Monday, March 29, 2010

Vitamin C Plentiful In White Pine Needle Tea



My husband has been sick the last few days. He had a hard cold. Knowing he is not one to catch colds or get sick very often I thought I better do something to help him recover as quickly as possible. I harvested some white pine needles the other morning. The other side of our horses' paddock is a field that has quite a few young white pine trees. Patches, my cat walked down there with me and it was so beautiful and peaceful in the early morning hours. I could smell the pine trees before I even started picking. The birds were singing and it was so quiet except for them.

I picked a basket full and brought them back and rinsed them off. I put a handful in a pan and covered it with water and brought the needles and the branch they were growing on to a boil and then turned it down and let them simmer for about twenty minutes. The house smelled like pine! Love that smell!!!

I put a green tea bag in a cup and covered it with the boiling pine needle tea and let it steep a little bit. Then you can add sugar or sweetener of your choice such as honey or stevia. I didn't use any in my cup. I made the tea throughout the day for my husband and he is already feeling better and hardly coughing at all. It worked very fast. The conifer trees are full of vitamin c and that is why it cured early settlers of Scurvy.

Hope you are having a nice spring. Our spring was pretty nice but has turned chilly and rainy. Though having rain in the spring is a good thing. Gets rid of the dirt and grim of the winter. Plus we need the rain to get our grass and plants turning green.

Copyright © 2010 Kathleen G. Lupole

1 comment:

Sand said...

I just made some pine tea - drinking it as I type. Intuitively, I had an idea that white pine was good for us, but your story affirmed the thought. Thank you for posting this story.