Bush Tucker Plants

Course Code: BHT328

Course Duration: 100 hours (approximation, self paced study, commonly 3 to 6 months, longer if you need)

How to Identify, Harvest and Use Australian Native Bush Tucker Plants
 
Learn about identifying, growing and using Australian indigenous plants for food.
There are many Australian plants that are edible, and even some that are in very high demand as foods throughout the world. The Aborigines lived off the land before white civilization came to Australia. Plants contributed significantly to their diet.

There are many different types of bush tucker foods:

• Nuts and seeds (eg. Acacia, Macadamia, bunya nuts)
• Drinks (eg. hot teas, infusions of nectar laden flowers, fruit juices)
• Flavourings (eg. lemon scented myrtle)
• Berries (eg. Astroloma, some Solanum species)
• Fruits (eg. quandong, Ficus macrophylla, Syzygium)
• Vegetables
• Wattle seeds ground to produce ‘flour’
• Plant roots ground to produce a paste or flour.

Explore both familiar and unfamiliar Edible Plants that come from Australia.

Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

Introduction

1. Growing
2. Gathering
3. Introduction
4. Nuts and Seeds
5. Vegetables
6. Fruits
7. Flavourings, Teas, Essences
8. Using Bush Tucker Plants
   
   Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
   
   Aims
   Discuss the nature and scope of bush tucker plants.
   Review the way bush tucker plants are accurately identified.
   Describe how to cultivate a range of bush tucker plants.
   Describe how bush foods are harvested from the wild and how to set up a cultivated bush food garden.
   Outline the cultivation, harvest and use of various bush tucker nuts and seeds.
   Explain the cultivation, harvest and use of various bush tucker vegetables
   Explain the cultivation, harvest and use of various bush tucker fruits
   Explain the cultivation, harvest and use of various bush tucker plants that are used to flavour foods or beverages
   Describe the preparation of bush tucker.