I watch a LOT of survival videos, too many really. The truth is, that I learn more from Lonnie in one video than I do from a half dozen of the others. The videos he makes are a blessing to me.
Years ago I met a man that was educated by old school native people on living in the wilderness. He went on to become a survival teacher. At his advanced levels, graduation required a student to do 3 months in the mountain woods of Montana, with a knife and supplies. . This was one of the skills. As a rule, his students thrived so well even in winter, they gained weight while living on the land. With knowledge, Nature will feed us.
Hi Lonnie! I heard a long time ago that to make flour from bark for either ash cakes or noodles that the strips harvested should be dehydrated, slightly roasted, ground very fine and then make noodles or flatbread with water and a little oil or fat. I think somebody assumed on just making noodle strips right from the tree...and then as these things go on social media...the misinformation gremlins took it from there. I've never tried but now with your video feel inspired again. Thanks!
Hi Lonnie, I've never subscribed before but I am addicted to your interesting videos. I'm not well enough to do anything outdoors now but watching your videos is so relaxing, you have a very nice soothing manner and a great unhurried style of presentation. Wishing both you and Connie all the best.DebsFrom the UK.
Wow what a fantastically informative video. I wonder how many calories are provided in the bark and what types of nutrients? It would be awesome if you could do a tree series where you talked about the various uses for the nost commonly available trees. Just an idea for ya, great vid as always man, thanks for the knowledge.
Canadian Prepper That is a great idea for a future video series. I will write that one down on my "to-do" and "requested" video lists. You are welcome and thank you.
Arcturus Bootis That's pretty good info thanks man, you would have to eat quite a bit to stay alive, and I suspect that its not a complete protein with all essential amino acids but it sure beats dying!
Yes what amount of carbohydrates can we find in barks. My ex being Japanese told me the Japanese samurai would ensure alot of pine trees around thier fortresses to ensure survival in times of scarcity.
Only use this as fuel to find protein, fat and gather edible greens. Too much fiber will make you constipated and if you can manage to pass it before dying of sepsis ...I'm not gonna lie, you may sh*t a 2x4!
Pine is strong. My Uncle in German had a bee farm and I loved his pine honey he had. He won regional contest from his honey. I sure do miss him. R.I.P Uncle Walter.
I am just utterly amazed at your base of knowledge! I'm from Iowa, obviously a long ways away from AK but still the things you have taught have practically even in my neck of the woods. Hope you're well & thanks again for taking the time to teach these timeless skills. A true gift to mankind (and me & my family.)
As a youngster I was taught by somebody that you could eat the inner bark.Living here on the Olympic peninsula I was also taught the local tribes ground it and made cakes.Thought that was really awesome.Then I tasted tree bark.Like trying to eat a spoonful of instant coffee.Great video.
I’m learning and I enjoy your videos more and more. It relaxing and reassuring the way you present things. It’s obvious that your experience is real. Cheers.
This is so informative. I've learned more from watching a few videos than I ever thought I could from one channel. Thank you for this valuable information!
Hi Lonnie, Brilliant stuff...! Thank you so much for explaining in such a mild but interesting manner and taking your time to explain your experiences and passing on the information in such a great way, it makes me wish I was there with you.
Interesting Lonnie. I was out on a camp over the last few days and chewed on some Elm bark. I don't know if Elm is edible, but I just fancied giving it a chew. I have never heard of it being poisonousness In anycase, it tasted actually a little sweet and mild.. Thanks for the video. Sandy.
Wiltshire Man I'm personally not familiar with Elm since we do not have any here in South Central Alaska. It sounds like a great tree to get to know better for it's medicinal as well as edible uses.
Sharlenwar That is great to hear that you enjoy the style of our videos. We are who we are here and are just having fun with doing this video thing in our own way and own style. It is always encouraging to hear that there is a certain segment of society that seems to "mesh" with our style along with us.
+Dirk Mitchell It would certainly work to add them to salads. Personally though I think that the texture might not be very complimentary to use in a salad.
You’ve been watching the moose! Lol. Great video. I hope I don’t ever have to eat bark but if I do I’ll know how thanks to you. Thanks for another great video.
Definitely keep a flask of olive oil on you. You can use it for frying, lubricating tools/knives, making medicinal infusions, and if you're without any other food sources or just need to keep moving at a quick pace constantly for whatever reason, an 8 oz flask of olive oil contains a whopping 2000 calories.
Thanks Lonnie, I'd never considered bark as food. I also viewed your video on gathering a salad from your Alaskan yard. About the nutrition value of garden vs. wild is very interesting, too. It makes me realize the value of adding good organic fertilizer to my little garden. I like to add sea weed and fish derived products. I'm sure my garden citrus and vegetables and herbs are better than what you get at the store. There's a little piece of my heart that wishes I could gather from the wild. Here in the Phoenix desert, I could gather prickly pear and other cactus. Hmmm. It gets me thinking. You can bet I'll be attending the next ranger talk in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve that teaches about edible local plant life. What a great way to start my Saturday morning just before I go out to give my garden a little love.
Tippy Mueller Virtually every area has their own wild native plants, that is if there is wild areas for them to grow. I would also enjoy attending a class on dessert edibles. I have spent a little time in the hills in the areas between tucson and Yuma. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Looks like a nice breezy spring day! Getting some good roughage there. Thanks for sharing. We don't have as many trees down here in Arizona, but I enjoyed watching.
I have to agree with the large number of comments saying the tempo (and content, of course!) of your videos is extremely enjoyable. Please keep 'em coming Could you maybe briefly touch on what tree barks to avoid?
Lonnie, I like to watch you for the information you provide. Usually. But this one, seriously, left me on the floor laughing my guts out. Hilarious! Go eat some more bark, my hero! 😂
Hello Lonnie. I have followed the channel and excellent videos. Congratulations. I have learned much from his teachings. Big hug from southern Brazil. (using google translator)
I've always been surprised at how good spruce really tastes. I've never tried the bark, but do use the new needle growth. I'll have to try the bark now. Thanks!
I've got Englemann spruce and Colorado Blue Spruce here at my place. The blue spruce is really tasty, but it's a lot harder on the fingers to pick the new growth! : )
Hope I never have to resort to eating tree bark but I'll definitely be adding this knowledge to the ol survival tool box in the brain just in case. Thanks Lonnie.
The outer bark is the phellem but the two under layers of the bark, the phellogen and phelloderm, house a lot of nutrients as these two layers produce the phellem outwards and the cambium layer inwards. In this demonstration the tissue being consumed is the phelloderm, phellogen, and even a bit of cambium.
Very cool Lonnie ;) ...Cambium taste test. ...super my friend. We have recipe for noodles out of birch bark. Soup with spruce cambium was tasty to me. Great my friend.
Just tried the inner bark of the poplar tree, not bad at all, thank you Lonnie for this video. Also fried it in butter with salt, very good. I did enjoy chewing the fresh inner bark, the texture was quite pleasing actually, the flavor was not too strong either, maybe due to the tree being a sapling? Sprinkled some on egg and toast, well, all I can say is it doesn't make a great spice, heh, heh. Take care!
Tall Cedars Sounds like you tried some extensive taste tests. I like seeing people not just watch or read about these type of things but actually get out there and try it. Good going.
Thx for sharing.. In Florida they cook cabbage palm hearts/stumps 100lb or more for a day or more to break it down it looks like cabbage but I am not a cabbage fan so I didn't eat it the wife loved it though. Also heard of eating Date palm head of the tree where the branches are growing from I assume again cooked for 24hours or more. In your case with the bark cooking it to soften the fiber would concentrate the unwanted flavors so it would be a give and a take. I have heard of bread makers during hard times using saw dust to cut the dough not sure it holds water but it does seem feasible.
I've read several places that "adirondack" is derived from a Mohawk word meaning "tree eater". Inner bark of maples is tasty. I would peel them then scrape the thin layer off the log part, it was very thin.
I kept thinking you were probably wishing you had a cup of coffee to wash all that fiber down! And I've been teasing my daughter about her buying pre-grated Parmesan cheese, with 'cellulose' added, lol
kabaruser I am assuming he would chew the leaf buds? If not, do you remember what part of the tree he would use? I have personally made an alcoholic extract from the inner bark but found that not very effective for pain reduction such as headaches.
Really interesting video. Where I live, one cannot hunt and there are barely any sources of food, but these trees are all there, so it would make survival a lot more probable. The questions had been asked already, but I would also really like to know, what is the bark's nutritional value and how much your stomach can take.
Daan van geijlswijk That is info that I do not have unfortunately. I do know that some native North American tribes used bark quite extensively in the winters. I do not know if their winter diet consisted entirely of bark. I do not think so though.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival This is some info I found: "The bark is relatively nutritious, packing about 500-600 calories to the pound, but it may be bitter tasting depending on the species and the tree's growing conditions. Most inner bark contains a surprising amount of digestible starches, some sugar, vitamins, minerals, and the bark also has tons of fiber, so brace yourself for a good internal scrubbing."on this address: www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2011/11/survival-foods-can-you-really-eat-tree-bark/
You are unique on UA-cam. Please keep doing what you do and the way you have been doing it. Same for Connie and her cooking videos. Now that I think about it, are you trying to steal her thunder with this cooking video? LOL
Lonnie- I have gained a lot of very practical info from watching many of your great videos of late. I was wondering though about the bark thing, especially the "soup". I remember reading about sarsaparilla oil way back and that it was a carcinogen. Have your ever researched the danger of consuming the type of soup/bark food you have shown in this video? Thanks again for your work here.
Rustic By Nature Thank you. I hope you do get a chance to get out and try some. It is a very interesting experience. One just does not expect much taste from the bland looking bark pieces. once a person starts chewing on them it is one of those *"WOW"* moments when it catches you totally by surprise with a powerful "punch" of taste.
Thanks for being honest about the tastes. I have tried pine and it was bad. But, if you had to do it you would. And in the right conditions, they might even taste a lot better. Thanks for a great video. Love your opening for your videos
dalton vickers I agree totally with you. In a survival situation, I'm sure the tastes would be perceived much different than when we have plenty. Glad you like our new video intro.
Hi Lonnie, have you ever had a go at a "Hangi" it is a earth oven the native New Zealand Maoris used for cooking allot, especially for special occasions and still used today for special occasions such as waitangi day. It's nice when done properly, but may not cook properly in your winter better for summer in your climate I would think.
***** According to folklore, native people made tea from the bark of trees. I wonder if one could brew a passable "tea" using only the most palatable bark varieties. You did seem partial to spruce. Would a spruce-bark tea be any good? I'm very new here but I am enjoying your videos. They are very educational, and your somewhat laconic style suits the content well. Top shelf sir.
pillsnotbills Yes teas can be made from tree barks. You may have seen my recent video on birch twig tea. A lot of that flavor comes from the bark. Spruce bark tea would be fine. Most people though prefer to make a spruce tea from the needles since it is less damaging to the tree.. It is better to use the fresh spring new growth needles to get the most unique flavor. but tea can be made year round from the needles. I recommend not using white spruce as it has a bit of an "off" odor. If white spruce is all that is available though the tea is still pretty good. It is just not as good as some other varieties of spruce. Black spruce is the best we have here locally.
Very interesting Lonnie thank you. I understand that birch sap is harvested at a very specific time of year in certain countries. It is used for various medicinal reasons including cancer fighting. Have you heard of this?
I have not looked into the medicinal qualities of the sap but Me and my wife have harvested our own and have made syrup out of it in the past. A brief time in the Springtime is the time to harvest the sap. Once the leaves pop out and begin to grow then sap collecting time is pretty much over with. The sugar content is highest when the sap first starts flowing in the Spring. Tapping For Birch Sap The Bushcraft Way ua-cam.com/video/qrCCdfNvMR8/v-deo.html
this is very cool and interesting i live in northern Canada and would love to try this. if you are going to do this again you should try putting spiceson it or mix it with food or something. keep up the videos bud
Jeremy Gagne Thank you. To tell you the truth, I actually recorded the latter part of this video twice. The first recording I did apply salt to the bark which did improve the taste. Unfortunately I discovered that my camera battery had died and I did not record all that I hoped to have recorded. I had to re-record the frying portion again and this time I did not get the salt on.
I am new to tree ID and I was wondering what is the difference between poplar and aspen up in your neck of the woods. Here in Mn popular and aspen are the same tree. Great video on how to eat bark. I read in some books, some barks was edible but i didn't know how it was done. I have to give this a try, just to say I done it
millster101 poplar and aspen are in the same family but are not the same tree. You can tell the difference easiest by looking at the leaves. The Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) have flat stems to the leaves which cause them to "quake" or shake in the wind much more so than other trees. Their leaves are also shorter making them about as long as they are wide. The poplar leaves are longer than they are wide. They are wider near the base than near the tip. Give the bark a try if you get the chance. It is an interesting experience.
I'd have to be some hunger to resort to beaver food!! Perhaps a nice roasted beaver and a cup of bark tea would be a better choice for those of us with older choppers. Good video Lonnie, you went that extra mile on this one.
***** A native woman cooked at the Rennie Hotel in Manitoba. She served up some delicious roast beaver. The secret is to get the fat off them. So she boiled it first and once that was done then roasted it. Absolutely delicious!!! I figure if you are willing to eat their food you would be even more willing to try something that would go better with mashed potatoes. Actually we had it with bannock or on sour dough bread with mustard. This recipe strikes me as being pretty close to hers. www.cooks.com/recipe/gz0xg17v/barbecued-beaver.html
***** Lonnie if you really beg maybe Connie knows how to serve up a great béaver surely someone up in your neck of the woods could whip you up a reasonable facsimile of the fur traders delight!! Stay safe and I'm pretty sure that bark should be eaten in moderation!!
So, does this aspirin content actually work like the well-known drug? Pain relief and blood thinner? How much of it is actually safe to eat, and would you recommend it in a situation where you actually need pain relief? Sprained wrist, muscle and joint pain, etc? Thank you so much Lonnie. I really enjoy your videos.
icantstop90 Yes it does really work as a pain reliever. I use willow bark that I harvested and made an alcohol extract. It works well but the species of willow that I used this last time does require me to take a lot of it to get the needed pain killing benefits. If you do not have any pain meds when in the woods and you are in need then yes I would not hesitate personally to use the pain relievers that nature provides. In fact I personally do not wait until I have no pharmaceutically produced drugs. If I can find a substitute in the woods then I will often use that instead. I have heard from several different people who say that chewing several willow leaves will produce sufficient pain killing properties to suffice for their needs but personally I have not yet used the leaves for pain.
Never have eaten bark. Fried in bacon grease I suppose they would be great. Heating them up until they became brittle and grinding then in to a flour extender sounds right. The bark ( cambium layer) soup I would think would give you too much salicylic acid maybe thinning your blood too much. Dog wood is similar to tylenol if you can't take aspirin. Thank you for your videos I am a subscriber and do enjoy them.
+quercus Thankls for subscribing. we appreciate it. We don't have the kind of "Dogwood" you mention up north here but we d have many other plant and tree products that are known to help reduce pain.
Hi, you could probably add it to acorn flour. Leach the acorn first then combine it. Although Acorn is very nutritious on its own, containing protein, carbs & fat.
Canesser Yes it was both poplar and aspen (which is also a member of the Populus species). The particular Poplar was most likely Balsam poplar (Populus Balsamifera) rather than Black Cottonwood (Populus tricocarpa). We do have both locally though
In the 1800s they did that here in sweden as well. They called it ”barkbröd”. Thats bark bread😊 those who i spoken to who remember they talked with those who tried it said it tasted as soft raw spruce wood😅 but it worked just fine🤷🏻♂️ perhaps you and connie should try and make ”barkbröd” with spruce bark?😄 good video as always❤️
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival yes. They still had to have regular flour. But sometimes they mixed it with more spruce flour and the taste and bread got worse. My grand grandmother said it tasted and felt like a log. But it was eatable in times of need.
bibleprophecy1st lol Well I hope you went out and gave some a try. Our God has blessed us with many natural products that are not only nutritious for us but some of them are even tasty and enjoyable.
My favorite way of eating bark is in a soup or baked in a ground oven and then dried. Birch for soup and pine for the ground oven. One tip for pine is to use middle age strait trees, they have less of a resin taste than the young saplings.
Pehr Blomkvist Thank you for that info. The more I learn about the natural outdoors, the more I want to learn. Once you have dried the Spruce in the ground oven, what do you do with it then? Do you eat it as is or do you then grind it up and use it for something else?
You have taught me alot through your videos so very happy to share my own experiences. If properly dried (and this can be a bit of a hassle getting it dried out but not burned) you just eat as is (but can ofcause be used in other foods in pieces or ground up). It gets crispy and a little sweet. If cooked but not completely dried out it still have a lot better taste than raw and I then usually add it to a soup. The rosting in the ground oven is primarily for overall tasteimprovement. In my experience it helps alot, even when the process is not perfect.
Dear Lonnie, thanks for this interesting video again. I was wondering if you would know about any sources of oil, since you are using oil to fry the bark. One would need oil than I guess. Hope to hear from you!
many different seeds are high in oil. Not all seed oil would be edible however. Though I have never tried it, I'm going to guess that suitable amounts of oil from seeds in a survival situation could be problematic. Birch bark oil is not so difficult to extract in sizable amounts but I do not believe it should be used for edible purposes. The best most convenient source of oil would be fish or animals. Big game animal fats have been very popular through the ages as a cooking oil. In a survival situation, just skip trying to fry the bark and just roast it instead.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival Thanks! Maybe just stick the bark on a stick and hold it by the fire indeed. Fish, maybe boil out the guts? Animals are no options where I live (one of the most densily populated places in the world, the netherlands, or Holland as you probably now it). How about pine-apple seeds? In sunier places, maybe sunflower of olives?
Yes both sunflower as well as olive seeds make excellent cooking oil. There is probably a very wide range of seeds that could be used but I am not very familiar with that subject and do not know what is required to successfully extract the oils.
Angela Allen Great. That is good stuff isn't it. The bread that is my favorite camp bread now is steam baked. It is moist and flavorful without the "dry" crust that most other breads have. If you haven't seen my video oin it and are interested you might enjoy seeing the video listed here. ua-cam.com/video/lSgnGYdc4aQ/v-deo.html
MAD Punty Thank you. The hat is from "Outback Trading Company". www.amazon.com/Outback-Trading-Flinders-Cotton-Oilskin/dp/B00OPH9QMW/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1433866908&sr=8-19&keywords=outback+trading
Just wondering.... Those barks are edible, as in mostly "non-toxic", however is there enough nutrients in them to sustain your life (while also consuming adequate water) for any length of time? say a few weeks at the most?
ruthless4645 There are reports that claim that tree bark has sustained people in emergency situations for several weeks. Unfortunately I have been unable to find an actual nutrient breakdown. I do know that it sustains moose during the winters here.
What digestive issues could you face eating tree bark. Some people I have talked to say you have to be careful to not get bound up when trying to pass it.
Each individual and their digestive system is different and unique. Some people believe that high fiber is a remedy for constipation. I am not a medical professional.
Lonnie was wondering if you could show us the trees that you took the bark from , since you only show us the branches I really would like to try this. thank you
+Angela Allen I encourage you to learn to identify the trees and plants around you since it opens up a tremendous new world of knowledge in medicine, food and utility. I do encourage you also to do your own research on the subject of ID since you will learn much better that way from many different sources rather than from my one video. Good luck in your learning endeavour.
I watch a LOT of survival videos, too many really. The truth is, that I learn more from Lonnie in one video than I do from a half dozen of the others. The videos he makes are a blessing to me.
Kenneth Eat the Trees by Lynda Runyon
I think that's because He likes to teach Good Knowledge and skills, more than making a video to get likes ...
Years ago I met a man that was educated by old school native people on living in the wilderness. He went on to become a survival teacher. At his advanced levels, graduation required a student to do 3 months in the mountain woods of Montana, with a knife and supplies. . This was one of the skills. As a rule, his students thrived so well even in winter, they gained weight while living on the land. With knowledge, Nature will feed us.
Hi Lonnie! I heard a long time ago that to make flour from bark for either ash cakes or noodles that the strips harvested should be dehydrated, slightly roasted, ground very fine and then make noodles or flatbread with water and a little oil or fat. I think somebody assumed on just making noodle strips right from the tree...and then as these things go on social media...the misinformation gremlins took it from there. I've never tried but now with your video feel inspired again. Thanks!
Got to respect a man who walks the talk.
Hi Lonnie, I've never subscribed before but I am addicted to your interesting videos. I'm not well enough to do anything outdoors now but watching your videos is so relaxing, you have a very nice soothing manner and a great unhurried style of presentation. Wishing both you and Connie all the best.DebsFrom the UK.
This takes sprucing up your cooking to a new level.
Wow what a fantastically informative video. I wonder how many calories are provided in the bark and what types of nutrients? It would be awesome if you could do a tree series where you talked about the various uses for the nost commonly available trees. Just an idea for ya, great vid as always man, thanks for the knowledge.
Canadian Prepper That is a great idea for a future video series. I will write that one down on my "to-do" and "requested" video lists. You are welcome and thank you.
***** That would be a great series I do look forward to it Lonnie, thanks for the response.
Arcturus Bootis That's pretty good info thanks man, you would have to eat quite a bit to stay alive, and I suspect that its not a complete protein with all essential amino acids but it sure beats dying!
Yes what amount of carbohydrates can we find in barks. My ex being Japanese told me the Japanese samurai would ensure alot of pine trees around thier fortresses to ensure survival in times of scarcity.
Only use this as fuel to find protein, fat and gather edible greens. Too much fiber will make you constipated and if you can manage to pass it before dying of sepsis ...I'm not gonna lie, you may sh*t a 2x4!
Pine is strong. My Uncle in German had a bee farm and I loved his pine honey he had. He won regional contest from his honey. I sure do miss him. R.I.P Uncle Walter.
I am just utterly amazed at your base of knowledge! I'm from Iowa, obviously a long ways away from AK but still the things you have taught have practically even in my neck of the woods.
Hope you're well & thanks again for taking the time to teach these timeless skills. A true gift to mankind (and me & my family.)
Once again, Lonnie delivers another beautiful and informative video. Top notch ! Thank you.
andrew ellison You are welcome. Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video.
As a youngster I was taught by somebody that you could eat the inner bark.Living here on the Olympic peninsula I was also taught the local tribes ground it and made cakes.Thought that was really awesome.Then I tasted tree bark.Like trying to eat a spoonful of instant coffee.Great video.
Born and raised here.I live west of Seattle in the foothills of the lee side..I build houses just like my grandfather.
I’m learning and I enjoy your videos more and more. It relaxing and reassuring the way you present things. It’s obvious that your experience is real. Cheers.
Thanks for the demonstration, i like your calm voice a lot. Cheers
This is so informative. I've learned more from watching a few videos than I ever thought I could from one channel. Thank you for this valuable information!
Hi Lonnie, Brilliant stuff...! Thank you so much for explaining in such a mild but interesting manner and taking your time to explain your experiences and passing on the information in such a great way, it makes me wish I was there with you.
I know you did this video 5 years ago, but it good to know some of the stuff you can do to survive.
fantastic , got what I came for and much more , your knowledge is gold. thank you for giving me some.
Outstanding. I wish all bushcraft videos were as informative and interesting to watch. Great job!
Interesting Lonnie. I was out on a camp over the last few days and chewed on some Elm bark. I don't know if Elm is edible, but I just fancied giving it a chew. I have never heard of it being poisonousness In anycase, it tasted actually a little sweet and mild..
Thanks for the video.
Sandy.
Wiltshire Man I'm personally not familiar with Elm since we do not have any here in South Central Alaska. It sounds like a great tree to get to know better for it's medicinal as well as edible uses.
Awesome Lonnie! I like your format and everything. You have a really good style and I always end up looking forward to your next video. :)
Sharlenwar That is great to hear that you enjoy the style of our videos. We are who we are here and are just having fun with doing this video thing in our own way and own style. It is always encouraging to hear that there is a certain segment of society that seems to "mesh" with our style along with us.
Another great thing to try this spring. It seems like they may be good added to some wilderness salads. Thanks for sharing
+Dirk Mitchell It would certainly work to add them to salads. Personally though I think that the texture might not be very complimentary to use in a salad.
Awesome, informative as always. Will be trying this soon. Thanks again for the knowledge.
Hello Lonny and Conny, your video’s are awesome good thank you.
Awesome as always Lonnie, thanks for sharing all your knowledge!
Jacqueline Schwartz Thank you for watching and for the kind words.
Lonnie, I enjoy your lay back attitude great Video
Kristyanna Virgona Glad you enjoy it my friend. Thank you.
Great Demonstration Lonnie. Its great to see another video from my dream land! ATB, Dawn
SouthPaw Bushcraft Glad you enjoyed seeing it. Thank you.
You’ve been watching the moose! Lol. Great video. I hope I don’t ever have to eat bark but if I do I’ll know how thanks to you. Thanks for another great video.
Oh yeah, I appreciate your Bush craft lessons. Thank you
Thanks for actually testing and tasting these. Nice to see that for a change, and to hear your opinions.
Mike James You are welcome Mike. Thank you for watching and leaving a positive comment.
Lonnie great vid, I had heard about eating bark but no one was sure how it was cooked or eaten raw. So now I have 4 ways of cooking it. Thanks
Definitely keep a flask of olive oil on you. You can use it for frying, lubricating tools/knives, making medicinal infusions, and if you're without any other food sources or just need to keep moving at a quick pace constantly for whatever reason, an 8 oz flask of olive oil contains a whopping 2000 calories.
Thanks for sharing thank you much appreciated. Thanks from east Kentucky
Thanks Lonnie, I'd never considered bark as food. I also viewed your video on gathering a salad from your Alaskan yard. About the nutrition value of garden vs. wild is very interesting, too. It makes me realize the value of adding good organic fertilizer to my little garden. I like to add sea weed and fish derived products. I'm sure my garden citrus and vegetables and herbs are better than what you get at the store. There's a little piece of my heart that wishes I could gather from the wild. Here in the Phoenix desert, I could gather prickly pear and other cactus. Hmmm. It gets me thinking. You can bet I'll be attending the next ranger talk in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve that teaches about edible local plant life. What a great way to start my Saturday morning just before I go out to give my garden a little love.
Tippy Mueller Virtually every area has their own wild native plants, that is if there is wild areas for them to grow. I would also enjoy attending a class on dessert edibles. I have spent a little time in the hills in the areas between tucson and Yuma. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Another great job with the video. Thank you... Yes i must try this bark tasting. Never done it as yet.
Looks like a nice breezy spring day! Getting some good roughage there. Thanks for sharing. We don't have as many trees down here in Arizona, but I enjoyed watching.
spruce and birch have been used for a long time as flavorings in beer.
spacebunz Yes it seems that it has been much more windy than normal here this spring. Thanks for watching
DystopianEmpire01 Birch and spruce have many many many uses both medicinal as well as edible.
I have to agree with the large number of comments saying the tempo (and content, of course!) of your videos is extremely enjoyable. Please keep 'em coming
Could you maybe briefly touch on what tree barks to avoid?
Lonnie, I like to watch you for the information you provide. Usually. But this one, seriously, left me on the floor laughing my guts out. Hilarious! Go eat some more bark, my hero! 😂
Thanks for the great video I really enjoyed the information.
Jason
Primal Outdoors Glad you liked the video Jason. You are welcome
Thank you sir for the nice lesson. I regularly make pine needle tea, but haven't processed the bark for chips yet.
Hello Lonnie. I have followed the channel and excellent videos.
Congratulations. I have learned much from his teachings.
Big hug from southern Brazil. (using google translator)
grupogatodomato Thank you. Glad you are enjoying the videos. Greetings from Alaska USA
Wow. You made me hungry already. I'll be definitely be trying this. Thanks for the tips.
+Caleb Ayala You are welcome. I hope you have fun and enjoy your experience when you do try this out for yourself.
I've always been surprised at how good spruce really tastes. I've never tried the bark, but do use the new needle growth. I'll have to try the bark now. Thanks!
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead I also enjoy our local Black Spruce new growth needles as a tea, but don't care as much for the White Spruce.
I've got Englemann spruce and Colorado Blue Spruce here at my place. The blue spruce is really tasty, but it's a lot harder on the fingers to pick the new growth! : )
Hope I never have to resort to eating tree bark but I'll definitely be adding this knowledge to the ol survival tool box in the brain just in case. Thanks Lonnie.
That was great Lonnie. I learned somethings new, thank you very much.
Benny
bibleprophecy1st Glad you enjoyed it Benny
I really like enjoy your videos and knowledge. Thanks very much.
Great Job Lonnie! Thanks for this demo!
TomsBackwoods You are welcome and Thank you for watching.
The outer bark is the phellem but the two under layers of the bark, the phellogen and phelloderm, house a lot of nutrients as these two layers produce the phellem outwards and the cambium layer inwards. In this demonstration the tissue being consumed is the phelloderm, phellogen, and even a bit of cambium.
Very cool Lonnie ;) ...Cambium taste test. ...super my friend. We have recipe for noodles out of birch bark. Soup with spruce cambium was tasty to me. Great my friend.
Waldhandwerk Thank you my friend. Eating bark can be quite an interesting experience.
This one was awesome Lonnie very informative 👍
Just tried the inner bark of the poplar tree, not bad at all, thank you Lonnie for this video. Also fried it in butter with salt, very good. I did enjoy chewing the fresh inner bark, the texture was quite pleasing actually, the flavor was not too strong either, maybe due to the tree being a sapling? Sprinkled some on egg and toast, well, all I can say is it doesn't make a great spice, heh, heh. Take care!
Tall Cedars Sounds like you tried some extensive taste tests. I like seeing people not just watch or read about these type of things but actually get out there and try it. Good going.
Bark burp!..lol...
Once again, Thank you for your knowledge.
Love it!
Thx for sharing.. In Florida they cook cabbage palm hearts/stumps 100lb or more for a day or more to break it down it looks like cabbage but I am not a cabbage fan so I didn't eat it the wife loved it though. Also heard of eating Date palm head of the tree where the branches are growing from I assume again cooked for 24hours or more. In your case with the bark cooking it to soften the fiber would concentrate the unwanted flavors so it would be a give and a take. I have heard of bread makers during hard times using saw dust to cut the dough not sure it holds water but it does seem feasible.
I've read several places that "adirondack" is derived from a Mohawk word meaning "tree eater". Inner bark of maples is tasty. I would peel them then scrape the thin layer off the log part, it was very thin.
I kept thinking you were probably wishing you had a cup of coffee to wash all that fiber down! And I've been teasing my daughter about her buying pre-grated Parmesan cheese, with 'cellulose' added, lol
Wow. More knowledge. Thank you. I am going to have to subscribe and learn more. Thank you.
Now that's great information for all my dad used to chew poplar for headaches and showed me this yrs ago but forgot it thanks lonnie
kabaruser I am assuming he would chew the leaf buds? If not, do you remember what part of the tree he would use? I have personally made an alcoholic extract from the inner bark but found that not very effective for pain reduction such as headaches.
Really interesting video. Where I live, one cannot hunt and there are barely any sources of food, but these trees are all there, so it would make survival a lot more probable.
The questions had been asked already, but I would also really like to know, what is the bark's nutritional value and how much your stomach can take.
Daan van geijlswijk That is info that I do not have unfortunately. I do know that some native North American tribes used bark quite extensively in the winters. I do not know if their winter diet consisted entirely of bark. I do not think so though.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival This is some info I found: "The bark is relatively nutritious, packing about 500-600 calories to the pound, but it may be bitter tasting depending on the species and the tree's growing conditions. Most inner bark contains a surprising amount of digestible starches, some sugar, vitamins, minerals, and the bark also has tons of fiber, so brace yourself for a good internal scrubbing."on this address: www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/survivalist/2011/11/survival-foods-can-you-really-eat-tree-bark/
You are unique on UA-cam. Please keep doing what you do and the way you have been doing it. Same for Connie and her cooking videos. Now that I think about it, are you trying to steal her thunder with this cooking video? LOL
Lonnie- I have gained a lot of very practical info from watching many of your great videos of late. I was wondering though about the bark thing, especially the "soup". I remember reading about sarsaparilla oil way back and that it was a carcinogen. Have your ever researched the danger of consuming the type of soup/bark food you have shown in this video? Thanks again for your work here.
Thanks, Lonnie; very interesting.
Great video. Now I need to go out and try some.
Rustic By Nature Thank you. I hope you do get a chance to get out and try some. It is a very interesting experience. One just does not expect much taste from the bland looking bark pieces. once a person starts chewing on them it is one of those *"WOW"* moments when it catches you totally by surprise with a powerful "punch" of taste.
10:56 "this is not very noodle-y" gave me a laugh. If you ever decide to sell mugs or other merch, that would be a great slogan
Thanks for being honest about the tastes. I have tried pine and it was bad. But, if you had to do it you would. And in the right conditions, they might even taste a lot better. Thanks for a great video. Love your opening for your videos
dalton vickers I agree totally with you. In a survival situation, I'm sure the tastes would be perceived much different than when we have plenty. Glad you like our new video intro.
We did it here to in Sweden. Common mix was 1 part bark flour - 2 parts regular flour.
Fredrik Nilsson I have a feeling that many different people groups from around the globe has also done this as well. Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Lonnie, have you ever had a go at a "Hangi" it is a earth oven the native New Zealand Maoris used for cooking allot, especially for special occasions and still used today for special occasions such as waitangi day. It's nice when done properly, but may not cook properly in your winter better for summer in your climate I would think.
No I have never done anything like that here.
***** According to folklore, native people made tea from the bark of trees. I wonder if one could brew a passable "tea" using only the most palatable bark varieties. You did seem partial to spruce. Would a spruce-bark tea be any good?
I'm very new here but I am enjoying your videos. They are very educational, and your somewhat laconic style suits the content well. Top shelf sir.
pillsnotbills Yes teas can be made from tree barks. You may have seen my recent video on birch twig tea. A lot of that flavor comes from the bark. Spruce bark tea would be fine. Most people though prefer to make a spruce tea from the needles since it is less damaging to the tree.. It is better to use the fresh spring new growth needles to get the most unique flavor. but tea can be made year round from the needles. I recommend not using white spruce as it has a bit of an "off" odor. If white spruce is all that is available though the tea is still pretty good. It is just not as good as some other varieties of spruce. Black spruce is the best we have here locally.
Very interesting Lonnie thank you. I understand that birch sap is harvested at a very specific time of year in certain countries. It is used for various medicinal reasons including cancer fighting. Have you heard of this?
I have not looked into the medicinal qualities of the sap but Me and my wife have harvested our own and have made syrup out of it in the past. A brief time in the Springtime is the time to harvest the sap. Once the leaves pop out and begin to grow then sap collecting time is pretty much over with. The sugar content is highest when the sap first starts flowing in the Spring.
Tapping For Birch Sap The Bushcraft Way
ua-cam.com/video/qrCCdfNvMR8/v-deo.html
This was a great video, learned a lot. Thank you!
PaddleBunk Glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for watching
i just love your videos! thanks for sharing your knolage
I love your Videos they are very interesting
Good stuff... Thanx Lonnie!
Glen Neller You are welcome and thank you.
I've got to try this ! Thanks Lonnie
Martin You are welcome. Thanks for watching.
Nice video :) In Norway they also used to make bark bread during bad times :)
NorseMarauder I have learned it was a practice also used in Sweden as well. Thanks for that info.
Hi,got a question or should I say two ? What is the nutritional content of the tree bark ? Willow,Spruce,Birch.?
this is very cool and interesting i live in northern Canada and would love to try this. if you are going to do this again you should try putting spiceson it or mix it with food or something. keep up the videos bud
Jeremy Gagne Thank you. To tell you the truth, I actually recorded the latter part of this video twice. The first recording I did apply salt to the bark which did improve the taste. Unfortunately I discovered that my camera battery had died and I did not record all that I hoped to have recorded. I had to re-record the frying portion again and this time I did not get the salt on.
Hi Lonnie , interesting video I've heard that willow has aspirin in it , but I didn't know about the others ,cheers ️atb martin
Outlander Bushcraft Thank you Martin. Yes the birch, poplar (all populus species) and willow all have salicin.
I am new to tree ID and I was wondering what is the difference between poplar and aspen up in your neck of the woods. Here in Mn popular and aspen are the same tree.
Great video on how to eat bark. I read in some books, some barks was edible but i didn't know how it was done.
I have to give this a try, just to say I done it
millster101 poplar and aspen are in the same family but are not the same tree. You can tell the difference easiest by looking at the leaves. The Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) have flat stems to the leaves which cause them to "quake" or shake in the wind much more so than other trees. Their leaves are also shorter making them about as long as they are wide. The poplar leaves are longer than they are wide. They are wider near the base than near the tip. Give the bark a try if you get the chance. It is an interesting experience.
Thanks Lonnie. Good to know. Best.
Tom M You are welcome. Thanks for watching.
I am wondering if the bark can be pulverized to make a kind of flour? Maybe boil then dry then pulverize?
Great video Lonnie!!
Mike Kotwica Thank you
I'd have to be some hunger to resort to beaver food!! Perhaps a nice roasted beaver and a cup of bark tea would be a better choice for those of us with older choppers. Good video Lonnie, you went that extra mile on this one.
A J Taylor "beaver food" lol I think I have heard that beaver tail is not too bad but have never had it personally. Thank you.
***** A native woman cooked at the Rennie Hotel in Manitoba. She served up some delicious roast beaver. The secret is to get the fat off them. So she boiled it first and once that was done then roasted it. Absolutely delicious!!! I figure if you are willing to eat their food you would be even more willing to try something that would go better with mashed potatoes. Actually we had it with bannock or on sour dough bread with mustard. This recipe strikes me as being pretty close to hers. www.cooks.com/recipe/gz0xg17v/barbecued-beaver.html
A J Taylor wish I could have been there and to have tasted it. It sounds good.
***** Lonnie if you really beg maybe Connie knows how to serve up a great béaver surely someone up in your neck of the woods could whip you up a reasonable facsimile of the fur traders delight!! Stay safe and I'm pretty sure that bark should be eaten in moderation!!
So, does this aspirin content actually work like the well-known drug? Pain relief and blood thinner? How much of it is actually safe to eat, and would you recommend it in a situation where you actually need pain relief? Sprained wrist, muscle and joint pain, etc?
Thank you so much Lonnie. I really enjoy your videos.
icantstop90 Yes it does really work as a pain reliever. I use willow bark that I harvested and made an alcohol extract. It works well but the species of willow that I used this last time does require me to take a lot of it to get the needed pain killing benefits. If you do not have any pain meds when in the woods and you are in need then yes I would not hesitate personally to use the pain relievers that nature provides. In fact I personally do not wait until I have no pharmaceutically produced drugs. If I can find a substitute in the woods then I will often use that instead. I have heard from several different people who say that chewing several willow leaves will produce sufficient pain killing properties to suffice for their needs but personally I have not yet used the leaves for pain.
Never have eaten bark. Fried in bacon grease I suppose they would be great. Heating them up until they became brittle and grinding then in to a flour extender sounds right. The bark ( cambium layer) soup I would think would give you too much salicylic acid maybe thinning your blood too much. Dog wood is similar to tylenol if you can't take aspirin. Thank you for your videos I am a subscriber and do enjoy them.
+quercus Thankls for subscribing. we appreciate it. We don't have the kind of "Dogwood" you mention up north here but we d have many other plant and tree products that are known to help reduce pain.
is it the Dog wood tree or bush? or does it matter? i live in arkansas and Dog woods are all over
The ultimate diet food. Eat as much as you want.
You could always use the tree bark stock, to cook up some stinging nettles and cattails
Hi, you could probably add it to acorn flour. Leach the acorn first then combine it. Although Acorn is very nutritious on its own, containing protein, carbs & fat.
We do not have oak trees here in Alaska so do not have acorns and I am not familiar with them.
Thanks! Great survival information!!
I'll take your work for it Lonnie but excellent information to know. You were harvesting from black poplar in addition to aspen then?
Canesser Yes it was both poplar and aspen (which is also a member of the Populus species). The particular Poplar was most likely Balsam poplar (Populus Balsamifera) rather than Black Cottonwood (Populus tricocarpa). We do have both locally though
In the 1800s they did that here in sweden as well. They called it ”barkbröd”. Thats bark bread😊 those who i spoken to who remember they talked with those who tried it said it tasted as soft raw spruce wood😅 but it worked just fine🤷🏻♂️ perhaps you and connie should try and make ”barkbröd” with spruce bark?😄 good video as always❤️
As I understand it, even then they did not use the bark "flour" alone but as a grain flour extender.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival yes. They still had to have regular flour. But sometimes they mixed it with more spruce flour and the taste and bread got worse. My grand grandmother said it tasted and felt like a log. But it was eatable in times of need.
I was watching you and I suddenly wanted some Spruce bark tea.
bibleprophecy1st lol Well I hope you went out and gave some a try. Our God has blessed us with many natural products that are not only nutritious for us but some of them are even tasty and enjoyable.
My favorite way of eating bark is in a soup or baked in a ground oven and then dried. Birch for soup and pine for the ground oven. One tip for pine is to use middle age strait trees, they have less of a resin taste than the young saplings.
Pehr Blomkvist Thank you for that info. The more I learn about the natural outdoors, the more I want to learn. Once you have dried the Spruce in the ground oven, what do you do with it then? Do you eat it as is or do you then grind it up and use it for something else?
You have taught me alot through your videos so very happy to share my own experiences. If properly dried (and this can be a bit of a hassle getting it dried out but not burned) you just eat as is (but can ofcause be used in other foods in pieces or ground up). It gets crispy and a little sweet. If cooked but not completely dried out it still have a lot better taste than raw and I then usually add it to a soup. The rosting in the ground oven is primarily for overall tasteimprovement. In my experience it helps alot, even when the process is not perfect.
Pehr Blomkvist Thanks. That is good info to know.
Thanks for this. I learned a lot. Peace
Teds Outdoors HoodCraft Survival Glad you found the video helpful. That is always refreshing words for us to hear from viewers
Dear Lonnie, thanks for this interesting video again. I was wondering if you would know about any sources of oil, since you are using oil to fry the bark. One would need oil than I guess. Hope to hear from you!
many different seeds are high in oil. Not all seed oil would be edible however. Though I have never tried it, I'm going to guess that suitable amounts of oil from seeds in a survival situation could be problematic. Birch bark oil is not so difficult to extract in sizable amounts but I do not believe it should be used for edible purposes. The best most convenient source of oil would be fish or animals. Big game animal fats have been very popular through the ages as a cooking oil. In a survival situation, just skip trying to fry the bark and just roast it instead.
@@Far-North-Bushcraft-Survival Thanks! Maybe just stick the bark on a stick and hold it by the fire indeed. Fish, maybe boil out the guts? Animals are no options where I live (one of the most densily populated places in the world, the netherlands, or Holland as you probably now it). How about pine-apple seeds? In sunier places, maybe sunflower of olives?
Yes both sunflower as well as olive seeds make excellent cooking oil. There is probably a very wide range of seeds that could be used but I am not very familiar with that subject and do not know what is required to successfully extract the oils.
You just answered my question later in the video...thank you. lol .
I love damper that he and wife show how to make I am addicted to it
Angela Allen Great. That is good stuff isn't it. The bread that is my favorite camp bread now is steam baked. It is moist and flavorful without the "dry" crust that most other breads have. If you haven't seen my video oin it and are interested you might enjoy seeing the video listed here. ua-cam.com/video/lSgnGYdc4aQ/v-deo.html
thank you
if you rub butter all over the top of the bread just as you take it out of the oven(or whatever its cooked in) then the crust will be soft
Always the best vids. Love the hat....what manufacturer is the hat?
MAD Punty Thank you. The hat is from "Outback Trading Company". www.amazon.com/Outback-Trading-Flinders-Cotton-Oilskin/dp/B00OPH9QMW/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1433866908&sr=8-19&keywords=outback+trading
Just wondering.... Those barks are edible, as in mostly "non-toxic", however is there enough nutrients in them to sustain your life (while also consuming adequate water) for any length of time? say a few weeks at the most?
ruthless4645 There are reports that claim that tree bark has sustained people in emergency situations for several weeks. Unfortunately I have been unable to find an actual nutrient breakdown. I do know that it sustains moose during the winters here.
Love the guitar music,.what is the name of that song ? Who plays it ? Awesome !"
See video description below video.
What digestive issues could you face eating tree bark. Some people I have talked to say you have to be careful to not get bound up when trying to pass it.
Each individual and their digestive system is different and unique. Some people believe that high fiber is a remedy for constipation. I am not a medical professional.
Lonnie was wondering if you could show us the trees that you took the bark from , since you only show us the branches I really would like to try this. thank you
+Angela Allen I encourage you to learn to identify the trees and plants around you since it opens up a tremendous new world of knowledge in medicine, food and utility. I do encourage you also to do your own research on the subject of ID since you will learn much better that way from many different sources rather than from my one video. Good luck in your learning endeavour.
+Fletchers Flesh I do appreciate what you said but wished you would have said it in a kinder way. :o)
Thank you Lonnie I will do that.
thanks enjoyed watching hope to see you soon take care