This is my first blog entry.  I hope there will be many more.  I aim to flag up new entries in the forum so people will know to look.

My bushcraft is not all doing and teaching.  I do much more thinking about the subject than doing.  And I do experimental stuff that is often quite wrong. 

 So, here is item 1:-

Dehydrating oyster mushrooms

 Oyster mushroom (from Wikepedia)

In early winter I noted some fungi growing on a dead standing tree in my local park.  I spent quite some time looking it up in books - "How to identify Edible Mushrooms" by Harding, Lyon and Tomblin, "Mushrooms & Fungi" (Usborne Spotters Guide) by  Clarke, and also "Roger's Mushrooms" - the online version.  I did a spore print.  Having convinced myself that it was almost certainly the oyster mushroom and that even if it wasn't then the look alikes were also safe I went ahead and cooked and ate some.  Very good, if a bit like cultivated mushroom.  But, unfortunately every time I eat wild fungi it scares my wife to death.  And the spores may well irritate the lungs.  So, what to do with a tree full of prime mushrooms if I can't eat them or even have them in the house.  I decided to try dehydrating them and taking them on camp. 

I have only recently heard of dehydrators.  I had before heard of drying things in the oven.  This latter was not an option in the house because of the spores.   So I needed to come up with something in the shed.  A little thought produced this:-

Standing on the desk is a very small desk lamp with a 40 bulb in it.  Around this are 3 wine bottles.  On this is a cake rack.  On the cake rack is my cut up fungus.  Above the rack (supported by some blocks of wood) is a large saucepan lid.  Over the lot is a sheet.

Will it work?  Well it seems to be drying well so far.  It has had about 12 hours at this point.  I understand that what I need is some warm dry air to move steadily over the food until it is perfectly dry. 

Anyway, that is if for today.  There is stuff to come on tanning, Norway fishing under ice, cutting down a tree, friction fire, atlatl, making flour from Jerusalem Artichoke, wine making etc..  But all in good time.

Richard