Did you ever eat a pine tree?

[corndog-44]

http://www.ruralvermont.com/vermontw.../eatpine.shtml

[Rick]

My main man, Euell. Probably one of the best back woods gurus of all time. Great article, corndog. Thanks. To answer your question. No, I haven't. Just drink the tea.

[Elkchsr]

The inner bark and tips are great food sources and don't taste bad, just different than we are normally used to

[Aurelius95]

Just had my first experience with white pine yesterday. Took a survival class this weekend, and apparently, ALL pine trees (at least in the Southeast US) have an edible inner bark. At first, it tastes a bit like turpentine, but then was better as you chewed. However, it was a strange expereince to burp and taste pine...

[RBB]

Eaten it a number of times since I heard it was a survival food when I was a kid. Red and white pine. Tastes like turpentine, but you can get it down.

[trax]

I've used toothpicks, does that count? Actually, there's documented evidence from back in the day (late 1700's I think) that a bunch of Hudson Bay traders on an in-land trek were dying from scurvy and their Cree guides told them that if they ate the inner bark of pine and spruce trees that they'd be ok. Their priest (because hey...who can go furtrading without bringing along their religion?) told them that if they were to partake in these heathen's ways their souls would go to hell. So the traders didn't eat the bark and the guides stood by (no doubt amazed at the stupidity) and watched most of them die before they got back to their base

[JDJ]

i've had teas made from bark and needles but never ate any part of a pine.

A young maple sapling is edible and I have eaten that.

[Beo]

Never ate it just had the tea.
Aurelius95, how was the survival class? Tell us all about it please, souns very interesting. Who, what, when, where, is a good start to me

[FVR]

Few months back, I pulled the bark of a white pine, took my knife and scraped the part of between the wood and the bark and ate it.

It was chewy, would have made a nice tea, did not taste bad and I have piney fresh breath.

[crashdive123]

When I was a kid we used to cut off the larger chunks of sap. Chewing gum! Just can't blow bubbles with it.

[Rick]

Hey crash. Does that make you a sap sucker?

[crashdive123]

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[Canadian-guerilla]

Actually, there's documented evidence from back in the day (late 1700's I think) that a bunch of Hudson Bay traders on an in-land trek were dying from scurvy and their Cree guides told them that if they ate the inner bark of pine and spruce trees that they'd be ok.

all i know about pine trees is that pine needle tea is rich in vitamin C
experimenting with " edible " pine is on my spring " to do list "

i also want to learn how to spot hemlock trees

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[GVan]

Hey Trax, I think that tooth picks are made from birch.

As for the pine tree, my wife makes pine nut jelly atleast once a month.
When we're sick with stomach problems, we get pinenut porage.
Pine needle tea is great on those long lonely nights in the back woods.
Inner parts of the pine park can be poiled or used to start a fire.
Pine tree roots poiled an be eaten.
Inner part of pine tree stems can be uses to clean your teeth.


I'd have to say that I've had one or two pine trees in my day.

And each variety tastes a little different.

[GVan]

You don't have to go all the way back to the 18th century H.B. company.
The Bonner party of the mid 19th century survived a long time only on pine bark, and needle teas.

By the way "C-G" isn't that a spruce?

[Sourdough]

I ate two pine trees for breakfast, and for lunch a pine tree on rye. For supper I had four rocks and a 235 85R 16" truck tire. I feel so much better now that I can post anything. Now that I understand that it is a form.

[Aurelius95]

Never ate it just had the tea.
Aurelius95, how was the survival class? Tell us all about it please, souns very interesting. Who, what, when, where, is a good start to me

For Christmas this past year, my wife bought me a class at Medicine Bow in Dahlonega, GA. I need to back up a bit... I have only gotten interested in the outdoors and survival over the last two years. So, needless to say, it's relatively new to me (which is why I don't post so often- I read a lot though!).

The class she enrolled me in was a basic survival course. It started Saturday morning and ended Sunday around 3:00. During the two days, we did the following:

Made cordage out of inner bark
Used a hand drill to make fire (learned about finding good tinder)
Made a debris shelter
Dug up edible winter plants/roots/tubers
Cooked said items in an oven pit
Learned (quickly- running out of time) how to use snares, deadfalls, etc.

For me, a greeenhorn, it was very interesting. I learned a lot and made some new friends. However, for some of you guys who do a lot more advanced stuff on your own, it probably wouldn't interest you. That being said, Mark Warren, the instructor, is very knowledgeable on many things. He is an avid archer and canoeist, having won many awards for the latter. He is very knowledgeable about Georgia history, especially the plight of the Cherokee Indians. Mark Warren offers classes on tracking/stalking, and I think that would be a fun thing to learn (I think I could learn more from guys like Beowulf and FVR about hog hunting, though!).

Here is a link to his website. It's not very sophisticated, but then again, what do you expect?

http://home.alltel.net/medbow/Default.htm

I think the class cost about $125 or so.

By the way, the gift idea from my wife was the best one I have ever received!

[Rick]

I think CG is right. That's an Eastern Hemlock. Good stuff as well. Inner bark on that one can be eaten, too. If you aren't familiar with Hemlock be aware that they can have something called hemlock woolly adelgid. It looks like light green or whitish green nodules on the stems. It's actually a bug. I don't know that I'd want that in my cup of tea. And you don't want to transport the infected stems from one place to another. Those little guys are playing havoc with hemlocks.

Aurelius - Man, don't feel bad about lack of experience. You can fix that by getting some dirt time in. As far as "doing a lot more advanced stuff", just remember. It's all about the basics. It's like driving a VW vs. a Porche. There are some basics you have to apply in either one. Same with outdoor skills. If you have one month of fifty years under your belt there are only so many ways you can start a fire and only a few of them are good ways. Just keep the saw sharp. Take what you learned and practice it. Then keep building on it.

[Aurelius95]

Rick,

Thanks for the encouragement. Compared to a lot of people out there (maybe most of the population), I have more knowledge/skills on survival/outdoors. Really, how many people in the general population even give thought to what they would do if.... (fill in the blank). So comparatively, most of us on this forum have an advantage. However, on this forum, I realize my inexperience and look to build it up. That's why I enjoy reading what others write, as well as having the chance to experiment on my own. Hence, the survival class I took.

So a big thanks to all you trailblazers out there. The knowledge you impart (and the jokes ) are very helpful to people like me.

Aurelius

[Beo]

Aurelius95,
Bro, that was great. Glad you had a good time and most important learned some skills and had a good time doing it, those friends can become lifelong and taking those other courses is a good idea if you like them, always practice and you'll always get better. I really need to work on my plant Identification because it sucks, alot on here about plants and some good books out there but for some reason they don't hold my intrests. I'm stuck on that one, as Rick said get some more dirt time in and you can only get better.