Save as much of your prepped gear and supplies as possible heres a few ways to do so using plants.
Agave (desert plant) is has flowers and flower buds that are edible. These parts should be boiled first before consumption. It will cause a poison ivy effect in some folk. Other uses of the agave, cut the huge flower stalk and collect the juice for drinking. You can also pound the leaves to reveal the fibers that can be used for weaving and rope. Some species of this plant have a sharp point on the tip of the leaves that can be used as a sewing needle some species also have sap that can be suitable for soap.
Bamboo, young shoots of almost all species are edible raw or cooked (boiling it is preferred for flavor but not neccessary). The seeds of a flowering bamboo are also edible to prepare them boil the seeds like rice or smash them mix with water and make into cakes. Other uses: Mature bamboo is good for building structures or containers, eating utensils, tools weapons, even a good field expediant bow by layering slats of it and lashing them together. Fresh water can sometimes be found in dead stalks of bamboo.
Cattails: Young shoots are edible cooked or raw. The stalk of the plant is normally really tough but is a good source of starch pound the stalk to remove the starch mix it with water it can be used like flour. the young female part of the plant can be boiled and eaten like corn on the cob. Other uses: Dried leaves of the cattail are good for weaving if you're imaginative enough it can be used to make floats/rafts. The seeds are good for making pillow stuffing, also makes really good tinder. Burning dried cattails will also be a good way to keep insects away.
Coconut: The nut is a good food the milk is rich in sugar, vitamins, and liquids. The nut meat is also nutritious but more importantly full of oil. To preserve the meat lay strips out in the sun and let it dry COMPLETELY. Other uses: Coconut oil can be used to cook, protect metal from erosion, can be used against salt water sores, sunburn, and dry skin. Can be a good fuel for a torch. The tree trunk good for construction, sections of it can be good for food containers. The coconut husks can be good flotation devices and the fibers can be used to make rope and other weaved objects. To get coconut oil: Put the meat in the sun, heat it over a fire, or boil it in a pot of water.
Oak: All parts are edible but do have a really bitter taste, the white oak opposed to a red oak does taste better. The acorns being the easiest part to collect and eat this will be the part we talk about. Boil the acorns or grind them into flour and use the flour for baking. You can use flours that has been baked to a dark brown as a coffee substitute. (if using red oak acorns you may want to soak or a day or two to remove the bitterness this can be sped up by adding wood ash to the water they are soaking in.) Note: Tannic acid builds in all parts of the oak which is where the bitterness comes from if you're eating an excessive amount of acorns it can lead to kidney failure. Remove the bitterness before eating (BOIL THEM.)
Making tea with Tannic can stop diarriah just keep in mind NOT to ingest too much. Tannic is good for, Burns, antihemorrhagics, antihelminthics, antseptics, antidiarrheals, antifungals, bronchitis, skin infammation, and lice. Tannic acid can be found in most trees, the most can be found in hardwood trees, Oak specifically red and chestnut have the most. The warty looking knots on oaks can contain almost 30% tannic acid. To obtain it cut plugs or chips of the wood roughly the size of a baseball, boil it. The longer you boil it the more concentrated it will be, the longer you boil it the darker your concoction will become, also the darker it will be the more vile it will taste.
Stripping fibers from an oak can be used for rope.
