Be The Jam

I was much surprised the other day to discover burdock root being sold on my local market stall for £4.50 a kilo. I would pay considerably more than that not to eat the stuff and normally only do so when very hungry, normally? I have only eaten it once and was so put off I haven't had any since. Mind you it does have all kinds of medicinal properties so it might be worth it for that. Apparently though the best time to harvest burdock root is in the spring when they are more tender.

Well I'm staying in London until the beginning of October, it's kind of a holiday and then I'm off to Spain for a couple of months to work, learn to fish and get used to being in a hotter climate. After that there might be something happening that will involve a few months of my time but would pay for the South America trip. If that falls through I rather think that I might get a bit fed up of trying to raise the money for South America and just fly to South East Asia where I know I can do the whole living in the jungle, writing a blog raising money for Rainforest Concern thing for a fraction of the cost of going to South America, this would also mean that I could get away by April, or thereabouts. There is still an awful lot to learn though and I was quite taken aback the other day to realise I would be able to build myself a jungle shelter right here in the UK. It came about when having a Japanese cookery lesson, I was preparing little squares of banana leaf on which certain dishes would be presented. As I was working away stripping long rectangles from a giant leaf to cut into shape I realised that I was working with something that I recognised from survival books and programs. Banana leaves, so I have read, can be used to make a quick and effective roof and banana plants are fairly common in the tropics, certainly a lot more common than they are in the UK. It had never occurred to me that I could go to an Asian catering supplier and buy a roof worth of leaves to practice with. Before the end of the month there might well be a banana leaf shelter out in the woods somewhere near Oxford, that will confuse the locals. Failing that there could well be a banana leaf shelter on the flat roof over the kitchen, again that should confuse the locals.