Cordage Archives - The Cargo Cult Café

Common Milkweed: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

December 15, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Common Milkweed, Asclepius syriaca, is an extremely useful plant to know. Besides being edible and used for its medicinal properties it has a slew of other uses such as making cordage, bowstrings, fishing line, and thread. The dry down in the seedpods can be used for insulation and it makes a great tinder bundle for starting a fire. As for its edibility you can eat the young shoots and flowers but you’ll have to prepare them first to get rid of their bitter and toxic properties. Medicinally, it has been used to induce urination, start menstrual flow, cause vomiting, kills parasitic worms and acts like a laxative.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry.

Common Milkweed Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software. Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 1. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 291-292

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs of Eastern and Central North America. 2nd. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. Print. pg. 175

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 44

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 199-200

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 108-109

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 264-265

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 112-113

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wescott, David. Primitive Technology; A Book of Earth Skills, Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1999. pg. 35

Wood Nettle: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

September 11, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Wood Nettle, Laportea canadensis, this plant will sting you but you can bite it back and it doesn’t taste all that bad. The leaves are rich in vitamins A and C, iron and protein. The young shoots can be simmered and a tea can be made out of the shoots and leaves. Medicinally it has been used to reduce fever, facilitate childbirth and induce urination. The fibers have been used to make cordage, clothing, baskets, netting and a lot more.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Wood Nettle Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 2. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 2032-2034

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 132-133

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 295

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 416-417

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 150-151

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Indian Hemp: Poison, Medicinal & Other Uses

September 10, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Indian Hemp, Apocynum cannabinum, is a poisonous plant with a few medicinal properties but its other uses can be worth the plants weight in gold in a survival situation. Medicinally it has been used to cause vomiting, expel parasites, as birth control and to treat venereal disease. Because of the strength of its fibers this plant has been an essential tool for American Indians to make rope, cordage, clothing, baskets, containers, mats, rugs, bedding, bowstrings, nets, snares and horse bridles.

Keep your eyes and ears open and your powder dry!

Indian Hemp Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Felter, Harvey Wickes, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D. King’s American Dispensatory, Vol. 1. Cincinnati: The Ohio Valley Company, 1905. pg. 225-228

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 38

Herrick, James William. Iroquois Medical Botany. Ph.D. Thesis, New York: State University of New York, Albany 1977. Print. pg. 198

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 78-79

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 250-251

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 48-49

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Day Lily: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

June 23, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment

Day Lily, Hemerocallis fulva, is a plant of summer. The flower has six orange lobes and basal leaves. You can eat the flower buds, flowers, young shoots, seeds, leaves and roots. Medicinally, Chinese herbalists have used the plant as a sedative, pain killer and for PTSD. The leaves can be made into a good cordage.

Day Lily Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Brill, Steve. Wild Edibles Plus. Computer Software. WinterRoot LLC. Version 1.5. 2012. Web. Feb. 15, 2014.

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 336-337

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 92-93 pl. 7

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Web.

Adam’s Needle: Edible, Medicinal, Cautions & Other Uses

June 18, 2015 by Mike 5 Comments

Adam’s Needle, Yucca Filamentosa, is one of the most useful plants to know for wilderness survival. It’s edible, medicinal and has been used as a fish poison, soap, cordage, needle and thread and as a fire starter.

Adam’s Needle Sources:

Audubon Guides Box Set – Birds, Tree, Wildflowers & Mammals. Computer Software.Green Mountain Digital. Version: 2.3. Web. Jul 10, 2014.

Culpeper, M.D., Nicholas. Culpeper Color Herbal. Ed. David Potterton. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 1983. Print. pg. 205

Hamel, Paul B. and Mary U. Chiltoskey. Cherokee Plants and Their Uses- A 400 Year History. North Carolina: Herald Publishing. 1975. Print. pg. 25

Moerman Daniel E., Native American Ethnobotany, Portland: Timber Press. 1998. Print. pg. 606-607

Newcomb, Lawrence. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Print. pg. 334-335

Peterson, Lee Allen. The Peterson Field Guide Series; A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants; Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. Print. pg. 20-21, 170-171

United States Department of Agriculture. Natural Resources Conservation Services. Web.

Cordage Parts

January 16, 2015 by Mike Leave a Comment