We'll spend the morning collecting acorns while also identifying other species from our Top 10 Most Important Plants, then end the morning by learning how to efficiently crack open the acorns before tossing them into boiling water to extract their tannins. That tannic water will be saved for processing hides and other uses. We will dry some of our acorns and grind them into flour with a mortor and pestle.

While some of the acorns are drying, we will mash others fresh to make "ash cakes" over a lunchtime fire. We will also gather oak and demonstrate how to make a "bow drill" fire so that you can witness traditional firemaking, and learn to recognize seasoned oak wood so that in the future, you can make a "burn bowl" like the one we'll show you. So many ethnobotanical technologies to learn today!

White Oak Bark - Revered Medicine through the Ages!

White Oak Bark has been one of the most revered medicines throughout the ages. Just check out http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-B/White-Oak-Bark/show/926087 for a great description of its medicinal attributes. That description assumes you would buy white oak bark in the store, but we will be making this medicine from scratch today, using a decoction and other methods of medicinal extraction which you will bring home!

Pine! One of the Top 5 Critical Plants

Did you know that the pine family also includes spruce, larch, fir, and hemlock trees in addition to the "pseudo psuga" commonly known as Doulgas Fir? Amazingly, the entire world-wide family (as long as you are not allergic) seem to have common edible traits, but you have to remember that not all needle-bearing trees and shrubs are in the pine family. Today you'll learn which non-pine evergreens to watch out for in the Pacific Northwest, leaving you a smorgasboard of foods to choose from in the pine family.

In particular, the pine nut, the pine needles, and even the cambium layer of pine bark are all edible. The first is high in fat and protein, the second is super high in vitimin C, and the last contains useful carbohydrates. Learn to process some of these parts today, starting under the honored Grandfather Tree on the Wolf Haven prairie. Can you identify which pine family species it is when you see it from the parking lot?

You'll also find out that pines are are highly useful many other things as well. Construction of course, but not just for buildings and furniture. Many of them, like the Douglas Fir, make for great bedding, with boughs that provide a soft, aromatic sleep. In addition, that aroma is a hint that there are great medicinal qualities to pine.

Hazel & Other Nuts

Last but not least on our trifectora of prairie nuts is the native Beaked Hazel. Growing all over Western Washington, this gem is sometimes challenging to gather before the squirrels get them, but even if you have to buy the commercial variety called Filberts, you will learn that there is an amazing set of food products you can derive from them. Today we will show you how to grind hazelnuts into flour, leach them into Hazelnut Milk, use the leftover paste for baking, and more.