Today we set forth to have a look at the famous pine needle tea. We open with a story about the scurvy riddled voyage of french explorer Jaques Cartier and how his crew were saved by pine needle tea with thanks to the Iroquois. We go on to show you how to identify the difference between spruce, fir and pine. We make some pine needle tea from the Scots pine tree and also show you which trees are poisonous and should not be used for tea! We also discuss why using the needles in combination with the inner 'cambium bark' of the tree can give the tea and extra medicinal boost. Be respectful to the trees and do not take too much from them. Why not forage for wind fallen needles instead of cutting fresh ones. As with harvesting any wild food, make sure you are 100% confident of the species you have and make sure its not poisonous. If you are in any doubt, be safe and don't ingest anything. Why not consult a local tree expert or find a group to help you if you are a beginner. Happy foraging!
00:00 - Opening
00:30 - Story of Jaques Cartier’s pine needle scurvy cure
02:20 - Pine Needle Tea intro
02:56 - Which conifer trees to use and how to identify them
04:00 - Scots Pine
05:44 - The Collie interlude
06:23 - Scots Pine Bark identification
06:39 - Scots Pine Needles
07:27 - Poisonous conifer trees to avoid
08:06 - Which needles for Vitamin C
08:41 - How to harvest needles
09:03 - Making Scots Pine needle tea
09:54 - Preserving Vitamin C
10:23 - How to collect pine inner cambium bark
11:30 - Is pine inner bark edible?
12:25 - Medicinal properties of pine needle tea
13:34 - How long to boil pine needle tea?
14:00 - What does pine needle tea taste like?