Rewild Australia | Community organisation

Rewild Australia

Phone: +61 479 197 302

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25.01.2022 Keeping chickens does not go hand in hand with being a semi nomadic goat herder. Unless they are wild chickens, who roost in a different tree each night, travel over a kilometre each day foraging. Year long egg hunts!

22.01.2022 Day 1 cold soak, acacia bark. Getting ready to share the alchemy and transformation of skins to chemical free leather.

22.01.2022 Weed* of the week: Spear thistle, Cirsium vulgare Uses: In its first year as a basal rosette the young leaves are quite good if you take the time to remove ea...ch spine, or if too tedious, strip it down to an edible midrib. The taproot is delicious until the flower develops at which point it turns fibrous. Eat raw, or if cooking use sparingly due to the inulin content that can cause bloating. Young stalks are delicious, again before flower develops. Remove spines and outer skin, and either enjoy raw or cooked. Before the flower opens, the entire bud is edible once spines are removed. Once opened, the purple flower stamens themselves are delicious. Some like to enjoy as a chewing gum by including the immature down of the seeds below. The immature seeds are edible, as is the heart under the seeds. In addition, the flower head is used as a rennet for cheese making. Remove the spines, pound, then soak heads in warm water The seeds are delicious raw or roasted once separated from the down and cleaned. Take care in harvest and processing, some people get contact dermatitis from our friend here, though I have certainly never experienced this. Lastly, I am currently retting some stalks with the thought it will make a fine cordage, shall update in time! Do you have a spear thistle story or insight to share? (All thistles in the Cirsium, and Carduus are edible.)

20.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Lomandra Spp. Uses: Edible leaf base, heart of clumps and immature flower stem. Best when harvested in damp conditions. ... By far my favourite harvest is the flower (in season NOW!) particularly of Lomandra Hysterix which tastes of sweet citrus blossoms. Be aware of thrips in the flower (picture attached) however letting them sit for an hour, or rinsing disperses them. Immature green seeds can be peeled and eaten raw, but when mature and yellow are roasted and ground for flour. The leaves make for wonderful weaving year round, I personally harvest after seed has fallen by cutting the outer leaves of clumps down low before splitting the leaves to hang and dry. Do you have a Lomandra story or insight to share?

19.01.2022 Fire kits: -Rib bow with rawhide cord, knee socket and cannon bone shaft on composite drill. -Strap drill.... -Hand drill. Honorable mention to tinder bag, fungus and coal carrier not pictured Do you have a favourite fire kit? Would love to see it!

17.01.2022 Weed* of the week: Chickweed & lesser chickweed Stellaria media & Stellaria pallida Uses: Harvest the top stems for an amazing soft green before the plant ha...s gone completely to seed (at which point harvest the seed and spread it around!) An amazing soothing and cooling plant, especially for skin conditions as a poultice or salve. Both chickweed and lesser chickweed appear very similar apart from leaf shape (pictured side by side) but an easy identification for these plants is to gently break the stem apart to see the internal string (pictured) More abundant in the cooler months, but can be found year-round in cool and shaded areas. Do you have a chickweed story or insight to share? *Weed, amazing but misunderstood plant due to poor land management

16.01.2022 Bark tanned goat skin, slicked, oiled and grain polished ready for use.

15.01.2022 Rock art from the Kimberley region Australia. Deer?! Does this mean overseas travel? Land bridge? or was/is there a local population?

15.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Black She Oak- Allocasuarina littoralis Uses: Roots can store large amounts of water, though this is only useful in sandy soils.... The bark is great for tanning. It’s strongest when harvested in spring but is fine year round. Timber is great for tools (avoiding the sapwood in saplings), and burns extremely well for primitive pottery. Also makes fantastic charcoal. Sap is edible. Leaf/branchlet infusion is antifungal. Also makes a decent outer bundle for tinder or early kindling. Fruit (pictured) is edible when light brown, though it can be mildly astringent if not picked at the perfect time or in dry conditions. Boiling improves, peel the outer brown layer and add to soups. Seed is delicious (100% of black cockatoos agree), gather the unopened seed pods and store for a few days, or keep them by the fire to release thousands of small seeds. Do you have a black she oak story or insight to share?

15.01.2022 It was fantastic sharing earth skills with wonderful people by the river these past days, thank you all who partook.

13.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Native raspberry, Rubus rosifolius, Rubus spp. Uses: Obviously the copious and delicious berries! The fruit has a very long season fro...m spring to autumn. The leaf is enjoyed year round as a tea and is medicinally used as a womb tonic, and for digestive upsets. Lesser known is the fact that the leaf makes an excellent vegetable, gently scrape the back of the leaf for any small thorns and cook as any green. We use rubus moluccanus and parvifolius in the same way. Do you have a native raspberry story or insight to share?

13.01.2022 Weed of the week: Yellow Dock/ Curly Dock Rumex Crispus** Uses: The leaves can be eaten raw or dried for later use before flowering, though only cooked after ...this. They tend to get progressively more bitter with age, though cooking helps. Large leaves may need the rib removed if too fibrous. The plant does contain oxalic acid* and has minimal calcium content so should be eaten in moderation raw/ with a calcium/magnesium source. Leaves are alkaline so work well for acid stings like nettle and ants. Stalks are edible peeled when young before flowering, best cooked. The seeds are edible cooked and raw once brown. I personally soak, then dry and use as a flour. The husk makes a great fiber however. The astringent properties of the seed make it useful for dysentery. Roots are used medicinally, being used in iron tonics combined with nettles to help the body make better use of iron, as a gentle laxative, for chronic skin conditions as well as topically as a poultice or powder on open skin conditions. *Oxalic acid binds to calcium and magnesium, forming oxalate crystals which can be irritating for people suffering from kidney stones and gout. In this way it can be considered an anti-nutrient the same as phytic acid in grains and nuts. It can be toxic in impossibly high doses. Modern vegetables like parsley and spinach are also high in oxalic acid and in fact, our own body produces it. Traditional food preparation (blanching, soaking, fermenting, combining, not harvesting stressed plants in dry conditions ) take care of foraging concerns from oxalic and phytic acids to nitrates. **We have several edible varieties of dock in Australia, including a native, all with varying degrees of bitterness. Do you have a curly dock story or insight to share?

11.01.2022 Bush foods. This amazing snake provided meat, broth and a wonderous skin. Much gratitude and respect for this amazing creature and sustenance of this land.

06.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Blady grass / Cogon grass - Imperata cylindrica Uses: Roots! Fibrous and sweet to chew on like sugar cane.... I like to pound and soak in warm water for a sweet drink- it also makes a great cough syrup. Immature flowers and young spikes are edible, best cooked. Mature flowers make great pillow stuffing. The leaf is obviously great for thatching, and weaving as well. Modern folks make paper from it as well. Both leaf and flower have fantastic antibacterial properties, we pound and use as a decoction. Do you have a blady grass story or insight to share?

04.01.2022 Weed of the week: Fat Hen Chenopodium Album Uses: Young shoots, leaves, flowers, immature seeds and mature seeds are all edible.... We eat the young leaves and shoots both raw and cooked, the flower stalk we cook like broccoli. Mostly we enjoy cooked and by picking the tops of plants throughout the season. This mineral and B vitamin rich plant does contain oxalic acid, and can contain nitrates** Seeds are soaked overnight to help remove bitter saponins before enjoying raw and cooked as a porridge or flour/meal We make green dye from the young shoots, in addition to a mild soap from the roots. In Northern India, they know it as Bathua where they use a decoction from the leaves to help with cavities, while juice from stems is used for freckles, sunburn, and as a poultice for general skin irritation Do you have a fat hen story or insight to share? **Plants send nitrates to their leaves where it is converted to proteins. Injured, or stressed plants have this process interrupted and excess nitrates can build up - which is why we always ask permission from the plant, harvest at the right time of day from healthy areas, and avoid nitrate fertilised fields. Nitrates are found in many foods: greens, beetroots, oats, sunflowers etc. They are actually very good for us and are also produced by our own bodies. When we consume nitrates they turn into nitrites which in turn become nitric oxide, which is good! Exposed to extremely high temperatures it can become nitrosamine however, which is carcinogenic, it is thought that nitrate cured meats are linked to cancer for this reason. Vitamin C inhibits this change, and the consensus is that is why nitrate high fruits and vegetables are not linked to cancer. But what about nitrate poisoning ??? Well, excess nitrites can oxidise the iron in haemoglobin, rendering it unable to carry oxygen, a condition called methemoglobinemia. Ruminants and infants under 6 months are especially vulnerable. It is believed to be caused by infants drinking water rich in nitrates from agricultural run-off. You would have to be eating COPIOUS amounts of nitrate-rich foods to have a negative effect. TLDR; Traditional wild tending, food preparation (blanching, soaking, fermenting, combining, not harvesting stressed plants in dry conditions, looking after areas we harvest from ) take care of foraging concerns from oxalic and phytic acids to nitrates.

01.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Scurvy weed- Commelina cyanea Uses: I occasionally eat the youngest leaf tips and shoots raw, along with the occasional flower. Most...ly we enjoy the leaves and shoots cooked. Lesser known is the small edible root/sucker which I eat raw, but it is only worthwhile harvesting in extremely large patches. Lookalikes: I often hear people being told to differentiate between Tradescantia spp. by the fact Tradescantia has white flowers and scurvy weed has blue. However, there are many blue flowered Tradescantia. Seen in the third picture is scurvy weed on the left and Tradescantia on the right with the thicker succulent-like leaves. Another misidentification I see with guests here is confusing scurvy weed with basket grass: Oplismenus spp seen in the fourth picture with the stronger parallel leaf venation. Of the 170 Commelina’s worldwide, many are used medicinally, more research needs to be done with our local variety. Do you have a scurvy weed story or insight to share?

01.01.2022 Weedof the week: Purslane, Portulaca oleracea Uses: Edible leaves, stems and flowers- in fact, it's considered a super food due to it being high omega-3 fa...tty acids, vitamin A and other vitamins and minerals. Its also clinically proven as an anti-carcinogen. The whole plant is used medicinally as a cooling, moistening herb for hot conditions and inflammation both internally and externally. Seeds are an astringent, diuretic as well as being effective against internal parasites. We have been eating and using this plant for thousands of years, and it is found every continent except Antarctica. Look up your local recipes! Pliny the Elder recommended wearing an amulet of purslane to keep evil at bay so it should be worn before getting involved with any significant other. Do you have a purslane story or insight to share?

01.01.2022 Winter Gathering 2019 https://rewildaustralia.org//winter-gathering-traditional-

01.01.2022 Hey Friends, Knowing In Nature is excited to be hosting Daniel Sainty from Rewild Australia who is very skilled in what has been coined "primitive living/craf...tsmanship". All in all I see these skills as a measure of walking in relation to the land, putting into practise sustainability. Daniel will be running two seperate workshops over the one weekend in May. Saturday 18th - Knife sheath making using tanned hide that Daniel has naturally prepared using methods of our Ancestors. You can make for a knife that you already have or speak to Daniel about attending one of his knife making workshops down the track. He will bring some he has crafted and they may be available for purchase on the day. Sunday 19th Strap drill fire kit making. All materials are provided with some gathering for the fire kit making workshop around the island. If you are interested in either or both please book via ticketlink, see info on poster. Feel welcome to share Rachel Shields Knowing In Nature

01.01.2022 Local plant of the week: Kangaroo Grass, Themeda triandra Uses: Edible seed! Ripe in summer when it is mostly dark brown as per the second picture. ... Third picture shows it processed and ready for use. There is a growing movement to have this grown as a commercial crop in Australia. It is suited to Australian rainfall, soil and it sounds like a good deal until we realise that wild foods are powerful because they have NOT been commercially grown. Do you have a kangaroo grass story or insight to share?