1. my emergency foil blanket, plus silk sheet-bag and a sleeping bag.
Click on the link below to see a VERY good video on building and lighting a fire in the bush
2. a mosquito head net and a tube aloe vera
3. my clothing
4. my food and my drink bottles
5. my first aid kit
6. eating and cooking utensils
7. my Tommy Cooker Hexi Stove, fuel tablets and kindling
Today I will pack some matches
I intend to learn to light a fire with a flint and steel, following the detailed info below. But to make fire lighting easier by the flint-and-steel method, one can buy a fire steel (about $20) from a camping shop and use that. See video on lighting a fire with a fire steel on the following youtube
click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gunnd8_XGZQ
3. my clothing
4. my food and my drink bottles
5. my first aid kit
6. eating and cooking utensils
7. my Tommy Cooker Hexi Stove, fuel tablets and kindling
Today I will pack some matches
I have chosen
Windproof and Waterproof matches which I bought at a camping shop.
They were expensive
($9 for 2 boxes of matches)
but the frustration I have often experienced with the wind blowing out my matches convinced me
that it was a "good buy"!
I intend to learn to light a fire with a flint and steel, following the detailed info below. But to make fire lighting easier by the flint-and-steel method, one can buy a fire steel (about $20) from a camping shop and use that. See video on lighting a fire with a fire steel on the following youtube
click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gunnd8_XGZQ
LIGHTING A FIRE WITH A HOME-MADE FLINT AND STEEL
The sparks come from the steel, not from the flint. The flint simply acts as a nife, slicing off tiny shavings of steel. Flint, chert and jasper are the best rocks for fast fire lighting, and the harder fire steels are better.
Preparing and Holding the Flint
If you hold the flint in one hand with the sharp edge angled upwards towards the descending steel, the flint edge will slice off a nice shower of hot sparks.
The Stroke
The trick to generating hot sparks is not to hit the flint hard, but to hit it fast. You must practice taking a long stroke at the flint, bending the arm at the elbow, and accelerating the steel through at least a foot of space before it contacts the flint.
Catching the Spark
To catch the sparks, take three or four pieces of charred cloth, fold it in half, and place the cloth on top of the flint so that the many stacked edges of the cloth are right next to the sharp flint edge. Make sure that the edges are 'fluffed up' so that you have a large surface area to catch the sparks right next to the flint edge.
The 'Bird's Nest'
To make a fire, you need to have three things : heat, fuel, and air. The spark you caught on the charred cloth is your heat source, but you will need more fuel to make a flame. This is done by placing the charred cloth in a 'bird's nest' of small kindling (dried grass, paper strips, wood shavings, etc.) and blowing on it to create a flame.
You need to compact the small kindling so that it keeps in the heat that your charred cloth is generating. You don't need to keep it 'open for air' because you supply the air by blowing on it like mad! Use three or four pieces of charred cloth to generate heat fast.
|
LIGHING A FIRE IN THE BUSH
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-build-and-light-a-fire
Garden Warrigal Greens Australian Bush Tucker
Warrigal Greens Pesto - yummy on pasta or bread
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE GIVES INFO REGARDING OXALATES
Warrigal Greens – also known as Warrigal Spinach, New Zealand Spinach or even Botany Bay greens -
were one of the first native Australian vegetables to become popular with European settlers. Looking for ways to fight scurvy, Captain Cook encouraged his men to eat them, and many convicts owed their lives to the spinach-like plant. The plant was taken back to England by the botanist Joseph Banks and became popular there for a time.
Some caution should be taken with Warrigal Greens, as the leaves do contain toxic oxates, which can be harmful if consumed in large quantities. To remove the oxates blanch the leaves for 3 minutes or so, then rinse the leaves in cold water before using them in salads or for cooking.
| Warrigal Greens | NZ Spinach | Tetragonia tetragoniodes | Low spreading, perennial native spinach. Very hardy and drought tolerant. Sow spring-summer. (16 seeds/packet) | $2.49 from http://www.seed.com.au |
Warrigal Greens Pesto - yummy on pasta or bread
BLANCH: Blanch the Warrigal Greens in hot boiled water for 2 mins, then rinse
BLEND: 1 1/2 cups fresh Warrigal Greens
1/4 cup fresh Wandering Jew
1/8 cup Macadamia Nuts
1 Finger Lime
250 ml Macadamia Oil
A sprinkling of Salt & and Pepper
2 Garlic Cloves
ADD: stir in 3/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
STORE for only 2 days IN FRIDGE IN A GLASS JAR with a little extra Macadamia Oil on top to stop oxidisation.
recipe adapted from cooking.http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/txt/s1778537.htm
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE GIVES INFO REGARDING OXALATES
for those worried that Warrigal Greens contain too much!
Foods that contain oxalates
The effect of cooking on oxalates
Practical tips
Oxalates are naturally-occurring substances found in plants, animals, and in humans. In chemical terms, oxalates belong to a group of molecules called organic acids, and are routinely made by plants, animals, and humans. Our bodies always contain oxalates, and our cells routinely convert other substances into oxalates. For example, vitamin C is one of the substances that our cells routinely convert into oxalates. In addition to the oxalates that are made inside of our body, oxalates can arrive at our body from the outside, from certain foods that contain them.
Foods that contain oxalates
The following are some examples of the most common sources of oxalates, arranged by food group. It is important to note that the leaves of a plant almost always contain higher oxalate levels than the roots, stems, and stalks.
- Fruits
- blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, kiwifruit, concord (purple) grapes, figs, tangerines, and plums
- Vegetables (see Table 1 for additional information)
- spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens, collards, okra, parsley, leeks and quinoa are among the most oxalate-dense vegetables
- celery, green beans, rutabagas, and summer squash would be considered moderately dense in oxalates
- Nuts and seeds
- almonds, cashews, and peanuts
- Legumes
- soybeans, tofu and other soy products
- Grains
- wheat bran, wheat germ, quinoa (a vegetable often used like a grain)
- Other
- cocoa, chocolate, and black tea
Oxalates and health Conditions that require strict oxalate restriction
There are a few, relatively rare health conditions that require strict oxalate restriction. These conditions include absorptive hypercalciuria type II, enteric hyperoxaluria, and primary hyperoxaluria. Dietary oxalates are usually restricted to 50 milligrams per day under these circumstances. (Please note: these relatively rare health conditions are different than a more common condition called nephrolithiasis in which kidney stones are formed, 80% from calcium and oxalate). What does 50 milligrams of oxalate look like in terms of food? One cup of raw spinach in leaf form (not chopped) weighs about one ounce, and contains about 200 milligrams of oxalate, so 50 milligrams for the day would permit a person to consume only 1/4 cup of raw spinach (and no other oxalate sources could be eaten during the day).
Oxalates and kidney stones
The formation of kidney stones containing oxalate is an area of controversy in clinical nutrition with respect to dietary restriction of oxalate. About 80% of kidney stones formed by adults in the U.S. are calcium oxalate stones. It is not clear from the research, however, that restriction of dietary oxalate helps prevent formation of calcium oxalate stones in individuals who have previously formed such stones. Since intake of dietary oxalate accounts for only 10-15% of the oxalate that is found in the urine of individuals who form calcium oxalate stones, many researchers believe that dietary restriction cannot significantly reduce risk of stone formation.
In addition to the above observation, recent research studies have shown that intake of protein, calcium, and water influence calcium oxalate affect stone formation as much as, or more than intake of oxalate. Finally, some foods that have traditionally been assumed to increase stone formation because of their oxalate content (like black tea) actually appear in more recent research to have a preventive effect. For all of the above reasons, when healthcare providers recommend restriction of dietary oxalates to prevent calcium oxalate stone formation in individuals who have previously formed stones, they often suggest "limiting" or "reducing" oxalate intake rather than setting a specific milligram amount that should not be exceeded. "Reduce as much as can be tolerated" is another way that recommendations are often stated.
The effect of cooking on oxalates
Cooking has a relatively small impact on the oxalate content of foods. Repeated food chemistry studies have shown no statistically significant lowering of oxalate content following the blanching or boiling of green leafy vegetables. A lowering of oxalate content by about 5-15% is the most you should expect when cooking a high-oxalate food. It does not make sense to overcook oxalate-containing foods in order to reduce their oxalate content. Because many vitamins and minerals are lost from overcooking more quickly than are oxalates, the overcooking of foods (particularly vegetables) will simply result in a far less nutritious diet that is minimally lower in oxalates.
Practical tips
For the vast majority of individuals who have not experienced the specific problems described above, oxalate-containing foods should not be a health concern. Under most circumstances, high oxalate foods like spinach can be eaten raw or cooked and incorporated into a weekly or daily meal plan as both baby spinach and mature, large leaf spinach can both make healthy additions to most meal plans. In short, the decision about raw versus cooked or baby versus mature leaf spinach or other oxalate-containing vegetables, for example, should be a matter of personal taste and preference for most individuals.
| Raw Vegetable | Oxalate contentmilligrams per 100 gram serving |
|---|---|
| Spinach | 750 |
| Beet greens | 610 |
| Okra | 146 |
| Parsley | 100 |
| Leeks | 89 |
| Collard greens | 74 |
In the early days,
Eating Warrigal Greens
Was a very good way
To prevent scurvy
And alleviate death!
Robyn
Eating Warrigal Greens
Was a very good way
To prevent scurvy
And alleviate death!
Robyn
May we feed our bodies on healthy foods every day!
from Robyn
painting of robin by Brenda, my mum.