The finches showed up at the feeder. We found cougar scat at the tip of the downed old growth cedar tree. The cooperative intensive students are rocking-and-rolling through the Wolf Journey curriculum, while they also continue to create the primitive and pioneer villages, vegetable and herbal gardens at break-neck speed. It's hard to keep ahead of them, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Laird cleared the new archery range and set up the back-stop so we can begin practicing again. Dena landscaped the new dry herb and weed spirals in the center camp area. Andrew re-designed "kids side of the mountain" out at Primitive Village, as you can read below, and Greg has set up the new flint-knapping pit in Pioneer Village as well as begun construction on his own scout pit house which is a sight to behold ... if you can find it. Me? All admin work until Kim starts back in the office after the online auction and cinco de mayo spring party are over, after which when I get to participate in the cooperative class series that we are all looking forward to with the likes of Linda Quintana, Ryan Drum and Rob Sandelin. I just have to keep up with registrations until then, which are up by 50% over last year at this time. Can't complain about that one bit, and can only give thanks for being able to live here in this beautiful watershed yet another year. April 12, 2007 • KID'S SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN • Posted by: Andrew Mmm. Pancakes and waffles this morning was delicous. As you've heard we just got chickens and are all excited about it. Tonight, Laird and I went to tend the chickens and check for eggs. The chickens are under stress having just moved here and aren't producing much yet. I found a single egg and handed it to Laird, saying "Looks like it's waffles again tommorrow!" An hour later during dinner Chris asked if we had found any eggs. Upon hearing that question Laird's eyes widened ... as he reached into his pocket his jaw dropped ... he had put the egg in his pocket and forgotten! And yes, it had broken! The look on his face was.....priceless! I've felt more relaxed this week than prevoiously. Spending some time quietly exploring the area and doing some tracking. A couple weeks ago I mentioned the lean-to. Well, I spent a week sleeping under it and have since built and moved into my "stump house" which is apparently right out of the story "My Side of the Mountain" although I have yet to read it. I'll post pictures of it soon, and I've heard that the kids at camp will be very excited because they call this stump "kid's side of the mountain" and that there is another similar stump in the clearcut that an instructor here (jason) did something similar with that they call "jason's side of the mountain". Anyway, for now I'll do my best to describe what I'll just call my "stump house" for now: The property here was logged around a hundred years ago leaving the land littered with huge cedar stumps. In the Northwest corner there is such a stump that is hollow with an inside diameter almost six feet! A hole in one side is the perfect size for a doorway. Here is how I turned that stump into a sweeet, warm and dry shelter: First I stacked some logs on top of one side of the stump to raise it about a foot and a half higher than the other side. This allowed me to create a lean-to style roof with a decent slope to shed the rain. For shingles I pulled strips of cottonwood bark off of a tree we had felled earlier in the week. Having cut each piece of bark long enough to cover the length of the roof, I laid the first layer with the inner bark facing up so the curved bark formed a trough or gutter. Basically picture a row of gutters lined up next to one another. Next I laid a row with the inner bark facing down to cover the seams between the shingles of the first layer. A simple but effective design. I covered or filled large holes in the walls with sticks, logs and/or bark, and I chinked the small gaps with moss. I left plenty of gaps near the roof for smoke to escape but as I learned, ventilation is often the trickiest part of shelter building (if you want fire inside.) I dug a couple drafts: tunnels under the floor that connect the fire hearth to the outside air so the fire can draw air in, burning hotter, more flames and less smoke. It works fine except for when the wind occassionally disagrees and decides to blow some smoke back into the shelter. Chris checked it out and tells me if I dig another draft or two the problem should be solved. I'll get around to it. So I've been sleeping in there for the last....4 or 5 nights? It rained pretty heavy (so I've been told) a couple nights. Not a single drop of water has found it's way inside the stump! As you enter, my bed (consisitng of fir boughs with a log to keep them in place) is on the right. To the left is a small fire pit. Along the wall opposite of the door are baskets full of my stuff. Real cozy. I love it. It's so dark it's like a cave in there. I often oversleep, having no idea it's morning or what the weather is like as I'm enveloped in warmth and darkness. Super cozy! After the wigwam is finished this stump shelter will become my guest house. Come visit. April 8, 2007 • EASTER • Posted by: Chris I always like to fast from sunset on Holy Thursday until Easter Morning. This year I only did so from lunch on Friday until this morning. It is a lot harder to fast when I'm indoors, especially around the computer, but I survived. Strangely enough, it is a lot easier when I've got lots of outdoor projects going on, despite the physical expenditure. It's so mental, really. It was a beautiful day out, with lots of rain last night, then fair skies throughout midday and afternoon, with showers again this evening. We're keeping up pretty well with our recording of spring's unfolding, using our naturalist wall calendar that Scott & Lorien started a couple years ago. The latest entry on the calendar, for instance, is that the Sitka Spruce cones are fully formed, and the branches have about 4 inches of new growth on them already. Never noticed before that they developed so early in the spring. We've also cataloged all the known species on the property, with two new entries this week from the ribes genus, current/gooseberry, that we are having a hard time pinpointing as far as the exact species is concerned. Maybe we'll just let it slide until we see the full-grown leaves and possibly berries. I'll have Laird post pictures in case you want to help ID them, since he is working on our as-yet undone photo gallery. Click to view the new Wolf Camp Species List for the Woods Lake Watershed as of April 4, 2007. April 6, 2007 • RIVER RESOURCES • Posted by: Andrew We visited a beautiful spot along the Sultan River yesterday for our weekly field trip. Last november the river had flooded and carried a plethora of huge trees from the forest and strewn them along the banks. There was an abundance of resources for the "modern abo." Chris showed me good techniques for stripping cedar bark. A lesson that will quite valuable for my primitive living experience. Cedar bark is great for baskets, cordage, can be proccessed (softened by pounding) and woven into clothing, mats and many more useful items I will need. I also found some stone suitable for knapping into arrowpoints, and some hammerstones.While I spent the afternoon busy harvesting I think the others were relaxing, enjoying the sunshine. It was eighty degrees and sunny! April 3, 2007 • SUN'S BACK! • Posted by: Carl hey also if you're reading this i never got a copy f everyone's e-mail adresses at scout week, so if you're reading this contact me at omali_wins@yahoo.com can't wait to see everyone at camp this summer. April 1, 2007 • NATURE'S APRIL FOOLS • Posted by: Chris Well, I got through the day without even one practical joke being pulled on me, so far. This group really is too kind. Mother nature seems to be pulling a fast one on us, though, with 35 degree temperatures and hail off and on all day. There were some very nice sun breaks, but this pretty much blows my theory of April 1st being the safe frost- and snow- free date. Hey, the many budding leaves and flowers said it was so. Maybe I should have known since the dandelions haven't flowered here yet, whereas they have down in the river valley. I guess we're just a bit too far from the sea (30 miles) and a bit too high in elevation (600 feet). But that makes for perfect summers - about 5 degrees higher temps than Seattle and more clear skies, especially considering the fog which envelops the river valleys in the late summer and fall. Looking forward to that. March 29, 2007 • ALL QUIET IN THE NORTHWEST• Posted by: Andrew I spent thursday working in our close-in primitive camp which is located on the northwest corner of the property. It will be my home for some time. Previous interns had started a wigwam frame there which I intend to finish for my living quarters. I made a decent-sized lean-to, about 7 x 7 feet. It will function as a storage shed for firewood, etc. and as a workspace. Spent a couple hours piling sticks, leaves and other debris on top of it in an attempt to make it waterproof. With a somewhat low sloping roof (for more space underneath) I estimate it will take more than a two foot thick layer of debris on top to shed all rain. That's not the best use of time, energy and materials.A covering of tree bark would have been much faster and easy if there had been some available on site. All that debris would be better suited as wall insulation for the wigwam, although we plan to use peat moss from the bog since it is a superior material, however difficult to harvest here due to the hard-hack spirea which surrounds the bog. I wouldn't strip a living tree of bark just to build a lean to (except in emergency) but during our friday afternoon excursion I hope to find a downed cedar tree. (Friday AM) After spending most of the day working in the northewest corner I decided to spend my first night there. I threw a tarp over the lean-to (it's not quite finished.) and lit a fire next to it. I laid on my therma-rest and under a couple wool blankets for most of the night. Frogs were singing in the early evening and I heard a few coyote howls. After an hour more I was surrounded by dead silence. It felt a little eerie..why is it sooo quiet? I thought. I listened intently, trying to hear something.... anything.. but nothing. After letting my fears run through me for a moment I realized that all was good and I found a feeling of serenity. What a beautiful night. I gazed up at the cedar moon as I drifted off to sleep. March 25, 2007 • CLEAR DESERT WIND • Posted by: Chris We got back at 9:00 p.m. tonight from a most incredible experience traveling through the snowy alpine passes, sagebrush canyonlands, and sand dune oases which make Washington State one of the most diverse areas of the continent if not world. During our closing circle, I asked everyone what their favorite moment of the trip was, and Andrew went on and on about all the magical moments, but ended up deciding that breathing the dry desert air and catching the sun was his favorite part. Dena enjoyed the wind most - the storm we camped in (nice and dry under tarps and protected by a leeward facing beach head) on Lummi Island, and the strong dry winds that blew down off the Cascade Mountains to the sand dunes we camped on last night near the Potholes State Park, plus harvesting various medicinal herbs along the way. Greg enjoyed spending time with our musical, artistic, spiritual elder friends on Lummi Island, and witnessing the utter clarity of the desert,: from endless vistas to endless tracks in the sand that showed us so clearly where all the animals were all around. Laird liked how well developed the camraderie is in our group, and that we made all sorts of little stops such as to harvest basalt stones for the sweat lodge and tool making, then jumped back in and taking off in a flow like we've been doing it for years, like having grown up together in a family as siblings or something. Me? I most liked talking with my old friend Krista on Lummi Island, and then also the last magical experience we were blessed with upon return from the canyonlands into our descent from the mountains back into the temperate rainforests, underneath a sky graced by Venus, Orion, Saturn and the waxing half moon shining through the branches of an old growth cedar tree and surrounded by the Medicine Club which is what we call what is considered the most versitile medicinal plant of our bioregion. March 24, 2007 • LUMMI ISLAND BAPTISM • Posted by: Chris We just stopped in for a second on our return from Bellingham and camping on Lummi Island last night - amazing wet and wonderful journey so far - and before continuing on to central Washington's (dry and wonderful) land of sagebrush. We'll post pictures, etc., after returning. March 23, 2007 • SUNRISE OVER THE MOUNTAINS • Posted by: Chris This morning the sun showed itself rising due east over the snowy mountains, and we marveled at some fully unfolded salmonberry leaves, when just then, a male rufus hummingbird dive-bombed another one sitting on the salmonberry bushes. The first hummers of the year here! We also watched geese fly into the lake, and listened to a female song sparrow singing just outside her nest area (not 10 feet from us) for several minutes. On the way back to the house, we noticed that an entire large Indian Plum was fully in bloom: so delicate are those little drooping white flowers that most people probably overlook even though the entire shrub is shining. Now we're heading out to finish the barn, place the first couple rounds of logs on top of the pioneer cabin foundation, before heading up to meet Krista on Lummi Island to visit our old camp, explore the tide pools, visit a flower essence maker who has a nice little herb farm there, and visit friends who imbue many Wolf Camp lessons and celebrations with their great music and artwork. March 22, 2007 • SOGGY SPRING WORK • Posted by: Andrew Another rainy day here. You just can't let the rain slow you down or you'll never get much done here this time of year. You get used to it. Today we started planning the garden. We are all really excited to grow all our own veggies. We also finished up the chicken coop and look forward to fresh eggs. In the afternoon we felled a huge cottonwood tree and laid the foundation for the log cabin we are building which will become a hide-tanning shed. We've drawn up great plans for the future facilities of Wolf Camp. It will take several years of work to realize them since there are so many choices of activity going on here throughout the seasons. So far we have been woking together everyday. Next week things will change as we shift our focus from group projects to our individual programs of study. I am anxious to get started on the many projects I need for my Primitive Living expereience. The highlight of this past week for me was bulding the sweat lodge. A downed cedar provided all the materials we needed to build the frame, including cordage to lash it all together. It would make a good home. I have wanted to build such a structure for many years. This is the first of my dreams to have come true here at Wolf Camp. March 17, 2007 • CELEBRATION • Posted by: Chris What a feast! Of course, we've been eating like kings all week. We've each taken a turn cooking, and everyone has outdone herself or himself. It's every-other-day meat and every-other-day vegetarian except that on the meat days, there's always a veggie option here at camp if requested, and always the option of pulling a nice bass or trout out of the lake to satisfy the daily carnivores on our veggie days. Today we purchased our first non organic/natural meat and cooked up corned beef with cabbage, carrots, etc., and I busted out the sparkling cider as well as destroyed everybody's journey away from sugar and chocolate addiction by unveiling a cake that I got in town. Didn't seem to have any negative effects. The opposite actually. I guess everyone was fully detoxed, working hard every day, and we could process anything put into our stomachs. We couldn't pull up good irish music streaming on the internet, but we sang songs from the Rise Up Singing book using the guitar, piano, bongos, and clap sticks. It was fun, but I can't wait for Huck and Glen and Jay and others to show up with their saxophones, trap sets, jimbays, etc. Oh, and we experienced nature today as well. Especially me actually since I visited each person's study site as part of our weekly mentoring meetings, while everyone relaxed or caught up on journalin |