More Uses for Pine Products

We had a blog post a couple of weeks back about ways we have used pine. We knew there had to be more ways pine, so we did bit of research online. 

We found several more uses:

Pine needle infused cooking oil - Infuse chopped pine needles in cooking oil and try it in your favorite dishes.

Pine resin salve - This website has instructions for making pine resin salve. 

Pine soap - This was such a fun one to research! As it turns out, there are many soap recipes out there that include using different parts of the pine tree - pine needles, pine resin, and pine tar.

Pine Needle Soap: We found this winter spice soap recipe that sounds amazing. I would venture to guess that it smells as wonderful as it sounds. We like that we can put pine needles

Pine Resin Soap:  We also found a pine resin soap recipe. We like this link because it directs you to use the resin to make an infused oil rather than adding the resin directly to the soap mixture. We also love this link because it includes two recipes (one with tallow and one without) and two scent variations.

Pine Tar Soap: There is also the option to make pine tar soap. You may have heard of or seen pine tar soap. It tends to be very dark brown to black in color and is reportedly good to use for various skin conditions such as psoriasis.

Pine needle cough syrup - Pine needles have expectorant properties, are high in antioxidants, and are high in vitamin C, which helps to boost your immune system. This makes them ideal to include in a cough syrup. Years ago, Watkins used to have a cough syrup available that included pine, among other ingredients. This website has a very simple cough syrup recipe using only pine needles, water, and honey.

Chest rub - The expectorant properties of pine can also be used in a chest rub. This recipe calls for essential oils in addition to pine needle-infused oil. This recipe uses an infused oil that you make yourself with a mixture of various evergreen parts.

Pine needle soda - Pine needle soda sounds like so much fun - a natural fermented soda that is good for your gut flora! This site has instructions for making your own pine soda.

Pine needle infused spirits - You can infuse vanilla in vodka, so why not pine needles? Pine adds a unique citrusy, minty flavor to vodka. Try this website for instructions on how to make your own pine or spruce needle vodka.

Salad dressing - You can make salad dressing using pine infused oil, pine infused vinegar, or both. Try them in a basic oil and vinegar dressing recipe. Let us know how you like it!


Warnings: 

1) Do not confuse pine with yew trees. Yew is highly toxic. Be sure to properly identify any plant before use!

2) We have read in a couple of places that Ponderosa Pine can be more problematic that other varieties. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend using other pine varieties whenever you can.

3) Do not use pine needles in pregnancy and avoid long-term internal use of the bark. Long-term use of pine needles or bark can reportedly cause kidney irritation.

4) Always be sure to correctly identify any plant before using it!

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