Tag: Pignut

An 80s Revival: Surviving with the Dartmoor Knife

An 80s Revival: Surviving with the Dartmoor Knife

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The final production version of the Wilkinson Sword Survival Knife was something of a redesign of the original, officially renamed the Dartmoor Knife CSK185. The best way to review a piece of outdoor equipment, whether it is a knife or a canoe or anything else, is to go and use it for its intended purpose. So, it was thus I decided to get a good measure of the usefulness of the Dartmoor Survival Knife by heading out to the woods for a few days with little else to see how well this survival tool served me…

Hemlock, Conium maculatum,
Hemlock, Conium maculatum

Hemlock, Conium maculatum

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Hemlock, Conium maculatum is a notoriously poisonous plant. It has large, lacy leaves and purple spots and streaks on the stems. It is found, naturalised, in many parts of the world and usually found on poorly drained soils, roadsides, field edges and…

The leaves of Pignut, Conopodium majus, finely divided and delicate.
Conopodium majus: Pignuts and How to Forage for them

Conopodium majus: Pignuts and How to Forage for them

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The pignut, Conopodium majus, is one of the most palatable wild foods. The tuber can be eaten raw and is very tasty. To the uninitiated, pignuts can be hard to spot, particularly in the spring. But once you’ve been shown and know in which places to look, they are surprisingly common. Leaves appear in the spring, then…