Poobird's Rarities: Field Notes-Day 3+4 Gold Claim

Completed Puppy Shade Shelter.... It's actually about 10 degrees cooler in there

After a few days away from clocks, internet, TV, and our modern society, you lose track of time. Out here it really doesn't matter. You live one day at a time. The way it should be...

Well I spent an hour the other morning gathering materials for a small shelter. Everything I needed could be found all around me. The desert is full of building materials if you take the time to learn the plants. The mighty Saguaro cacti, when they die have long straight spines. They worked great as the frame for my shelter.
They are also good to get a quick hot fire going. Dead Cholla cacti is my favorite for fire starting. It lights up fast and the smoke has the sweetest smell. It's also a beautiful wood to use for decor pieces or great for dog chews or birds...The mesquite tree is the best wood out here for long, hot fire. The wood looks like cedar when you split it. Just a beautiful red color.
Everyday requires firewood collecting. The Indians had the women and children gather small, manageable pieces of firewood in vast quantities... They called is squaw wood. So everyday I gather a large pile of squaw wood to use for my cooking.

Cottonwood Tree

We finally took a walk over to the giant cottonwood tree. It stands out like a sore thumb with its heighth and brilliant green leaves. It really does produce a super soft cotton too. Just like what you would find in the fields of Georgia only smaller.Curious if you gathered enough of it if you could spin it into a useable fiber... I am always on the lookout for techniques used by the Indians in the Southwest so if anyone has recomendations or tips please feel free to share.

I am always trying to learn new information or really forgotten techniques of how to live on the land. I think the next book I add to my collection will be Food Plants of Sonoran Desert...

A rare moment of Jenn sitting and enjoying her fire...

If you find yourself looking for water in a desert always hike towards the greenest trees... This particular cottonwood happens to have a natural spring nearby. A small free range cattle ranch is down the road a few miles. Somehow the cows discovered this spring and make the trek over our claim to it every few days. They have a baby calf now they are teaching there secrets too. I just hope the sneaky pack of coyotes prowling the night or the mountain lion don't hurt the new baby...