This is how you dry wild foraged sumac when your wife throws away any organic matter she discovers on her kitchen counter.
Earlier this week I harvested some red leaves of wild staghorn sumac to dry for smoking. After reading and looking around some, I discovered it's been historically smoked by indigenous people to induce lucid dreaming. I've not been dreaming much, so I figured why not.
Today, the leaves were deemed by me to be "dry enough to smoke." I've smoked much wetter tobacco (though I no longer smoke), and much stickier... Other things. One problem: I had nothing to smoke it in. Well, actually I have an old cob pipe, but it doesn't smoke so we'll, as it's damn near worn out. So I decided to make another one.
I used a piece of elderberry dead wood for the stem, and a small section of thick plum branch I pruned off of our overgrown plum tree for the bowl.
Using a paddle bit, I started the bowl hole. Then a smaller bit for the stem hole. Then I finished it out with a large drill bit going deeper in the bowl to join the two holes. The smaller bit for the stem was selected because it fit just a hair smaller than the stem wood. That makes for a good snug fit.
The result is an exceptional pipe, if I may say so myself. This pipe feels better in hand than any I've smoked. Cob, meerschaum, briar, whatever. And it sits too! I always wanted a sitting pipe. The fit of the stem into the bowl is perfect, nice and snug. The bowl is curved perfectly to my hand. And the stem angle is exactly what I wanted. Very glad I took a little me time this morning before heading to bed.
The best part? It's all grown and harvested from my permaculture garden, except the wild harvested sumac. It ain't all about food, folks. It's also about the life you want to live, and I just used it to connect big time with this place on Earth where I'm at. That's a big step in establishing rituals for my new culture of this place. More on that note later.
Check my Instagram post for the video of me smoking it for the first time!
Dream Report:
Today was a good day for sleep. Our first badass day of fall rains, and it poured all day long. The house was cool, the bed was warm, and the pillows were soft.
I need a dream interpreter. And a dream journal. The memory of my dreams left me quickly after I woke up, but I remember knowing I was dreaming. I remember orcs and adventure, and that's all I know. I remember knowing it was a new dream. I usually have similar themes in my dreams, and sometimes I even have the same dream multiple times, but this one was nothing I've had before.
Dream work is enticing to me because you can learn a lot about yourself through your dreams. They're one way your psyche heals itself as you sleep, so you can learn what your subconscious is needing in it's life. Guess I need to start learning more about the process and how to interpret things. Anyone know where I can start looking into dreams? Preferably a podcast or video series, as books aren't super convenient at this time. :)
All action for the good of all.
Nate.
Recent projects:
Sustainable Volunteering
The Holistic Church
Permaculture Chickens Fundition
In the words of Joel Salatin, "do something!" Order seeds from SeedsNow using my affiliate link!
The Homesteader's Co-op Online Marketplace!Purchase sustainably produced seeds, textiles, medicines, and more for SBD from @homesteaderscoop at
Natural Medicine discord channel today and come grow and learn with us!Follow @naturalmedicine and join the
Congratulations @diy-homestead! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP