Common Edibles to Forage in Oregon

Every season boasts wild edibles, if you know where to look and what to define. I live in the Pacific Northwest and utilize a few resources for foraging. In particular, this book, plus a few other pamphlets acquired from nature centers and museums.

My information comes in part from tradition passed down from generations of hunter/gatherers in my family, and part experience, along with academic study of books like this.

Learning what edibles are out there in your neighborhood and surrounding wilderness is as simple as One. Start with one edible. Learn about that one native plant first:  where it grows, how it grows, where to find it, local spots you know it to grow, when does it taste the best. Why start with one? Because each plant in each region will behave differently at different times of the year compared to elsewhere. And it can take repeat visits and searches and tastings to learn when this plant is best picked. However, you can get lucky and happen to visit when a plant is plentiful and ripe. The will to explore is all you really need.

Geocaching (with c:geo app)

With the release of geocaching apps on android and iphone, geocaching has become accessible for the average person. Ownership of offline GPS devices is no longer the primary limitation to participating in this hobby. GPS and map download for offline use is built into nearly every smart phone on the market, giving anyone the basic tools to participate in this game.

The apps also allow for easy interaction between hiders and seekers compared to traditional GPS coordinate caching of old. Commenters can write updates and recommendations on the state of a cache in real time. Dangers and challenges can be clearly indicated. Spoilers are offered for those who are having trouble locating the cache, so explorers can choose their own challenge level. The community makes all the difference.

What is geocaching?

Geocaching is the act of hiding or finding a container in an outdoor natural or urban setting filled with at least a slip of paper for recording the find. In essence, it is treasure hunting with a few stipulations.

Exploring as an Outing

Long weekends and early release school days are perfect opportunities to go out and explore the land. Forest service roads, highways, backroads; there are so many unexplored sites to see for you and your curious kid.

Unrealistic Expectations - Talking to Your Kid About Being A YouTube Star

Today's youth watches YouTube channels like the previous generation would watch Saturday morning cartoons. My son is no exception. He favors Minecraft mod content, imaginative play channels, and toy reviews.

Users like PopularMMOs, BeckBroJack, and Designer/Gamer have inspired him to try emulating their seemingly simple design by creating his own content generation channel. Of course the bulk of the work falls on me considering he's only 8 years old.

When he approached me about his idea, I was skeptical. How much work would this entail? What risks are involved? What content does he want to post? What are his goals?


What To Do When Your Kid Wants to Create A YouTube Channel

Summary of Discussion Topics to Cover

1. Purpose, Goals, Aims
2. Plan, Design, Initial Setup
3. Laws
4. Technology
5. Cost

Creating a successful YouTube channel is more difficult and time intensive than it seems. Adhering to copyright laws, child labor laws, and being careful not to compromise the minor's safety are important things to consider when starting a feed for your aspiring underage creator. Strike a conversation with him/her about the five main points above.

One article in the Washington Post nicely outlines some key topics to discuss with your child.

Stop Measuring Your Worth By The Money You Make

Whatever financial amount you do or do not make for a living, there are other contributions to yourself, family, specialty, and community upon which to measure. Inherent worth of each life aside, we have a tendency to equate our overall worth to society or group by how much money we earn in support of that group or lifestyle. Without getting too much into the value of living life in financial comfort and opportunity over poverty, let's assess how 'richness' is a frame of mind.

Does the quality or quantity of what's in your cup matter?

Living Sustainably in the Forest, Pt. 2

Read Part 1 of Living Sustainably in the Forest

In the previous post about living self-sufficiently in the forest, I list out the essentials one must cover (shelter, skills, property, water and sewage collection, etc.) along with some options for each. Here, I'll touch on the daily living necessities, such as what to use for toilet paper, how to wash your laundry, whether to dedicate yourself to silverware or wooden utensils, and more.

Chores are less work and more play when they reinforce the way you want to live. Despite modern appliances to make life easier, chores in the civilized world seem unending. Partially, that is because we claim far more things to be necessary to our survival than are. Large wardrobes, specialty kitchen tools, decor. Residing in the wild will require you to dumb down what constitutes a necessity, but that's the beauty of it. You'll learn to recognize what brings you the most comfort, what you truly wish not to live without. However, the following, are bare essentials.

Note: these suggestions are meant to take you back to the very basics, how natives and pioneers might have survived.

Have Your Kid's Back Once in a While

When kids misbehave, sometimes correction isn't always the best course of action. It certainly wasn't on this outing to the park with my 7 year old son.

My dad once told me a story about my grandfather, whom I'd never met. He said when he was a teen, my dad had been sent to the principal's office for getting in a fight with another boy. My grandfather was brought in to discuss my dad's behavior. However, when my grandfather was told of the fight, his response was "Did he win?"

At first, I thought this to be a rather archaic way of parenting, encouraging machismo and the use of violence to solve ones problems. But he went on to say that if my dad had been involved in a fist fight it was because he felt that was the only way out.