Yellow dust is scattered along the driveway, coating trees, vehicles, and my jacket. This is a sure sign that a coniferous sort of love is in the air.
Pine trees release millions of pollen grains each spring to increase the odds of successful pollination. This is quite a potent nutritionally dense resource for us. The properties are so complex that I am still working on understanding all of it but one of the biggest reasons people use it is because it is an adaptogen. Adaptogens are natural substances that help the body adapt to stress by boosting our natural resilience while promoting balance inside the body. It is also strongly anti-inflammatory which I could use right now.
We are going to be harvesting it and processing it, from pine trees on our land. The trees are loaded with cones and our harvest does no harm to the trees. This process is quite a bit of work but quite fun and well worth the effort. One Canadian source charges $48 for 30 grams. Having harvested it before I understand the price, it is a bit labour intensive and the window to harvest is usually only a few weeks at most.
I'll share more of the process, the health and nutritional benefits and all the details as I can. Pine pollen and pine trees are truly fascinating and so often taken for granted. I'll be photographing the steps over the next few days while my husband does all of the work. Such a terrible time for me to be flaking out with my back but hey, maybe the pine pollen will help! :)