An adventure, with storms and leaves and twigs, wherein Will tries to make a shelter from the detritus of the forest floor, that can replace, for a night or two, his cosy comfy sleeping bag and good reliable poncho.
Birch Polypore grows as a bracket like fungus on Birch trees.
The clean white flesh has anti-bacterial qualities and can be used as an emergency field dressing for wounds.
Here is a demonstration given by Alex while we were in the Ashdown Forest:
Cut the bracket from the tree, making sure it isn’t too old and shrivelled.
Cut a rectangle into the white flesh and gently lift the piece off, just less than a centimetre below the surface.
Take the rectangle, apply the spongy inner surface to the wound and bind it on with whatever cord or stringy plant you can find.
This will help you to keep the wound clean and protected until you can find a more permanent dressing and some wound healing herbs.
