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Happy spring solstice everyone! At this time of year, many of us are either enjoying the start to spring, or making plans for its arrival, all depending on where in the world this email finds you of course.

Whether your goals for this season are to learn a bit more about what you can forage in your nearby woods, to plant more native plants in your yard, or just to get outside more and enjoy, we are here to help you reconnect with your Stone Age Self!

Check out some of our toxically fascinating content highlights for this month and scroll to the end to hear all about snow camp 2023 and how it went!

LEARN, EXPLORE and REWILD

Pokeweed is Poisonous... But You Can Eat It (Carefully)

When it comes to foraging, what you can or can not eat often boils down to how it is prepared. Poke weed for example is a poisonous plant that has been traditionally eaten in Appalachian culture, but you really need to understand how.

Pokeweed is useful for many things, such as plant dyes for painting or coloring clothes, potential alternative medicines (which unfortunately isn't backed by clinical trials yet), as a beautiful garden plant, and for eating (for sallats NOT salads – you need to cook them first).

Poke sallat is made by boiling the young leaves and then dumping out the water 3 TIMES. The rest of the plant (including the berries) shouldn't be eaten, and we don't recommend letting kids eat it at all. Although, if you read the youtube comments from our pokeweed video, you'll notice that many old-timers swear by it for relieving arthritis.

Behind The Pain of an Ant Sting

Many of us probably have mixed feelings about our friends of the insect world, especially the ones that are able to sting us. But, it's pretty hard to deny that the mechanics behind those stings are very interesting.

In our video on fire ants we took a look at ant stings to see why their stings hurt so badly. In the photo you can see how the ant clamps on with its jaw to get a better grip before it stings, allowing them to pump in their venom, which varies between ants. Fire ant stings have high alkaloid content for example, which is what causes that lasting burning and large red sores.

The stinger is made of 3 parts, a stylet (the main stabbing part) and 2 lancets that border this stylet and move back and forth rapidly, allowing the venom to be pumped into whatever the ant has stung, whether prey or enemy.

ICYMI: How to Find a 4 Leaf Clover!

Did you know a lot of people get clover mixed up with wood sorrel? If you did you're ahead of the curve. Most people don't get it right. Fortunately we're here to help provide that extra info that you can share with your friends. Our St. Patricks day YouTube Short, it helps explain the difference in less than a minute!

Mushroom Color is Deceiving

As we work hard to dispel mushroom myths, a really important one we came across was the one that brighter mushrooms are more toxic. This is not true even though some bright and colorful mushrooms are toxic. Some of the more deadly mushrooms can be completely white or a drab brown. Point is, that rule you learned in school about brightly colored animals doesn't hold water in the mushroom world.

Snow Camp 2023

It has been a little over a month since we wrapped up Snow Camp 2023 and it was a great success! Everyone left having learned something new, and with some great memories from the weekend.

We were lucky enough to have instruction from an old friend Hazen Audel, who is currently the star of Primal Survivor on Disney+.

Here is a great compilation he made of camp and posted on his Instagram!

Want to join us on a trip?
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