We had to cut down a sizable Scots Pine (that was dying and at risk of falling in a high traffic area) today at work. Despite the fact that he was already on his way out, it did make me sad to play a part in accelerating his journey to return to the Earth purely for the sake of humans (as the wood peckers were obviously appreciating foraging on all the various insects that had colonized the half dead side of the tree, which was peppered with hundreds of beak carved holes).

I thanked the tree for the gifts of his foliage (pine needles) for making tea, his wood for building and his sap for medicine. I also promised the tree I would honor his life by collecting his seeds from his pine cones to ensure the continuance of his lifeblood into future generations.

I also noticed that where the woodpeckers had been hunting for bugs in the bark they had struck a few sections of the still living cambium layer resulting in some pine pitch flowing out and crystalizing on the bark.

Pine pitch has been used by indigenous peoples and survivalists for millennia to help seal and disinfect wounds in the wild. It is also a universal burn remedy among Native Americans of the Eastern forests. They use sap oozing from damaged coniferous trees or melt down hardened globs of pitch or resin to create a medical superglue. Pine sap contains about 20% alpha-pinene, which has both anti-inflammatory and bactericidal properties.

I collected some of the pine pitch so I can experiment with making a variation on this salve ( gavinmounsey.substack.c… ) which will be melted down, filtered and made with bees wax/cacao butter to stabilize the consistency to be more solid and shelf stable (for adding to the camping/herbalism survival first aid kit).

In the spring I will experiment with different germination and companion planting methods.

These are some of the many research and field experimentation projects I am working on for my next book ( gavinmounsey.substack.c…? ).