C O N I F E R // M E D I C I N E

This past weekend I ventured to the high sierras of California. As everything else is scorching in the foothills and central valley, the high sierra is full of life. The plants are coming into bloom, and water is abundant. I went to harvest some medicine I was needing in my life, and one of those medicines was Conifer tips. I specifically wanted Fir (Abies genus) tips, which when young in Spring (though it is Summer now here, at high elevation, it still feels like Spring) as amazingly succulent and soft. All Conifers in the Pine plant family are edible and medicinal, and Fir is one of those trees. Every tree has its own unique flavor.

Herbalists like Kiva Rose out of the Gila National Forest area of New Mexico was the first to introduce me to the use of Fir tips in practically everything. She'd infuse it in oil and use it in all her baking. She'd use it in body oils and salves. She'd drink it in tea, even mix it in her coffee blends.

For folks who live in northern climates, the idea of harvesting Fir tips might not be anything new. When you're surrounded by them, it's hard not to notice their light green needles at the tips of each branch come Spring.

You can harvest the needles any time for tea or to infuse in honey, vinegar, oil, or vodka though Spring tips are best. What's so cool about Fir tips and other Conifer needles is that they are PACKED with Vitamin C. It's a shame we even need to sell supplements of Vitamin C when there are so many Conifers out there! You can really taste it too. I nibbled on some Fir tips while I was hiking and camping up in the Sierras, and I could taste the strong Vitamin C medicine they held. This is especially important knowledge to know if you live in a place that has long winters without fruit- Conifer needles take care of the job.

(fir cyanotype, one way I 'map' with art)

You can use Pine species, Spruce, Hemlock (the tree Hemlock, not the poisonous herbaceous plant folks call Poison Hemlock) Fir, Douglas Fir (not a true Fir!) and I'm sure Larch too, though I haven't tried Larch.

What you can't use in this specific way because they are not in the Pine family : Cedar, Juniper. These two trees are not poisonous, in fact they have strong medicine. But their medicine lies in their ability to fight fungal and bacterial infection and so much more.

An important tree to note: YEW.

Yew (Taxus, in the Taxaceae family) is poisonous. It has red berries, of which no other conifer has. Its needles slightly resemble Hemlock but are lighter green and the branches jut out more wildly in different directions. It would take a bit of eating the needles for its poisonous effects to occur, but again, I wouldn't risk it.

So with that said, make sure you know what you've got. Pines are pretty easy to identify, even if you don't know which it is. And make sure it is an actual Pine, someone messaged me on Instagram the other day about 'Cook Pine' in southeast Asia and it isn't actually a Pine at all.

(Lodgepole Pine in the high Sierras)

Fir trees and Spruce trees are common conifers, often found growing together. Fir trees have 'friendly' needle tips that are rounded at the end and flattened. Spruce needles are 'scary' and are spiky at the end, and are rounder, and whirl around the twig at hand. That's just one way to tell, the cones are different too.

Conifer bark and sap can me used for a number of things too. The sap especially is medicinal, and each Conifer's sap medicine is slightly different. I infused a bunch of Pine pitch in olive oil last year and made salve with it for wounds because it is antimicrobial. I want to experiment with different species and how they feel different. People all around the world who lives with Pines and Firs and other Conifers, used the sap- even chewed it like chewing gum. The inner bark was eaten by some folks, though I haven't tried it.

You're likely to find some Pine family conifer where you live, though the audience here is worldwide and I can't speak for every single place.

I tinctured mine, and am drying some for tea, and maybe will make some infused oil if I restock my oils today.
I"ll likely put the tincture in a Conifer elixir, which includes honey or sugar. Recently, when I was in Nevada, I collected Pinon Pine Cones and needles and stuffed them in a big jar and covered it in sugar. Slowly the sugar turns into syrup that is infused with that plant. SO GOOD.