Gorgulous. I was especially wowed by the blue eggs! So much hope comes in Spring, and I look forward to going back to my foraging spots and seeing which gifts have returned. Right now, where I live, it's the spruce tips and I'll be making some mead.
I have a jar of pine pitch from ponderosa's, which grow abundantly in western Washington. I experimented with making a ponderosa pine pitch salve with elderberry leaves. My intention was to give it to my aunt who has arthritis. However, I found the smell to be so terrible that I simply couldn't gift it! Upon further investigation, I concluded it was the pine pitch causing the odor (not the leaves). Then I read that the smell is pleasant to some, and unpleasant to others. I wonder what my aunt would have thought... I guess I won't know unless I retry the experiment. Maybe other pine resins have a more pleasant smell. Do you like the smell of Austrian Pine?
Yes those blue eggs made my day as well. The mommy bird has gotten to know me now and does not fly away when I have to work near her nest, she just looks over at me peacefully and continues to lay on her eggs.
I love ponderosa pines, they were prominent in the Okanagan of BC where I used to live. I would explore an ancient canyon filled with waterfalls, natural waterslides, berry bushes and trout and then climb up onto the desert plateau to sit amongst the tall ponerosa pines ans white sage, what a heavenly smell they have together. Here is some old footage from that canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlRzoOiLyf0
Your salve sounds amazing.. I did not know as much about trees and natural medicine as a I do now when I lived there so I never got to know the trees in that way, just admired them for their beauty and spirit. I adore how the mature trees bark looks like puzzle pieces and has that sweet smell.
Yes Austrian pine pitch smells great to me, I have also worked with Eastern White Pine pitch and found that to be pleasant smelling as well.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for sparking the flash back to my time amongst the Ponderosas of the Okanagan.
Please mention in future post about NOT raking leaves in the Spring. They do this in our neighborhood (HOA) and it's so wrong. All the creatures wintering in the warmth of this natural mulch are being killed with every rake and leaf blower. I also love the snow and frost pictures Gavin. It's amazing how mother nature knows how to protect her creations by coating them in 32 degree snow and ice so they won't be exposed to much colder temps. So important here in Colorado where it can go down into the teens in April.
I will try to find a way to incorporate some facts about the importance of fallen leaves for soil ecology and various beneficial insects in a future post if I feel it would tie into the post well.
Thanks Gavin. I'm not surprised you've written about this. It drives me crazy too. Some of my neighbors blow leaves several times a year. God forbid there should be one stray leaf on their lawn!! We live in the mountains now, surrounded by trees, evergreens and deciduous. It's so quiet and the ground is covered in leaves. Although mostly snow from Nov-April (-:
That Serbian Spruce is fantastic. Appreciate the post. Wish I could share some pictures on here. I'd love to share the Bald Eagle work I've been doing. I think you'd enjoy it. Be well.
Thank you Steve. It is one of my favorite spruces. I love the balance of green and turquoise in the foliage. While I am more a fan of the natural (unhybridized and non-cloned) trees I will say that I am fond of the weeping Serbian Spruces in particular for their colorful purple cones. The song birds seem to love nesting in them as well.
I am so glad you are working with the Bald Eagles. I have actually been admiring a mated pair of them that go soaring over the farm I work at during the last month. They are finally returning to southern Ontario after decades of absence due to the DDT. It warms my heart to see them effortlessly gliding in the skies here again, as in my youth out west I used to watch them hunting for Salmon on Vancouver Island and the rivers in the mountains of the Coastal Range.
What great photos and what amazing diversity in the plants around you. Thanks so much for sharing this. That tea you make looks like it would cure just about anything! Wishing you great progress on your book!
Yes that is one of the blessings of my day job, I get to intimately connect with a vast diversity of plant species, so it is work that always provides a real feast for the senses (and I do try to share little nuggets of ecological awareness when they seem interested and receptive so I am grateful for that!) :)
The complex and hardy teas i make will certainly prevent a great many illnesses and likely cure a few as well yes. I will include several recipes in my next book. They are like my own version of providing immunity "boosters" to my community, except unlike pfizers "boosters" my tea actually improves cardiovascular health (rather than decimating it as the mRNA injections do). I am happy to share what I know and what I create with those around me because I want to them to be healthy, happy, resilient and able to break from dependence on pharmaceutical garbage during the cold season.
Thanks for the well wishes, I appreciate the heartwarming comment.
Hi, from yet another cold, windy, wet, grey day in the uk. Your photos are stunning - thank you so much for taking the trouble to take, compile and post them. I look forward to your posts as they are always uplifting and grounded in the natural world. Wonderful!
Gorgulous. I was especially wowed by the blue eggs! So much hope comes in Spring, and I look forward to going back to my foraging spots and seeing which gifts have returned. Right now, where I live, it's the spruce tips and I'll be making some mead.
I have a jar of pine pitch from ponderosa's, which grow abundantly in western Washington. I experimented with making a ponderosa pine pitch salve with elderberry leaves. My intention was to give it to my aunt who has arthritis. However, I found the smell to be so terrible that I simply couldn't gift it! Upon further investigation, I concluded it was the pine pitch causing the odor (not the leaves). Then I read that the smell is pleasant to some, and unpleasant to others. I wonder what my aunt would have thought... I guess I won't know unless I retry the experiment. Maybe other pine resins have a more pleasant smell. Do you like the smell of Austrian Pine?
Hi Alissa!
Thanks very much!
Yes those blue eggs made my day as well. The mommy bird has gotten to know me now and does not fly away when I have to work near her nest, she just looks over at me peacefully and continues to lay on her eggs.
I love ponderosa pines, they were prominent in the Okanagan of BC where I used to live. I would explore an ancient canyon filled with waterfalls, natural waterslides, berry bushes and trout and then climb up onto the desert plateau to sit amongst the tall ponerosa pines ans white sage, what a heavenly smell they have together. Here is some old footage from that canyon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlRzoOiLyf0
and some more recent drone footage that shows the Ponderosas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_1r_NJS3rU
Your salve sounds amazing.. I did not know as much about trees and natural medicine as a I do now when I lived there so I never got to know the trees in that way, just admired them for their beauty and spirit. I adore how the mature trees bark looks like puzzle pieces and has that sweet smell.
Yes Austrian pine pitch smells great to me, I have also worked with Eastern White Pine pitch and found that to be pleasant smelling as well.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for sparking the flash back to my time amongst the Ponderosas of the Okanagan.
Please mention in future post about NOT raking leaves in the Spring. They do this in our neighborhood (HOA) and it's so wrong. All the creatures wintering in the warmth of this natural mulch are being killed with every rake and leaf blower. I also love the snow and frost pictures Gavin. It's amazing how mother nature knows how to protect her creations by coating them in 32 degree snow and ice so they won't be exposed to much colder temps. So important here in Colorado where it can go down into the teens in April.
I will try to find a way to incorporate some facts about the importance of fallen leaves for soil ecology and various beneficial insects in a future post if I feel it would tie into the post well.
I did touch on that in a past post here:
https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/unlocking-autumns-abundance
I often offer to rake up my neighbors leaves since they would just send them to the municipal dump in bags anyways and I use them for composting.
Thanks for the comment.
Thanks Gavin. I'm not surprised you've written about this. It drives me crazy too. Some of my neighbors blow leaves several times a year. God forbid there should be one stray leaf on their lawn!! We live in the mountains now, surrounded by trees, evergreens and deciduous. It's so quiet and the ground is covered in leaves. Although mostly snow from Nov-April (-:
That Serbian Spruce is fantastic. Appreciate the post. Wish I could share some pictures on here. I'd love to share the Bald Eagle work I've been doing. I think you'd enjoy it. Be well.
Thank you Steve. It is one of my favorite spruces. I love the balance of green and turquoise in the foliage. While I am more a fan of the natural (unhybridized and non-cloned) trees I will say that I am fond of the weeping Serbian Spruces in particular for their colorful purple cones. The song birds seem to love nesting in them as well.
I am so glad you are working with the Bald Eagles. I have actually been admiring a mated pair of them that go soaring over the farm I work at during the last month. They are finally returning to southern Ontario after decades of absence due to the DDT. It warms my heart to see them effortlessly gliding in the skies here again, as in my youth out west I used to watch them hunting for Salmon on Vancouver Island and the rivers in the mountains of the Coastal Range.
Thanks for the comment my friend.
What great photos and what amazing diversity in the plants around you. Thanks so much for sharing this. That tea you make looks like it would cure just about anything! Wishing you great progress on your book!
Thanks Laura.
Yes that is one of the blessings of my day job, I get to intimately connect with a vast diversity of plant species, so it is work that always provides a real feast for the senses (and I do try to share little nuggets of ecological awareness when they seem interested and receptive so I am grateful for that!) :)
The complex and hardy teas i make will certainly prevent a great many illnesses and likely cure a few as well yes. I will include several recipes in my next book. They are like my own version of providing immunity "boosters" to my community, except unlike pfizers "boosters" my tea actually improves cardiovascular health (rather than decimating it as the mRNA injections do). I am happy to share what I know and what I create with those around me because I want to them to be healthy, happy, resilient and able to break from dependence on pharmaceutical garbage during the cold season.
Thanks for the well wishes, I appreciate the heartwarming comment.
Hi, from yet another cold, windy, wet, grey day in the uk. Your photos are stunning - thank you so much for taking the trouble to take, compile and post them. I look forward to your posts as they are always uplifting and grounded in the natural world. Wonderful!
Thanks for swinging by my friend, I am glad you enjoy the photos.
We have had lots of cold, windy, wet and grey days in southern Ontario over the past couple months, though the grey skies seem to mostly manmade.
Thanks for this Gavin and blessings on your work!
Thank you Andrew, blessings to you as well.
Thank you for blessing me with these beautiful photographs. Spending time appreciating God’s handiwork is so necessary these days!
Take all the time you need, we’ll be here, enjoying this post.
I really appreciate the thoughtful comment. It brought a smile to my face and peace to my heart.