Day Five

Planning Forest School Sessions

Cooking over a fire

Collecting fuel

Probably the most important factor when successfully building a fire is to collect suitable fuel.
Everything you collect should be as dry as possible. It is better to collect dead hanging wood as wood that is in contact with the ground tends to draw up moisture. It is also worth bearing in mind that some woods are better for fire making than others.
Good firewood includes: Apple wood, oak
Bad firewood includes: Laburnum which produces acrid poisonous smoke

Tinder

Fluffy seedheads such as those from the plant make great tinder.
Other good natural sources of tinder are birch bark and punk.

Kindling

Kindling is made up of matchstick sized branches which must be nice and dry in order that they catch light easily.

Building the fire

The type of fire you build will depend on its purpose, whether it be to cook over or produce lots of heat to keep warm for example.
Nettle tea

Nettles are marvellous things. They possess antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties. A simple nettle tea can be made by washing and chopping the leaves and dropping them in to a pot of boiled water to steep for five minutes.

James Wong suggests using nettle along with chamomile and locally produced honey to make a tea to combat hayfever. The nettle helps to supress the immune systems allergic reaction and the pollen in th honey helps to build up the body's tolerance.


Skewers for toasting marshmallows

Thin sticks were stripped of their bark with a peeler and the end sharpened to a point with a pen knife. No one can resist a freshly toasted marshmallow!


Campfire bread
A simple brad dough is made from flour and water, This can be rolled into balls and tossed into the embers of the fire, or wrapped around a toasting stick.

Roasting bananas and peppers in foil

Making a wooden book cover

Insert leaves of paper and secure using string or natural cordage tied in a reef knot

.

Referring to the appropriate tool procedures, cut a length of wood using a bow saw (the diameter of wood will determine size of book).
Use the billhook and mallet to cleave off the rounded sides of the wood to leave a thick wedge of wood.
Split the wedge down the middle to create a front and back cover.
Use the hand drill to drill two holes through the front and back cover.

Leaving no trace

At the end of our training week, all trace of our actitivies in the woodland, where possible, were removed. Any temporary shelters were dismmanteld and the log circle area was cleared. During the week, a bird had chosen to set up home in one of the temporary shelters, so this one was left intact. It is important to check for evidence of wildlife before disturbing any of the structures you have made.

Reflection of the week