Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

A very relevant thread right now...does anybody have a toilet paper tree I can take a cutting from, ?also a paracetamol tree would be good as well. thanx.

dont be silly, there are no painkillers in the jungle cos the parrots eat em all

Originally Posted by gonetropo

dont be silly, there are no painkillers in the jungle cos the parrots eat em all

I wondered why they got so pop eyed and screeched a lot. Junkies.

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

A very relevant thread right now...does anybody have a toilet paper tree I can take a cutting from, ?also a paracetamol tree would be good as well. thanx.

Not a tree, but you could plant a row of 'Flannel Leaf' plenty in wet high country areas

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

A very relevant thread right now...does anybody have a toilet paper tree I can take a cutting from, ?also a paracetamol tree would be good as well. thanx.

Bearing in mind that our lav paper is made here in NZ, it is unlikely that we will ever run out UNLESS OF COURSE Labour gets back in September as a pseudo Government and then as we will all have severe cases of the shits, there may be a nationwide shortage.

The bark of the Willow plant contains Salicylic acid which is related to acetylsalicylic acid (Aspirin) and the bark of the Cinchona bush ( not o be found in the Southern Hemisphere, is the original source of the chemicals that were used to make Quinine and Paracetamol. BUT, the Aspirin and Paracetamol we consume are not those actually found in these plants but are chemically derived from the natural plant.

I suppose I should try and put some netting over my fig tree like you did Phil. I'd have to buy more though, and it is a fairly big tree. Currently all my netting is in use on my grapes. I used to hang old CD discs in the fruit trees and vines, and I think it helped in the early stages. Now, it seems, when the birds see the discs it is like a visual dinner gong for them. 'Whoo-hoo .... Stephen is telling us the fruit is ready. Bring a friend'.

Got the figs sliced and in the dryer.

There is a organic insecticide called Entrust that is very good on caterpillars and Syllids if you want to go that way.

figs are so simple to clone my solution to not getting enough because of birds or nabours is to plant a dozen of their cuttings in places where you want them to grow

Thanks for telling me about Entrust. Never heard of it till now. I was using neem oil and diatomaceous earth powder but I'm unsure how effective these were.

Figs certainly do seem to grow well from cuttings... and sometimes shoots that come from the base of the tree form their own roots. There is a trend down here to plant 'edibles' in parks, and the guy in charge of planting in our local park is really keen on figs. He propagates a lot of them, and the variety he seems to favour is 'Brown Turkey'.

The trays on the dryer are around 38 cm in diameter. I have seven stackable trays, but I could buy more and stack them higher. In the past I've tried drying in a home made 'solar' dryer. I also dried a fair bit of stuff over a home-made wood-fired cookstove back when such things were possible. An electric dryer costs a bit to purchase and to operate, but it is very convenient and not dependent on the weather. We don't have a woodstove in our current home, so that isn't an option at present. I haven't kept records of drying times, but if I run it fairly warm I think a batch of tomato slices will dry overnight. I like to dry apples at a cooler temperature in the hope more nutritional value will be retained... so these might take 24 to 36 hours I suppose depending on how thick I've cut them. But I'm just guessing really. I should pay more attention.

I've occasionally dried strips of venison offcuts for dog tucker just by hanging them from a rope. It is good stuff to have on hand and the dog enjoyed it. I also made a few batches of biltong and I dried these by hanging the meat indoors. I didn't really like the finished product though. It was edible, but damn it got hard unless I was prepared to put it in the fridge or freezer once it got to the right consistency. I prefer fried steak.

Greetings All,
I believe that Rangiora leaves, which have a soft downy underside, were known as bushman's toilet paper in earlier times. Probably best picked as required though with a short use by date if hoarded.
Grandpamac.

Waterblaster.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
I believe that Rangiora leaves, which have a soft downy underside, were known as bushman's toilet paper in earlier times. Probably best picked as required though with a short use by date if hoarded.
Grandpamac.

I live 20 mins from Rangiora and have always considered it a bit of a shit hole - so even if it isn't that, it's close by being a dunny roll !

Greetings All,
I believe that Rangiora leaves, which have a soft downy underside, were known as bushman's toilet paper in earlier times. Probably best picked as required though with a short use by date if hoarded.
Grandpamac.

For headaches and fever Hildreth's book How to Survive suggests a decoction of Mingi mingi leaves and the inner bark of Totara respectively. You will have to Google what a decoction is exactly. I think it is boiling in water and leaving to cool but probably best not to try this at home anyway.
All sorted Max Headroom?
Grandpamac.

I got a copy of Hildreth's book as a gift from my uncle when I was quite young. I think it had a huge influence on me.

Greetings Coote,
I got a copy about 1965 and carried it around in my pack for years until it disintegrated. Never saw another one until my dearly beloved brought me back a discarded Library copy about 10 years ago. A great little book, delightfully non PC by today's standards, but well worth reading and hanging onto. There is a whole chapter on Living of the Land. Bumblefoot would likely approve.
Grandpamac.