Food Plants - PerennialHealth & DiseaseMedicinal PlantsNuclearSoil Erosion & ContaminationTreesWater Contaminaton & Loss
Pine Pollen – How to Pick Your Own Superfood
Most of us know about pine needle tea as a rich source of Vitamin C, but now white pine pollen is to being promoted as a highly nutritious superfood powder. But who needs to buy it when you can pick your own?
Arthur Haines shows you how and when to harvest pine pollen with strategies for gathering sufficient to make tinctures or use as food. Haines also goes into detail about the nutritional chemistry of pine pollen which is rich in non-enzymatic anti-oxidants like pro vitamin A, B Complex, C, D and E plus a host of minerals and amino acids. Apparently pine pollen is also a great defence against radioactive Cesium that is appearing in dairy and other foods in the US.
Wow! I spent a summer in Jasper, Alberta, Canada & saw yellow pine pollen along the roadsides – as thick as drifts of windblown snow. Everything natural is good for something. I keep expecting that prolific Knapweed seed will be found to have beneficial uses …
is there a variety of the white pine pollen in Australia?
A novel but amusing thought, especially since pollen is plant sperm (yes that makes hay-fever a literal violation of your body). Not a palatable thought. Then again we do eat eggs and nuts which are all reproductive bodies too.
I’m not sure I find cloning palatable in the food abstract – but all living foods do carry a lot of vital energy in every cell. Elan vital …
Given the allergy rates to pine pollen, isn’t this ummm risky?
Speaking of anti-oxidants is there any relationship with the pine pollen and pycnogenol which is extracted from the Pinus Maritimus tree which I believe is found in Europe?
Just wandering if the Australian River Oak has the same potential as they are in the pine family??
I have them planted along my creek here……we are approaching a time when we have to learn to survive major world changes, and in so doing we need to share all of this info…..Thanks Leo
Hi, I made a pine pollen tincture a few months back using Absolute Vodka. Half quart jar of Vodka and half pine pollen powder sitting for two weeks with me sturing daily. I used this three times a day but I don’t think that I have ever really felt anything change, should I? I recently made another tincture this time using ever clear and WOW does it burn! Am I doing this right? and how can I dilute the product so I can actually let sit under my tongue?
I’d love to know also. We used Ever Clear as well and it feels like it is leaving the skin my tongue raw. I am thinking of diluting it in water, but I want the full benefit as well.
can i harvest pine pollen from any pine? I have coulter pines in my area. thanks
Rod- Herbalists have different preferences regarding alcohol content for different species. For more info (none on pine pollen) search “Michael Moore Materia Medica” You can add water to your preferred alcohol content. Dipping below 40% can allow mold or bacteria to ruin the tincture.
Leo- Not sure about oak but trees offer other medicinal benefits (bark, resin). Maybe you can contact a forager in your area through a local environmental group, college or farmer’s market whom can show you other nearby superfoods.