I mentioned yesterday that I was making Jewelweed salve and my neighbor got stung. Today he was cleaning out the nest and has a few more stings. He said they itched like crazy. So I scrounged around and yard at the edge of the woods in a weedy looking area. I found a variety of beneficial things growing out there. Lamb’s Qurters, Golenrod, Foxtail Millet, Sunflowers…even some tall Mullein. But what I found today that was really helpful was some musk mallow. Musk Mallow is a

This is an old outdoorsman’s trick. I usually make my jewel weed salve in August each year. Jewelweed can be found pretty much in most areas with moist soil in partial shade. I make a year’s supply at a time. Jewelweed grows in bushes about 3 feet or more high and ironically it can be found growing close to poison ivy bushes. The little orange flowers bloom in late July through August and into early September sometimes. If you touch the flowers, they often pop and shoot the

A video of showing the way to operate a URAL motorcycle. The reverse lever, the two wheel drive, and some of the features found on my 2007 model Gear Up.

A simple bucksaw made for camping.

A southern tradition of making the most smooth tasting brewed tea.

Simple maintenance on a Russian motorcycle

Finding a better way to steer your sidecar hack

It’s no secret that I spend more time in the woods lately than I used to. Why not ? I’m retired now, so why not make the best of it instead of sitting around the house and staring at the walls ? I’m into eating better food these days and I can’t afford restaurant prices — so I cook my own. Today’s recipe is an experiment. I don’t have an actual recipe for this, so I decided to just “wing it.” The prep time for this dish is about 30 minutes, and about 20 minutes on the grill.

Me and my service dog went for a long ride yesterday. Today was a serious picnic ride to a local park a few towns over. I’m no chef, but I can cook decent food. Today’s menu was Pad Thai — or at least my version of it. I did all the prep work at home before we packed up for the trip. I pre sliced the bell peppers…red, yellow, and green. I used shredded carrots and long slices of vidalia onions too. I added minced garlic — about a full tablespoon. I don’t care much for kale an

Obviously you have seen the pictures of Ryland, my service dog, riding in the pair of sidecar motorcycles that I have. We ride a 1998 Harley Electra Glide with a Champion Escort sidecar. She absolutely loves that thing. And — we have a 2007 Russian URAL with a sidecar and 2WD. We use it for winter riding in the snow. However, I have a 3rd motorcycle that has only two wheels. It started out as a 2002 Night Train, but it’s had a lot of modifications over the years. It’s been c

Here’s a little something that I had to learn about being in Maine these last 20+ years. Rugosa Roses. These plants are generally not found in North Carolina where I grew up, but they sure are all over coastal Maine. Believe it or not, these roses are considered an invasive species. They came to North America from Japan about 1845 or so. The Rugosa rose grows in dense bushes about 4 - 6 feet tall and are very dense. They were first used to control soil erosion along the sandy

A strange natural phenomenon occurs in summer when it’s hot out in the backwoods. Trees like oak and popular trees release a gas naturally called isoprene. This gas combines with humidity in the air and oxidizes. This forms a natural barrier to heat and sunlight to produce a type of ozone at the ground level to protect the plants from excessive sunlight that might interfere with photosynthesis. Maine is mostly comprised of coniferous trees and is generally cooler, so we don’t

Summer is here, along with warmer nights. One of the things to learn about woods lore is that you can actually tell the temperature in the backwoods by paying attention to the insects and a couple of amphibians that live out there. The first to pay attention to is the cicada. These insects live underground as a lymph, but emerge to become adults about every 13 to 17 years. These insects “sing” at daytime temperatures starting at 72 - 75*F. They drop off at 95*F and above.

Every since I retired earlier this year from the gun shop, I have been really getting into making my own bushcrafting and outdoors gear. Late last Fall I attended my first basket weaving class. I wanted to learn how to make a pack basket to use with my pack frame I made from red oak. I was pretty happy to find that Miss Jessica Steele (of Wood Thrush Wilderness LLC) was offering yet another class that I could attend. This one would be harvesting an ash tree and peeling the ba

Changing out my hydraulic fork tubes for a dampened springer front end.

An afternoon spent teaching kids is always a good day.

A simple dessert recipe that is easy to make.

A small light weight handmade aluminum cook stove.

A simple to make side dish, or it can be the main dish easily.

A lot of recipes exist for potato skins. Most people use russet potatoes and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. But I prefer smaller potatoes with a thinner skin. Why ? Because you don’t have to overcook them to make sure they’re done. My favorite is the Adirondack golds, although sometimes I use the reds. I scrub the potatoes and leave the peel on them. I place about 4 of them in the air fryer for roughly 40 minutes until they’re tender. I stab a couple holes with a