Euell Gibbons and Pine Trees

[Servovenford]

I remember Euell Gibbons. Just a couple weeks ago, when we were making a list of non-perishable stuff to stock up on due to the food shortages, I said to Grace "Ya ever eat a pine tree?" mimicking him in the Grape Nuts commercial. We have an ancient, giant White Pine 10 steps from the back door.

When I was a kid, there was another huge and ancient white pine about 10 steps from the front door of the house I lived in then. I recall the sap oozing out of it and encrusting the bark. If you got it while it was still sticky, before it crystallized, it made an excellent wound dressing. Antiseptic and sealed the wound too. I've heard of people chewing the sap for oral health.

I've never eaten a pine tree, or anything out of a pine tree so far as I know. I did go looking for pine nuts one time, but never could figure out what the hell I was looking for, so I never found any nuts on a pine tree.

My son went next level, and baked bread from flour made of pine bark, though. He took his kids out and they all gathered the bark and pounded it to flour, then baked the bread. It looked like a charcoal briquet to me, but he said it wasn't bad.

This is a photo of that loaf:



.

No kidding. You sure they didn't just cook up a lump of deep fried coal? Seriously though that looks like it turned out alright. I'd try it (in a pinch).