Zane’s Pharmacopoeia: Guide to Potions, Herbs, Magical Vegetation and Wilderness Survival

## Date Started 6/2/2017      WIP!

**In this Pharmacopoeia, you have an entire world of gastronomical delights and apothecaric potions that you may use for sustaining life. I will begin with the growing, harvesting and preservation of plants and trees that you could grow in a garden to eat and drink. I will add sections on medicinal potions and tonics. I will tell you how to survive in the wild with no supplies on hand. There will be recipes at the end that you may use and even enjoy. So let us begin.**

**Chapter 1**

**Your garden and orchards**

**Choose your seeds and trees.**

**Use the seeds of plants that you will use the most of until you have gotten used to gardening.**

**Planting**

**First thing to do is to clear the area for tilling. Place the rubbish somewhere so that it can be reused.**

**Next is to take all of the rocks out and set aside.**

**Till the area then smooth it out for planting.**

**Sow the seeds to the correct depth and spacing.**

**Water them sparingly then again in 2-3 days.**

**Tending**

**Know your weeds and plants. Pull only the weeds.**

**Loosen the soil around the plants weekly.**

**Watering**

**Water the plants when the plants are dry. Overwatering tend to ‘weaken the taste’.**

**Harvesting**

**When the plants are ready, start your harvesting. Be sure to check daily once they are near the ripening stage. Don’t pick them if they are not ripe!**

**Preserving**

**Preserving the fresh harvest as soon as you pick it. It will preserve the quality better if you do.**

**Plant Guide**

**Choosing of plants and seeds will depend on what you want to have and why. I will list the things that you can plant for eating and drinking first.**

**Category 1- For eating and drinking**

**Herbs**

**Basil**

**Chives**

**Cilantro**

**Dill**

**Ginger**

**Mint**

**Oregano**

**Parsley**

**Rosemary**

**Sage**

**Thyme**

**Watercress**

**Fruit and Nuts**

**Apples**

**Apricots**

**Blueberries**

**Brazil nuts**

**Cherries**

**Grapes**

**Peaches**

**Pears**

**Peanuts**

**Plums**

**Raspberries**

**Strawberries**

**Walnuts**

**Vegetables**

**Carrots**

**Corn**

**Green beans**

**Green peppers**

**Lettuce**

**Limas**

**Peas**

**Potatoes**

**Pumpkins**

**Squash**

**Sugar beets**

**Sugar cane**

**Tomatoes**

**Wheat**

**Chapter 2**

**Questioning on what to Preserve and how**

**by Ranger Druid Zane DeForrest**

**You have weeded, watered and kept watch over your plants until they were nearly ripe. Or perhaps you have found some wild plants that you wish to preserve. This is the simplest way that I have found to preserve what I wish to take with me while I am traveling.**

**You will need frames and screens fruit drying purposes.**

**picture**

**Now to the actual work.**

**How to dry berries and nuts**

**1) Hull the nuts or remove the greenery from the berry.**

**2) Put in a framed screen in a single layer.**

**3) Place second screen on top.**

**4) Allow the dry, turning the screens daily.**

**5) Place in air tight container that are proportion controlled.IE: If it is to be used as a tea, place in a small mesh bag with a string then in a water proof container. Other items can be placed in draw string bags then in a water proof container.**

**6) Crush when needed with a mortar and pestle.**

**Herbs can be dried packaged and stored in the same manner.**

**If you have an overabundance of veggies or hard fruit such as apples, pears, peaches or plums, dry them by cutting them into 1/3 inch thick by 1 inch squares or slices that are up to 1/3 inch thick. Pies, cobblers or even soaked overnight in water then boiled with a bit of oats for breakfast. Any fruit or veggie can be dried.**

**You can make dried meat this way as well. Just cut the meat into 1/3 inch thick by 1 inch squares. This way you can make it into a good stew or meat pie.**

**You might want to either write the name of the item on the bags so that you know what is in side.**

**I tend to pack sugar and flour in small bags- 1 cup size- so that I can easily and quickly put a meal together.**

**Category 2- For Medicinal use**

'*1.     '***Black Pekoe Tea: A  hardy tea with a clean taste. For a sore throat or, add honey and lemon. No known effects. May be blended with other teas to make a lighter favored tea.**

'*2.     '***Bleeding Heart Plant: Brew the petals of the Bleeding Heart Plant with the Pekoe Tea. May can be sweeten. This will boost inner metabolism and the immune system. It can be used to regain physical strength and stamina.**

'*3.     '***Blood Cluster Vines**

'*4.     '***Cave Moss: This moss can be used as an ice pack. Keep in an airtight bag.**

'*5.     '***Chamomile:**

'*6.     '***Dipsy Daizey : Tea of Forgetfullness: Add the leaves of Dipsy Daizey to the Pekoe Tea. It makes the person hear and say while drinking and for a short time afterwards.  Stronger brews will erase the memory for a period of time. The time depends on the strength of the brew. CAUTION: It can erase the total mind if it is used too often. Can sweeten the tea. Has flowery taste and smell.**

'*7.     '***Forget-me-not: Combines the petals of the Forget- Me-Not flowers with Pekoe Tea. It will enhance the memory and if it is a strong brew, the person will retain a picture perfect memory for a period of time.**

'*8.     '***Ginger:**

'*9.     '***Gingseng:**

'*10.                        '***Ice Rose: Combine the Pekoe Tea with a few petals of the Ice Rose. This will bring down a fever but must be used with caution. This tea can bring the temperature down so low that an artificial/medically induced hypothermia. This tea has a flowery taste and smell of roses.**

'*11.                        '***Nightshade: Dreamers Tea: Combine dried Nightshade Berries Powder  with Pekoe Tea. Effects varies with the amount and freshness of the berry powder. CAUTION: This can cause DEATH if made too strong. Use for a good nights sleep.**

'*12.                        '***Peppermint Tea: A light refreshing tea that aids breathing problems as well as coughs and other respiratory ailments. May use honey or sugar to sweeten the tea.**

'*13.                        '***Puffball Mushrooms**

'*14.                        '***Skunk Cabbage-A very strong stinky cabbage that is used in Smelly Bombs.**

'*15.                        '***Sweet Pink Clover: Generosity Tea: Use the dried petals of Sweet Pink Clover in a cup of Pekoe Tea. If you are fortunate enough to have bees and a contained green house for Sweet Pink Clover, you may simply add a bit of Sweet Pink Clover to the tea. The generosity depends on the strength of the tea and the honey. It may be a bit too sweet for some people but orange or lemon zest will make it less sweet. The downside is that it lessens the effects.**

'*16.                        '***Yarrow-reduce inflammation (especially in the digestive tract), to treat skin wounds and minor bleeding, and as a sedative to relieve anxiety or insomnia.**

**Trees:**

**1. Sassafras Tree**

**2. Sploosh Willow**

**3. Chinchona Tree or Quinine Tree**

**Chapter 3**

**Honey Bees and their care**

**Before you set up your bee hives, you must have plenty of flowers from which the bees will make the honey. Different plants and trees will flavor the honey differently. Common trees and plants for the bees to use are:**

**Early Summer Bee Flowers**

**Basswood Tree**

**Fennel**

**Heather**

**Lavender**

**Lemon Tree**

**Nasturtium**

**Orange Tree**

**Tulip tree**

**Tupelo trees**

**Yarrow**

**Summer Bee Flowers**

**Basswood**

**Black-eyed Susan**

**Blue Giant Hyssop**

**Blueberry**

**Catnip**

**Chestnut Tree**

**Corn**

**Dandelion**

**Fig-wort**

**Fireweed**

**Heartease**

**Horsemint**

**Locust**

**Melon flowers**

**Purple Coneflower**

**Rosemary**

**Smartweed**

**Snapdragon**

**Sunflowers**

**Wild Sage**

**Late-Summer and Fall Bee Flowers**

**Alfalfa**

**Asters**

**Buckwheat,**

**Geraniums**

**Goldenrods**

**Hollyhocks**

**Joe-Pye Weeds**

**Sweet clover**

**Wild Raspberry**

**Setting up your Bee Hives**

**The first decision that I should told you about is do you want a pure honey. If yes, then you will need a greenhouse to grow your plants and trees in. If no, then plant your plants in an area specially designed for your bees. They will fly up to 4 miles to find nectar.**

**However, I feel that if you have a well flowered area of a mile, the bees should be happy to stay in their own territory. But they need a constant supply of nectar or otherwise known as flowers.**

**Chapter 4**

**Food in the Woods**

**There are quite few things in the wild to eat like water cress and a variety of mushrooms.  I suggest that until you are very good at identifying what you have picked, use the Plant and Mushroom IDer. It is a safe way to make sure what you have is safe to eat. Sure it is time consuming but isn’t your life worth the time?**

**I won’t get into a large discussion of wild food but there are a few that you if want to cultivate them, you could make quite a bit of money from the effort.**

**All of these mushrooms can be can cultivated and sold**

**Blewit**

**Chanterelle**

**Fairy Ring Champignon**

**Gypsy Mushroom**

**Morel**

**Oyster Mushroom**

**Saffron Milk Cap**

**Sweet Tooth Fungus, Hedgehog Mushroom or Hedgehog Fungus**

**Trompette de la Mort or Horn of Plenty**

**Truffle**