Quicky Rocket Stove

Quicky Rocket Stove

Please excuse my beat up old bricks.  :P  I just used what I had to show you a quicky inexpensive rocket stove that you can set up in just a few minutes.  These bricks, obviously, wouldn't last very long.  Fire bricks would be the best option.   

You need, minimum, 14 full bricks and 2 half bricks.  You can use all full bricks, but two will be sticking out.  No biggie.

There are many different ways to make rocket stoves.  Just do an on-line search.  Some people use cans, buckets, cement blocks, etc.  Here is a web site that shows you how to use cans.  (click here)

Obviously, you need a fire-safe base or at least

 bare ground to put the rocket stove on.  I used
 these 4 landscaping blocks that I had. 

You really only need, at most, 3-1/2 bricks

 for the bottom layer...

...but I like to put 1 in the front to 

hold the sticks in, in case some roll out, and I 

didn't have another half brick for the back (I had 

only 1 that I used  up higher) so just used a whole 

one and added an extra one on the right side 

just to even it out.  

Layer two, 3-1/2 bricks .  (Two photos)  (If you use a 

full brick instead of the half brick, you will just have

 to support it underneath with another brick or 

something.)

Layer three, 4 bricks.  (Two ph0tos.) 

Layer four, 4 bricks. (Two photos.) 

Ta da!

I used two of my fire starters made of scrap wax,

 dryer lint, and cardboard egg carton to start the 

fire with.  See my Fire Starter blog post for info on 

that.  (click here)  They work great. 

Gathered my sticks to get it going.  

We have lift off.

There was no breeze today, so I pulled one 

brick forward to make a hole in the side to let 

more air in.

You can control the fire somewhat by how much

 oxygen you let in to it.  You can close it off more with 

the pot for example, to make it burn less hot.  I 
pulled the extra brick off from the front (that holds the 
sticks in nicely) to let more air in too since there was 
no breeze today.  I put three small rocks at the edges 
to hold the pan up to let more air in, which worked 
really well. 

I just boiled some water and added Chaga 

and Pine Needles to make tea. You can check out my 
blog post that includes Pine needle tea.  (click here) 
...and another talks about Chaga from 
Birch trees. (click here)  

So, how about a hot cup of wilderness Chaga and Pine 

needle tea?  Yeah, there are a lot more tasty things 

I can think of to cook over a rocket stove, but 

at least this was up one from just boiling water.  ;)

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.  

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Busy Forager Girl

Busy Forager Girl

I was a busy little forager again today.  lol  I picked another two big bowls worth of Wild Black Cherries (for jam/jelly), a smaller bowl of False Solomon's Seal berries, Rose hips (for a friend), a bunch more Puffballs, a handful of Stumpers (Honey mushrooms), and a nice yellowish Coral mushroom.

A few photos from today...

False Solomon's Seal berries, Rose hips (white strainer), 

and two large bowls of Wild Black Cherries.

Cooked, a handful of Stumpers and a Coral mushroom (now in my tummy, 

urp), and more Puffballs I sauteed to freeze (on the right).

False Solomon's Seal berries (color like candy apples).  

Just a handful of Stumpers soaking in saltwater. 

 (More in my yard but too small to pick yet.)

I've been sauteing most of the puffballs I've been picking to freeze.  

Sauteed in a little butter (left), cut up to saute (center), and the ones I've been

 freezing over the past couple of weeks.

Coral mushroom.  I soaked it in saltwater for a while to make sure 

there weren't any little critters hiding in there.  ;)

Oh, and I found some Canada Mayflower berries to try (my first time); and they look and taste like the False Solomon's Seal berries to me.  This is one I haven't done a post on yet.  You aren't supposed to eat a lot of them, but I don't see them very often anyway as the critters get to them first.

Everything I mentioned above (besides the Rose hips and Canada Mayflower berries), you can find on my Edible Mushrooms and Edible Wild Berries posts.

PS: I brought home a few pretty berries the other day with photos of the plant to look up, and I finally got around to it. It's Bittersweet Nightshade. Gotta toss those out!! Good thing I don't just chomp on things when I don't know what they are. lol

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.  :)

Mushroom Season

Mushroom Season

It's Wabbit Season! ...ummm I mean Mushroom Season!  ..fall shroomies that is.  I found  a lot of Puffballs today, Oyster Mushrooms, and some Coral Mushrooms.  I thought I'd post a few photos.  You can check out my Edible Mushroom post here.... (click here) 

~~Puffballs~~

I like to cut them up small and saute and brown them 

in butter and put some in scrambled eggs.  

I freeze the rest after sauteing them.

~~Oyster Mushrooms~~

Check out the size of these ones!  :)

I also sauteed some of these in butter.  I'm 

dehydrating a bunch to use in recipes later.

~~Coral Mushrooms~~

I find some of these brown ones taste good, and some 
taste terrible.  The white ones are better.  
Still nice survival info to have.

~~One of my mushrooming buddies.~~