Over one hundred spices of pine can be found around the world. Its parts have many uses, and you can eat it. Native Americans did this in the past to get through the winter months.
The process of stripping a tree’s bark to eat is not good for the tree and can kill it if a complete ring is taken, so only cut strips off of one side.
Due to the Algonquin’s tribe’s practice of eating bark, early settlers in the Adirondack area would often report finding acres of pine trees with missing bark. And it was not long before the settlers themselves learned how to take advantage of this year-round food.
By cutting off a strip of the hard outer bark and its greenish middle layer, you can get to the inner layer of soft white bark that is closet to the tree’s wood. If you peel this soft fleshy layer (cambium) tissue off, it can be eaten raw.
You can also boil it if you shred it up into small pieces. This will help to remove some of the pitch flavor.
Drying strips over a fire will make potato chip-like pieces that you can also eat.
And pounding it into flour will allow you to mix it with other foods.
One pound of bark will have 500 to 600 calories, contain digestible starches, sugar, vitamins, and fiber.
I doubt most people will enjoy eating pine bark unless they are starving. However, if you find yourself standing in the middle of a pine forest hungry. It’s your own fought because now you know, nature’s lifesaver is a pine tree.
Most pine needles can also be used to make a tea full of vitamin C, and their nuts can be eaten as well. The fatwood from a pine tree also makes an excellent fire starter.
Check out this video to see a tree being stripped.
Timothy French 