Here in northern Alberta we’ve been getting hit with regular rain pretty well all of this passed month. Which is great for the plants and preventing “wild fires”. It has definitely slowed things down for re finishing the Yurt.
Alas, I must be patient with the process. Yesterday as I walked to save from the garden, I noticed our spruce trees have started shooting new tips! This, for our neck of the woods marks the beginning of the spring/summer foraging season! I also found our first morel mushroom the other day!(Feature photo).
I have so many plans for the spruce tips this year. Our neighbors property has an abundance of spruce and fir, so I’ll be collecting more from them and well. Before we get into the methods of preparing the spruce tips, let’s see the benefits or the “why”.
The number one benefit to ingesting spruce tips is for the vitamin C content. Beyond that spruce tip benefits include:
Vitamin A and E
Natural expectorant—traditionally used for coughs and colds
Soothes sore throats
Antifungal, antimicrobial, and antiseptic
And is a good source of minerals such as magnesium and potassium.
With so many benefits it would be silly not to harvest and use these tips! So how can we use these wonderful plants?
In the form of teas, syrups, pickles, jellies, salt/sugar infuser, candied tips, soda, IPA, cake, ice cream and so much more! My plan this year is to preserve enough that I can do all of these recipes over the winter.
As I collect and preserve, I will post entries and photos of each recipe. So stay tuned!
Love you all!
Today’s reading: John 10
-H.