• modern storage [100 gallon Water Bob; siphon pump ]
• ethical wildcrafting principles [gather sparingly; gather from different plants tominimize impact ; choose healthy plants in clean areas ; replant whenever possible; minimize competition w/ other animals ; harvest tree roots on opposite sides each year;try to wait at least 2 years before gathering from same site ]
• botany [ pattern method of identification ; learn plant families ]
• general plant types [ grass ; shrub ; tree ; vine ]
• I.T.E.M. [(I)dentify the plant beyond doubt (always use 2 sources if new plant ), (T)imeof year check, (E)nvironment check, (M)ethod of preparation ]
• common warning signs for many poisonous plants [ milky or discolored sap ; spines , fine hairs , or thorns ; beans , bulbs , or seeds inside pods ; bitter or soapy taste ;dill / carrot / parsnip / parsley-like foliage ; “almond” scent in the woody parts & leaves ; grain heads w/ pink , purplish, or black spurs; three-leaved growth pattern ; fruits w/ fivesegments; red berries in clusters ; white , green , & yellow berries; red plants ]
• regular flower parts [ stamen ( pollen , anther , filament ); pistil ( stigma , style, ovary , ovule ); petal & corolla ; sepal & calyx ]
• flower & fruit clusters [ raceme ; spike ; panicle ; umbel ; compound umbel ; cyme ; composite ]
• leaf patterns [ leaf margins : toothed , lobed, smooth ; leaf shapes : lance-shaped; elliptic , egg-shaped, oblong , wedge-shaped, triangular , long-pointed, top-shaped; leafarrangements: opposite, compound , simple , basal rosette , alternate ; whorled ]
• root patterns [ taproot ; tubers ; bulb ; rhizome ]
• seasonal awareness [ observation ; foraging calendars ]
• how to gather [ conservation ; precision ; thinning]
• foraging tools [ digging sticks , pouch , bag , seedbeater basket, poles , blade ]
• edibility tests [8 hour fast ; isolate parts ; inspect , smell, skin contact , lips , mouthcorner, tongue tip, tongue bottom , chew, swallow, eat ]
• preparation of wild plants [ greens ; shoots & stalks ; roots ; fruits & berries; seeds & pods & grains ; pollen ; sap ; nuts ; flowers ; skin ; inner bark ; soft twigs ]
• plant processing methods [ soak ; bake ; boil ; leach ; powder ]
• survival stage foraging [ fruit → fat → protein → greens ]
• calorie-foraging [ tubers ]
• wild plant essential vitamins & minerals
• poisonous plants & look-similars
• famine foods [ edible inner tree barks : pine , slippery elm , black birch , yellow birch ,red spruce , black spruce , balsam fir , tamarack , hemlock , basswood , aspen , poplar ,maple, willow]