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Brad and Sarah started the Roots School in 2007 and have been teaching primitive survival skills, wilderness living, tracking, nature awareness, self defense and more ever since. We have an active Patreon, a growing online school and a physical location where we teach classes. We are located in Central Vermont and teach classes year round for adults and youth. Check us out at: www.RootsVT.com www.Patreon.com/RootsSchool
This video has been such an inspiration to me-I must have watched it 100 times myself! But it is the reason I now have a play list experimenting and learning all sorts of ways to spin dogbane. Have you made any sort of garments out of the dogbane yarn?
ahh Roots, you're cheating! That hand drill clip had an edit. If you're female instructors can teach hand drill then they are bad ass! So film the entire process. Prove it. I'd be impressed because out of at least 200 hundred women I know practicing friction fire all of them could do bow drill and 1 could do hand drill. So if she can do hand drill I want to see it. Otherwise show her (advertise women teaching) doing bow drill.
...ugh...this again. We posted one of her doing it straight through. I know tons of women who can make handrill coals. It's a finesse game if it's done right.
It's all made from dogbane with some accents of nettle and milkweed. Twining is very doable once you get the hang of it. You might try a small one from jute or hemp or yarn to get the technique down and then put all the effort into making tons of dogbane cord.
I love this video as we as a society walk away from modernism, globalism and other 20th century evils, traditional crafts and arts will become much more important. :)
Had dermestid beetles in the scrapings from a buffalo hide, a paper grocery bag 3/4 full. Made a A smudge bundle of dog bane peels stalks. Laid the bag on the side, so the breeze blew the smoke directly into the bag. I less than 5 minutes all vermin were dead
Someone whacked a bunch of Apocynum cannabinum in a ditch with a sickle-bar mower recently. I let it sit for a few days, then gathered an enormous bundle. I want to make a bowstring, so I figured I would need a lot. I thought to just skin the stems and spin that, but I learned from this video I should only collect the "bast" fibers. Good to know. A heavy bowstring will cast an arrow more slowly. So much to learn!!
Fermenting is pretty much the only practical way to eat this root, it decimates gasing, eating unfermented tubers will result in a non stop farting session for as long as it takes to push them through the intestines. Do not attempt eating unfermented chokes if you plan on venturing out and interact with people.
Here in Vermont they are very late starting to grow, but when they start growing they do grow tall as you describe. I have seen people recommend harvesting all year long. In Vermont that is impossible as the soil is frozen 4 - 6 months of the year. I also do not dig in the summer leaving the new growth to support the plant. This was my 49th year growing them (actually just watching as the only labor is digging the tubers in the fall). What started as 5 or 6 seed tubers has now become a patch 15' X 25' or more - with no effort on my part. They are a late bloomer here, sometimes barely beginning to blossom when the first frost hits.
Its one of the easiest to cultivate, just get some fresh cuttings and stick them in the ground where its a little damp. They love to grow and come with their own rooting hormone in each shoot.
Would suggest that the entire process be done outside up till it is ready to spin. This plant is very toxic, with a neuro toxin that affects the heart. Throwing the discarded pieces on a fire in your shelter, will kill all pests and insect vermin that dwell within your home. If you breath the smoke you will pass out, then die if not taken out of the smoke! The smoke is like teargas. If you want to get rid of dermesdid beetles plaguing your hides, this smoke will make short work of it. Breaking up the stalks indoors, and especially cleaning the fibers- if you can taste the bitterness of the plant in your mouth, you are breathing in micro particles of that toxic. I have a friend who did this, and had five years of heart problems from it before they finally went away- it was caused by the breathing indoors of that fine dust. Just a good warning to all, process outdoors, and a slight breeze is helpful!
I remembered this rumor at tracker school but have not been able to find any literature about it but I tend to be selective about which smokes I inhale. :)
Love Jerusalem artichokes. I learned to eat them only in the spring for basically zero gas. You can dig them up as soon as the ground begins to thaw, weeks before they even think about sprouting. You can buy tubers for planting in most major seed catalogs and some grocery stores in larger cities. The like good soil in full sun and generous water. Be careful where you plant them.... they are very very strong growers and will spread. Gorgeous flowers in fall are a bonus. Wish I could get some started again. Have been enjoying wild foods since I was a kid in the 70s. Euell Gibbons was big back then...
Hi. I have a question about hand drill. I used a mullen spindle on a mullen hearth board. The mullen hearth was in the two-stick fashion (two mullen stalks bundled together with string). However, this never generated a coal. Instead, I got lots of smoke and piles of brown dust, never a coal. I tired this at least a dozen times before giving up. What would you recommend? I want to use the two-stick method, but don't know what type of wood goes well with a mullen hand spindle.
Try and match the density of the wood of the fireboard to that of the spindle. Other than being it being dry and not rotten that is the main element and the type of wood is less important. I have had luck with mullein on white cedar, basswood, willow, balsam fir and a handful of others.
@@ROOTSSchoolVT Thank you. I finally got a small coal today using mullen and a bundle of 3 shims. The woods are not the best match, but it works. The problem I had was that the coal stayed at the bottom of the hole and did not form in the notched area. What do you recommend? Also, can you please tell me what I can find in the woods as a coal-extender?
Just coming across this beautiful video, 12 years after it was made. I hope you are still bushcrafting. I love your poncho! You must have inherited it from your mom because I have one just like it that I bought more than 40 years ago.
Wow that is amazing. I have been looking for a fiberus planet just like this and this one is exactly what I was looking for. I hope I can find some in Maine.
The most satisfying way of making a fire in my opinion. The process of looking for the right resources and turning them into a workable set on the spot is such a mindfull activity, nothing else matters but living in the now and getting an ember and turning it into a flame and eventually a campfire. Second favorite firelighting method is the one match fire (oh the sound of mathces in a matchbox!). I really enjoy the peacefull way in which you explain the task at hand. I learned to bowdrill DYI by watching a lot of youtube and trying it for myself after stealing with my eyes on many a video. But it really clicked in my head after seeing a woman perform a bowdrill fire in the same quiet and composed demeanor, putting away with the force and stamina myth. The video I'm talking about is ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PlxujVPiN6U.htmlsi=3S7LDVFLzQcteTyt. Thank you Sarah for your valuable contribution!
I make a living teaching this stuff and your style of instruction is brilliant. Everything was carefully explained and very calming, it was like listening to a yoga teacher😂 New sub here, thanks from the UK