DIY

This zine is an excellent introduction to making your own herbal medicines with plants that you forage yourself in the wild. It features an essay explaining the importance of making our own medicine and then outlines how to make several different types of herbal medicines. These include infusions, decoctions, salves, syrups, infused oils, tinctures, glycerites, etc.

Chickweed is a zine published by an anarcho-feminist collective out of the U.K. It’s a good introduction to herbalism. It covers common herbs, how to plant and harvest them, preserving them, basic cold and flu remedies, and more. A great starting place!

This zine is designed to give folks an easy introduction to foraging in Grand Rapids and the greater West Michigan area. Whereas other field guides and foraging books folks on an almost overwhelming number of plants, we stick to fourteen plants that are reasonably easy to find:

Ramps (Wild Leeks), Wild Garlic, Wild Asparagus, Lamb’s Quarters, Juneberry, Wild Bergamot, Black Raspberry, Blackberry, Purslane, Dandelion, Hen-of-the-Woods, Dryad’s Saddle, Chicken-of-the-Woods, Blue Violet, and Crabapple.

There is at least one photo of every plant and line drawings for many of them.

Many of these plants should be able to be found elsewhere in the Midwest and Eastern United States.

This zine is a great introduction to identifying, foraging, and using what the authors term “weeds” and “common plants.” The authors wrote it to be an introductory-level guide for anarchists to get more acquainted with the land. It has tips on all sorts of different plants from the well-known dandelion and yarrow to more obscure things like wild carrot. The authors explain how to use parts of easily identifiable trees. For example, you can make a tea out of pine needles that is packed with vitamin C.

Subtitled “A DIY Guide to Uncivilized Oral Hygiene” this zine is an exploration of dental care without relying on large corporations or even smaller and unnecessary “green” companies. There’s ideas for alternatives to use for toothpicks, general tooth care, herbs for cleaning teeth, etc.

Mushrooms tend to get a bad rap amongst many foragers because of a fear poisoning and/or a fear of the unknown. Radical Mycology demystifies mushrooms, explaining how they grow, different types of mushrooms, how to cultivate them, and how to preserve them. The authors also included a lengthy section on identifying common edible wild mushrooms.

This zine is based on a series of workshops held by Knowing the Land Is Resistance aimed at critiquing mainstream ideas of “ecology” and offering ideas for moving towards an anarchist knowledge of the land. The zine explains how traditional notions of ecology are based on colonial and capitalist conceptions. As an alternative, the zine explores five starting points for developing an anti-authoritarian and anti-colonial relationship to the land: rooted in relationships, deep listening, urban ecology, re-enchanting, and unexpertness. It’s a good starting point for anyone interested in developing a closer relationship with the land.

Subtitled “A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cultural Manipulation,” Wild Fermentation is an introduction to fermented foods. Includes directions on making saurkraut, tempeh, miso, kim chi, brine pickles, sourdough bread, and more.