After speaking at ACT Permaculture Festival and Australasian Permaculture Convergence, today I’d like to share with you ‘resourcefulness’ in rural China. Resourcefulness includes:
1.understanding the use of ‘weeds’ and ‘pests’, hence all resources
2. full use of nature’s resources, no wastage.
Resourcefulness comes from land knowledge and people’s respect of nature and its endowment.
Today I’m sharing with you the first aspect of ‘resourcefulness’: use of weeds and pests!
Below are some pictures of plants/animals that are our food and/or medicines, if we learn from villagers in rural China.
No. 1 plant is a common weed in gardens, road side, which is really delicious to eat and nutritious: shepard purse. You can tell them apart by their triangle seedpots, and its distinct taste once you get familiar with it. They are getting expensive in Chinese markets and restaurant.
No. 2 a very common garden plant/weed: honeysuckle. I know that the dried flower buds are very good for soothing sore throat, I did that last night for my sore throat, totally forgot about it today.
No. 3 I was corrected on the English name of this one by the beautiful permaculture guru: David Holmgren: it’s black locust! We eat the flowers in rural China, in all kinds of ways. The honey locust here have longer thorns, and we ate them too, I’m already your guinea pig.
No. 4 the famous Stink Bug! It has a beautiful name in Chinese medicine “Nine-fragrance bug”, once roasted for medicine. It’s the commoners’ inexpensive but effective medicine for removing energy and blood blockage in the body. I had to pay a bit money for it in Chinese medicine store in Sydney, I couldn’t tell the fragrance, but as long as it works.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the reading.
Please note that foraging needs timing and ways of treating plants, while I can be certain on some wild food, I’m not 100% on the other. Villagers are the ones to show you. One lady even picked an amanita-like mushroom in rural China (bright red with dots), told me how she treats them and eats them and they taste great.
Your tour to rural China will help people to realise what valuable knowledge they have and wake up the young to learn from the old and wise. The locals will give you so much knowledge, love, great food, domestic and wild.
By the way, if you haven’t liked Rural China Tour’s facebook page, please like it. Every like counts significantly! Thank you!