Pine Trees grow just about anywhere in the world. When food is hard to find, the inner bark of the Pine Tree may be collected and it may be used as an emergency food. The inner bark is dried out and then it is grounded up for baked goods or it can be eaten as a hot cereal. The Pine Needles on any of the Pine Trees either short or long can be collected and made into a Tea which is very high in Vitamin C. The green needles also have Chlorophyll and the Vitamin B Complex.
It was always a tradition to make Pine Tea when I was asked to go camping with the Boy Scouts.I would take a pair of scissors and snip off a pan full of Pine Needles. Then I would boil them on an open fire for twenty minutes and I would strain off the Tea. It was sweetened with honey or sugar which made it a very tasty beverage. All of the scouts had a cup or two of this tea. It has the taste like the smell of Pine but it does taste good and I usually had to make two or three batches of that Tea. The nice thing about this Tea the Pine Needles are always there on the tree the whole year round. When collecting the needles take only the green ones and leave the brown ones alone. If any of the green needles have brown on them, then snip it off. The brown parts will make your Tea taste bad giving it a resin taste. That is why I use a pair of scissors when I am collecting those needles. With a pair of scissors you can collect a pot full of needles in a very shot time.
Also the seeds from the Pinon Pines are very nutritious to eat and they are very tasty. These seeds are commonly sold in stores year round in the western states of America, and they cost about $ 12.00 a pound. There is a Pinon Pine Forest about 100 miles from where I live and because the land belongs to the American Government, anyone can go there and harvest the Pine Nuts. All of these pine nuts are free for the taking and not as many people go after these nuts as you would think.
Before I close this article I would like to say a thing or two about the plant called " Cattail ". Like Pine Trees the Cattail Plant is found all over the whole world and it is most commonly found in wet marshy places. At its full size in the fall from the ground to the brown fuzz at the top of the plant, Cattails can grow from 6 to 8 feet tall. The Red-Winged Blackbird will most generally make its nest right in the middle of a Cattail Patch. The young shoots can be pulled up in the spring and eaten raw. It taste similar to a raw cucumber. It can be boiled or fried and it taste pretty good with butter and salt and pepper. It could also be added to potato or a rice dish. Or it could be added to soups or a beef stew.
When the spike is growing but it still is in side the plant, it is dark green in color and it can be collected as food during the month of May and early June. In my opinion this green spike is the best eating part of the whole Cattail Plant. In other words it is worth waiting for every spring to gather these spikes and enjoy them. After you have picked a pot full, boil these in water for twenty or more minutes or until you can poke a fork into them. Then drain your water off and while they are still hot put real butter on them and salt and pepper. You eat these spikes like corn on the cob and believe it or not they taste like corn on the cob. Like I have already said this is the best eating part of the whole Cattail Plant and I think it taste better then most of the other wild edibles. This young green spike has Vitamins A, B-Complex and C. It also has chlorophyll and a lot of protein which makes it very nutritious to eat. This green stuff can also be scraped off the stems after they have been cooked and dried. It is then pounded into a flour to be made into biscuits or pancake batter that taste a lot like cornbread. If you wait too long in gathering the green spike it will be covered with yellow pollen. This is nutritious to eat also. Shake the pollen into into a plastic bag and add it to your pancake batter which will give your pancakes a golden yellow color or add it to your baking dough. You could also add this pollen to any mashed potato or rice dish. It will give it a buttery look. Both the green spike and the yellow pollen are rich in antioxidants which makes them both Cancer killers. At any time of the year the roots of the Cattail Plant may be dug up and be used as food either raw or cooked. I have never prepared the roots for eating. I can not give you a first hand account as to how the prepared roots may taste. Instructions for preparing these Cattail Roots for eating can be found in most of the Euell Gibbon books that talk about eating the wild edibles. But when food is hard to find in the winter you can always eat the Cattail Roots. By the way Muskrats eat these roots all winter long.
In the fall the spike will be sitting at the top of the plant and it will look like a brown hot dog. When these spikes are broken open the fuzz in side can make an excellent insulator. It is used to insulate winter coats or it can be used as batting for tie-quilts. Or you could make a comfortable sleeping mat or stuff a pillow with the fuzz. If the fuzz is mixed with Vaseline it could be taped to a boil. Often at times this will remove both the puss and the core overnight.
Not to far from where I live there was an Indian Tribe that lived right by a very large Cattail swamp. It supplied them with 40% of their food. They ate also other wild edibles, Deer, Elk, small game, fish and berries. They would weave baskets from the very long Cattail leaves. The Cattail leaves were also used to cover the walls and the roofs of their huts. They would also insulate the walls with the Cattail Fuzz. The fuzz was also a part of their clothes, beds and pillows.
The Cattail Plant is very valuable to have around. Just about any part of the plant can make life just a little bit more comfortable. If any of our readers have any more remedies from the Cattail Plant, then please inform us what they are below in the comment area. Thank You.
Live longer and Healthier with these old fashion home remedies that will make you feel better physically, mentally and spiritually
