Extopian

You probably won’t find the Purslane at your local grocery store, but given its wide distribution, you MIGHT find it growing in lots and parks near your grocer. In fact, it’s found in nearly every temperate climate zone in the world north of the Equator. In North America, if can be found as far south as Mexico right up to the Arctic Circle, though some contend the plant is an invasive species in the New World. Regardless of its origins, this “lowly weed” is a hardy and versatile, if somewhat under-appreciated, source of nutrition. And yet, most people couldn’t distinguish the plant from a line up of common plants in their region. If you can learn to identify the Purslane, you’ll be well ahead of your contemporaries and able to enjoy a free, tasty treat with little competition.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Whether at home or in the backcountry, there’s one weed everyone can recognize at 100 yards: the dandelion. Lawn and golf course caretakers across the country try to stem this little yellow monster that spreads like wildfire. However, with its deep taproot and remarkable regenerative properties, the dandelion will probably destined to outlast manicured lawns and fancy gardens. The weed’s tenacity and omnispresence can be turned to your advantage, however… as a tasty veggie burger!
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Popularity: 4% [?]

One of the most exciting concepts of backwoods living is collecting and preserving food from the wild. Wild foods are high in both vitamin content and flavor, but unlike their domestic cousins from the garden, wild greensand fruits are available during a shorter season of harvest. Why? Because man has not tampered with them genetically to alter size, flavor, quality, or for that matter, made them so tough they can withstand being packed and shipped across the country without bruising. Just the opposite wild foods are fragile and must be handled gently and prepared quickly to retain their natural goodness. It is beyond the scope of this article to include all wild foods, so seek additional information on native fruits and herbs available in your area and learn more about them. Also, I do not intend to touch on wild mushrooms or morels since a wrong selection can prove fatal.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Angora rabbits have a long history. They are one of the oldest breeds and it is thought that they were kept for wool in Roman times. For hundreds of years, breeders in France have kept them and exported some of the wool to Britain, often in a yarn which was a mixture of Angora and sheep’s wool. Most Angoras you see are white, but they can be in any of twelve colors. The wool can be as long as six inches, with feathery plumes on the ears and feet called ‘furnishings’. They seem to be particularly docile, sweet-tempered animals.

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Popularity: 29% [?]

If you would like to get involved, join the club of the breed of your choice, or let your children join – these clubs are particularly kind to young exhibitors. In this way your knowledge will quickly build up. Breeding for showing can get very complicated and, in fact, it can be well out of the realm of self-sufficiency, but there is still an element of backyarding about it. Very rarely do you find a large producer who exhibits rabbits. The Fancy are dedicated and extremely knowledgeable, but they are nearly always ‘in a small way’ with their livestock.

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Popularity: 19% [?]

You may have made up your mind against fur production; it could be argued that a fur coat is out of place in a back yard. There is certainly an image of slightly decadent luxury clinging to fur, even now, in some parts of the world. But there is also the frontier man, Davy Crockett sort of warm fur clothing with no pretensions whatever so if the image bothers you, think of Davy Crockett. Most of the published material about curing skins says don’t (but if you must, they add, do this or that). The reason is that curing furs is a skill like many another, presumably once known to mankind in general and now something of a mystery to most of us. Experts have heard so many wails of anguish from enthusiastic amateurs who have expected to get professional results at their first try, and failed, that they are wary of giving advice.

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Popularity: 22% [?]