Sugar pine needle tea

With the cold wet weather comes warm fires and flu season. Either I get a little bit sick for a long time or extremely sick for a short time so this time I could feel myself getting sick and wanted a boost of Vitamin C. Sugar pine needles right off the tree are chocked full of Vitamin C and since I can boil water fairly quickly over my wood stove, sugar pine needle tea is the perfect cold weather immune booster.

This time of year fortunately it is easy to identify sugar pines from all other trees because their pine cones are just about ready to fall or have fallen. Sugar pine trees have large but long cones. The other identifier is their short needles.  Ponderosa pine needles are poisonous to eat so don't be willy nilly trying this with all types of pine needles. I've been told sugar pine sap is pretty good too but I licked some on a tree to try and I was not impressed.

When I take the dogs for a walk, I can make the trek uphill just a little farther than usual to get to the sugar pine trees. Sometimes I get lucky with a low hanging branch since the pine needles need to be green to get all the good nutrients from them. Usually I can jump just a bit and pull some down.

Now, remove the little balls where the needles attach to the tree, you want just the needles only. I have been leaving a pot of water on the wood stove to humidify the room every time we have a fire so I just add some more water and the sugar pine needles. When the water gets hot enough for the pine needles to float to the surface, that is when the tea is ready. I add a packet of black tea and some sugar too because the taste is a little astringent without it and with is quite delicious. I like to strain the pine needles out too into my extra large mug.

I left some pine needles on a small branch in a vase as decoration and it lasted a long while and I just picked some needles off as needed. I used them in about a week but they were still green.

Starting seeds

I am super excited for spring plants already. Of course it is fall but I did not live up here the spring of last year. It is hard to find plants that don't need full sun and can resist a spring frost.  I saw a lot of giant hollyhocks, roses, snapdragons, periwinkle and petunias. Even some marigolds in town where it is sunny. Of course bulb plants and wildflowers grow great here.

I also found out hops grows great up here and all kinds of berries.I have a huge patch of blackberries, but a neighbor up the street has olallieberries, and the Ace in town had raspberries and boysenberries for sale.

But as a beginner in a seed starting I got myself some re-seeding perennials. These were hollyhocks and poppies. I also got some hop seeds but they are not doing anything yet. I have been told many ways to start seeds. Some in the refrigerator, some in potting soil, some in peat moss, some in potatoes.

This worked for me and is what I'm doing from now on. So, find a low container that will fit the seeds and does not absorb moisture. I found this plastic drywall mud holder to do the job perfectly.

Now line it with paper towels. I put a couple small pieces of paper towel so each seed variety can be lifted  completely out easily. Put the some seeds on it. Try to spread the seeds apart from each other. Now find a clean spray bottle and fill it with water.

Spray some water over the seeds, not much,  but enough to get the paper towel damp. Cover your container with saran wrap or a shower cap and leave it in an area that gets some sun. Uncover and spray with water every morning and night then re-cover.

When the seeds start to germinate, pluck them out and put them on some potting soil. Or it's through the paper towel already, just take the whole paper towel with it and put it on some potting soil in a pot or peat pot. I love peat pots since I can just plant the whole thing without transplant shock. 80% of my flower seeds germinated this way.

 Have your pot covered in saran wrap or a shower cap and continue the same process. When it is rooted good, you can remove the saran wrap and continue watering,  three times a day since it dries out faster. Mine are currently in this stage. Or if it is planting time, plant it of course. I will be wrapping my peat pots in chicken wire when it comes time to plant since there is a huge gopher population here.