hey welcome to haphazard homestead did you ever eat a pine tree some parts are edible that's what world famous wild food forager Euell Gibbons used to say this video is about how to gather what I think is the tastiest part of pine trees the pine pollen Pines put out an incredible amount of pollen in the spring when it looks like yellow ash is floating on the ponds and lakes that's the time to get to harvesting pine pollen the pollen from any real pine tree is edible and tasty a real pine tree has a scientific name that starts with the word pinus real pine trees have some sort of sheath at the base of their needles and all the Pines except one have two to five needles bunched together in that sheath here at haphazard homestead we've got the three needle ponderosa pine the five needles sugar pine and the five needled eastern white pine to get pine pollen we're looking for pine cones but not the big woody pine cones those are the female cones that have the seeds we are looking for the male cones that have the pollen it's easy to tell when the male pollen cones are ready to harvest I give them a tap and look for the pollen to puff out then I just twist the little cones and they pop right off pine trees have lots and lots of male cones and pollen so taking some doesn't hurt anything not every little pollen cone will be at the same level of maturity releasing pollen if some haven't opened up very much just lay them on a tray in a warm spot out of any wind these cones are fully open and almost done for the season but they're still pollen left in them to separate the pollen from the cones I think the easiest way is to put the cones in a jar or a big paper sack and shake that pollen out shaking will make little brown bits of the cones come off too so those need to be sifted out a few of those pollen scales don't hurt anything though in using the pollen one way to separate the pollen from the chaff is to play goldminer and pan for that golden pollen but I think it's easier to just find a sifter with a finer mesh the best sifter that I have found is that tiny mesh in these contraptions for making a cup of tea the pollen is tiny it's as fine as dust it sticks to everything so I have a dedicated paintbrush that I use to sweep up all of that valuable gold dust that is so good it has a nutty flavor there's nothing like it except to other pollens mm-hmm that is so tasty mmm so delicate mmm mmm it's like bee pollen hmm the pollen of every pine is a little different and some stays fresh better than others pollen tends to get bitter or even rancid as it ages a good way to keep it in good condition for more than a few weeks is to keep it in the freezer pollen is great mixed with flour in all kinds of baking I used all of mine this year making batch after batch of pine pollen and spruce tree cookie they were so good you can check out my video on those cookies in the link up above or down below well I hope you get a chance to enjoy some pine pollen come springtime and I hope things are going well at your place I'd love to hear your thoughts on using pine pollen if this is your first time to my channel I hope you'll subscribe for a little different perspective on simple living close to the land thanks for watching bye