Eastern White Pine

How To Identify

Eastern White Pine has needles that are approximately 3 – 4 inches long and have five needles per grouping. Spruce and Fir trees have individual needles and other pines such as Red Pine and Austrian Pine have groupings of two needles. Older White Pine can grow up to 100 feet tall and has a rough, scaly bark at the base becoming more smooth as you go up the tree and out along the branches which will appear very smooth. These trees produce cones that are from 5 – 6 inches in length with hard woody scales and the seeds or pine nuts are produced in between the scales.

Benefits

Tea made from the needles is very high in vitamin C and is also used as an expectorant to expel out phlegm and treat both cough and chest congestion. It also helps with cold, influenza (flu), sore throat, pulmonary complaints, and kidney disorders. The inner bark of pine has similar benefits to that of the needles but is harder to process.

Pine nuts contain protein, fiber, monosaturated fatty acids, as well as vitamin E, vitamin K, copper, iron, magnesium, and manganese. Pine nuts have been associated with improved heart health, blood sugar control, and weight management.

How To Find

Eastern White Pine can be found along the east coast from Quebec to Georgia and grows primarily where the soil is moist and well-drained.

Gathering

Gathering the needles is easy enough but if you can pinch off the fresh pine tips in the spring, we feel the flavor and potency is enhanced quite a bit.

The easiest way to get the pine nuts out of the cones before the squirrels do, is to collect the pine cones from the trees before they dry enough to fall to the ground, lay the cones out and let them dry out on their own. It will take a few weeks, but the pine cones will open up. Then you can tap the pine cones and the seeds will fall out. Extracting the nut from the seed, you’ll find they are much smaller than pine nuts purchased from the store.

How To Use

Pine needles can be used fresh or dried to make a medicinal tea. Our preferred method is to dry the needles for use with tea. To prepare a cup, steep about 2 Tbsp. of dried pine needles by pouring boiling water over them and allowing to infuse for 15 – 20 minutes, then strain and serve or simply stuff a tea ball and steep in your favorite cup or mug.

Pine nut can be eaten fresh as they are or used as a substitute ingredient for any recipe that calls for pine nuts. Store bought pine nuts come from one of four particular pine tree varieties: the Mexican pinyon, the Colorado pinyon, the Italian stone pine, and the Chinese nut pine. This is because these varieties have much larger pine nuts.

Preservation

To preserve pine needles, place them into a paper bag, or on a screen (window screen or similar) and allow them to dry in a dry dark place with good airflow. They can also be dehydrated using very low or no heat in a standard dehydrator or freeze dried. Oven drying isn’t recommended as the heat can damage the medicinal benefits.