James:
I just finished “Tree Crops” by J. Russell Smith which just became one of my favorite books. In it he briefly mentioned edible nuts from pine trees. I did a scroogle search and found a great place in Canada that sells these types of pines. My favorite so far is the Korean Pine. Everybody grows pines for blocking winter wind and for privacy so why not pick a breed that gives you food? They grow in areas as cold as Zone 1 so this would be great for a lot of the northern retreats. One last thought is that Pine Nuts would be a great hidden emergency reserve of food because no mutant zombie biker would ever think of the nuts in pine cones as food. – Adam in Ohio
Jim:
Just chiming in on the commentary from today: I have been reading The SAS Survival Handbook by John “Lofty” Wiseman There is a lot of information about edible plants and procedures to use to test plants you are unsure of. The book is full of other valuable survival info too as you would expect.
Another old source for good survival skills is our very own armed forces publications: field manuals (FMs) and training manuals (TMs). One was called Survival, Evasion and Escape (FM 21-76) but it has changed names now [as a multiservice “Survival, Evasion and Recovery” manual.] Plus, the good ‘ol [U.S. Army] Ranger Handbook is an amazing source of information!
Sincerely, – Tanker