How to eat a spruce tree: picking and using spruce tips
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2015
- In this video, I cover how to identify spruce trees, give some tips on picking spruce tips -- the new spring growth -- and then show a few ways that I have been eating spruce trees. What I cover works for all kinds of spruce.
Spruce trees are evergreen conifers. The most reliable way to identify a spruce is to look at the needles on a branch. Each needle comes out of the branch alone, by itself, not in a group. And each needle has a stalk, a little stump, a peg, which is the distinguishing feature of a spruce. White spruce, red spruce, black spruce, blue spruce, Norway spruce, Sitka spruce, and Engelmann spruce are the kind you are most likely to see.
In the spring, when the new growth starts to come out, is a great time to get food from the spruce tree. The new growth is easy to identify because it is brighter in color and the needles are soft.
Picking spruce tips from a standing tree is a good exercise in self-control and judgement. Every tip that's picked is pruning the tree. That tip will not grow back. So don't pick too many spruce tips from one branch. And focus on the tips that will ultimately be shaded and die back anyway - that means the tips in the interior of the tree and the tips close to the ground. I needed to prune my spruce trees anyway, so I could harvest a lot of spruce tips.
Every kind of spruce tree has a little different flavor. The Colorado Blue Spruce has a really nice flavor. But they are really prickly. Be careful not to get the mature needles in your picking, because they can be as stiff and hazardous as fish bones.
Spruce trees will have their new tips at different stages of growth, so there's a lot of selection. The tiniest tips have the mildest flavor. In our regular food, we don't encounter the spruce's resin flavor, so it can seem strong and strange. If you don't like strongly flavored foods like highly hopped beer, strong coffee, or dark chocolate, you may not like the taste of spruce.
The resin flavor of the new growth of spruce tees will taste the strongest straight off the tree. When the tips are soaked in water or other liquids, the resin flavor takes as step back and the citrus flavors step forward.
Once the spruce tips sit in the water a few hours, the water tastes incredible -- it's like drinking the forest. Watch my video on how to use that spruce water to make some great spruce tree sorbet: • How to make Spruce Tre...
The chopped up spruce tips are great in a simple shortbread recipe - that would work really well for camping because it's good even without cooking!
The chopped up spruce tips also make a great version of balsamic vinegar with only 3 other ingredients that are probably in your house. I'll also be posting a video on how I use the spruce tips to make some really good cookies.
I hope you get a chance to enjoy something from the spruce tree smorgasboard! I'd love to hear what you think about eating psruce trees!
Spruce: Picea genus, Family Pinaceae (Pine family)
White spruce: Picea glauca
Red spruce: Picea rubens
Black spruce: Picea mariana
Blue spruce, also known as Colorado Blue Spruce: Picea pungens
Norway spruce: Picea abies
Sitka spruce: Picea sitchensis
Engelmann spruce: Picea engelmanni, Pine family (Pineaceae)
My playlist on foraging for wild foods: • Foraging Wild Edibles:...
My channel: Haphazard Homestead: / @haphazardhomestead
Thanks for watching! - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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I find that a few spruce tips are a lovely addition to a miso soup.
My parents: Hey you came to visit how are y-
Me: *smiles & waves at them as I walk to their backyard to pick their blue spruce*
ha ha. I hope they get to enjoy the taste of their spruce tree, too! : )
Congratulations in knowing some survival tactics in the winter cold. Nice mountain flavor drinking water brewed from spruce tips. You can also use spruce tips with 1 or 2 other fruits, vegetables, or edible greens to do a smoothie in the blender to drink as a smoothie or as a marinade/sauce on seafood, chicken, and even on pork. Yes, you can do a stir fry that includes spruce tips that would give a feeling of mountainside/fresh lake food. You can also pound in spruce tips with corn to make a new country flavor chip snacks. I really delight in the feeling of fresh aroma from natural pines...especially after clean mountain rains and soft breezes. Great to have pine trees as wind blockers to home entrances, porch/patio, and sitting spots in gardens. I mean those for cold regions. Other trees can serve as wind blockers in hot climate regions.
You are skilled in sharing your knowledge in a detailed and humorous way from experience. I also have rose climbing my blue spruce. Can’t wait to try your recipes! Thank you!
This is why I love your channel. I'm subscribed to a multitude of gardening/homesteading type channels and not one has ever mentioned eating spruce tips.
+growingupgarden Thanks so much for the kind words! So many of our plants are under-appreciated for the incredible variety of things they can provide. And many of those things are pretty easy to use, too. I hope you get a chance to enjoy some spruce trees!
I never knew! Wow! Mother nature sure is great. Thank you for sharing!
+Cindy Coleman Glad you enjoyed the video! Spruce trees have a lot to offer - and many of the other evergreen conifers, too. Nature sure IS great!
this sounds great! I really started hating how society has disconnected it self from nature and I want to start hunting more and do camping/survival practice so i don;'t lose that connection. this seems like a great thing to try out.
+Internet Tough Spruce trees are great! The new growth in the spring is only the start of what the spruce trees have to offer. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know in the spring how you like it!
satan is behind all the evil stuff. and he makes it looks good and we better guard the children against the demons of television!
@@jesuschristislordoflordsan427 shush you mong
@@jesuschristislordoflordsan427 the people that your "christ" called pagan, were pillaged and r*ped because your God is, good? The crusaders were not Holy.
The crusades wiped out the people that were worshipping nature and celestial bodies, not some white dude (who wasn't even white). So thanks Jesus...
When I first heard about spruce tips, I thought it was such a strange idea....I came upon some on a hike, and ate them right off the tree. Sooo good! Surprisingly tender and sweet, like piny candy. I like to flavor homemade kombucha with them.
I recently tried a spruce tips ice cream and since I have an ice cream maker, I'll have to try making my own (will have to wait for spring though).
Thank you for this video - just got started with spruce tips :)
Nice. I really like how you don' t boil it. Healthier raw than cooked. :)
Brilliant! Thank you for sharing!
Pickled spruce tips are absolutely to die for!
Thank you! Very informative!❤️
Very interesting info. Thanks for posting!
Wonderful video. Thank You. I appreciate all the information and descriptions.
This video is awesome, thank you for posting this! I’m subscribed
wow, thanks for all that precious , surprising, completely unexpected advice and a very well-done video!! Bravo!!!
An inspirational find. I'm going to have to give that spruce water a go, taking a sip of the forest, or as you put it "drinking the forest" must be something... Have a fresh day, and greetings from the Czech Republic!
Fantastic Video, thank you very much for the information 🌲🌲🌲
Great video. This helped alot. 😊
Nice video! Thank you. I bought my own blue spruce strictly for the health of it! Great info.
GREAT FOR INFO. VALUE IN NATURE'S SECRET!!THANK YOU.
Love this video
This is so awesome
love your videos
Spruce are my favorite and blue spruce is my favorite out of the bunch. Great tips here and excellent tutorial of how to harvest the tips! Thanks for sharing :)
+SouthPaw Bushcraft You are in a great area for eating a lot of the different conifers! I'm glad you enjoy them.
Wow! I learn something new everyday. Spruce trees, not just for christmas lights. Cheers!
+Joshua Smith A living spruce Christmas tree would give you a place for lights and then something to eat! : )
You are an awesome food artist. You're meals are always so beautiful! Have you ever had a questionable dish? This salad would be great with garlic soup and sour dough croutons. I'm 3 yrs into studying wild edibles and it's pretty intense... 🤫...but I'm 55 and FIBROMYALGIAC. I am going back through my playlists doing a refresher course and taking notes this time. I'm 55 pages in...but worth the cramps. I found that it's best to study 3-5 plants at a time. When competant in identifying, harvesting, storage, medicinal and nutritional information on all of these, then I will start with 3-5 more. How did you learn about all of this? This should be core education material.
I knew the inner bark of some conifers were edible. I had no idea I could eat the spring growth tips! I have one growing in the front yard and spring is coming! Thanks for this great video.
Wow! Just found you..love this video..I'm excited to see all the uses you have for spruce! Definatly learned something here today!
Welcome, Sharmin Proctor! I'm glad you found my channel! If you are interested in trying something with spruce tips, you might check out my video on Spruce Tree Balsamic Vinegar. People who have tried making it themselves have given it good taste testimonials. And it's easy. The spruce are there for you! :D
I thought I knew it all until I saw this! Thanks for enlightening me! WIll try this "recipe" in the new year in spring!!
+Thomas Farmer There's a lot of ways to eat spruce trees! I hope you enjoy them! Let me know what you think, however you prepare them!
Thank you!
I LOVE YOU! You are wonderful!
good info thanks
I am a new subscriber and am very happy to have found your channel. The last 4 years I have included wild weeds in my diet and am very excited to learn more with you. You not only pick wild, you show many ways to prepare these wonderful life sustaining plants that take us back to natures way of living healthy. In northern B.C. nothing wild is abundant but the benefits from eating even small amounts fro the forest are noticeable. I can see this will be a great summer as I gather and learn with you!
There are so many great plants out there waiting for us to appreciate them. It's great to hear you've gotten to know some of the wild plants around your area in the last few years. These plants can be real food for regular people. Some take more effort than others -- but some are easier than going to the store! Enjoy your wild plants this summer!
Yes, when wild greens appear I don't have to buy any until the frost arrives. Have come to prefer the taste of them over store bought so am patiently waiting for them to appear. Looking forward to your Balsamic Vinegar from spruce trees soon, thank you.
You know how to eat well! I agree about the wild greens tasting better than store bought, for sure!
You're awesome! Just subscribed!
Wow, that is good. The trees have beautiful and useful tips which can be used as food. Good to know this, Best
+villa teng Thanks! I hope you get a chance to try them some time!
Wow, your content is really interesting, thanks...have a row of Blue Spruce on my property....
Thanks, Maine Mountain Man! With all those Blue Spruce, you have plenty to enjoy eating! If you try any yourself, I'd be happy to hear how you like them. That soft, new growth is really nice in so many ways.
I did not know this! Thanks!
+Nifty Thrifty Bits Thanks for watching and commenting. It's a whole different appreciation for spruce trees around our yards, in our parks, and in the woods. They just sit there for years, offering us good things to eat!
You are welcome! I love it when I learn something new! And I did not know this!
You are awesome! Thanks for this video. I really really want to know your recipe for spruce cookies!!!
I have officially fallen in love with your videos that keep popping up
That's nice to know, Wold Cloud! I'm glad TH-cam has figured out to show my videos to you. I hope you can enjoy some of the plants growing wild around you, too!
i love spruce trees they're my favorite
Yay for the spruce trees -- and the people who love them! They really are great trees!
U got a friend in me U GOT A FRIEND IN ME
Thank you for the video. Even in 2023 your video is still being viewed which is helpful to me. I came looking for answers on which tree is edible. I was hoping you could tell me if I could use the branches that I am trimming at the moment considering it is fall where I am? I see some fresh stems but I never considered eating it. I was more so wanting to make a tea.
It makes a really good beer too :)
+Onébinmieux Danslebois There are some really nice spruce beers out there! Hmmm, maybe I ought to review a few. : )
here it's only black spruce but it's really good and really abondant .
Onébinmieux Danslebois Wow, you must be pretty far north! Enjoy your black spruce and the spruce beer!
Yes, i live in the north of Canada
Thank You! Song
sure enjoyed your video, you said something abought other conifers i was wondering abought cedar ,any suggestions. any how im gonna be like a spruce beetle next spring. thanks!!!
Around our parts in N.Ontario, Canada; there is plenty of Black and White Spruce..and many ppl, have introduced Blue Spruce to our area. However the Sitka Spruce / Brewer spruce / Engelmann Spruce / Tiger tail and Norway are not from around here, but sure are gonna keep my kids eyes open for it, LOL .
+Kanzee It's nice that all the spruce can be used in similar ways, although they do taste different and some people prefer one over the others for certain uses. Urban folks are most likely to see the Norway spruce and Blue spruce in yards and parks. And the others are more western spruce. Enjoy your spruce!
Spruce tree, is one of the main Ingrediants we use in our Native Traditonal Diabetes Remedies...Miracle Tree !! this is a great Video production, and I will refer your spruce movie to other friends..Cheers ;-) *Bravvoo !!*
+Kanzee Wow, that's interesting about folks are using spruce in your area. Sprus is an amazing tree. Thanks for your kinds words and sharing the video!
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I wound up here from the Townsends channel. It blew my mind that these trees are edible so much I looked up this video.
You should mention these things are apparently super concentrated with vitamin C.
Thankyou, who woulda known.
It's definitely worth getting to know your local spruce trees that don't get sprayed for insect pests. Spruce needles are good in so many ways!
Love your info on spruce tips I will try it on a salad . Question for ya ... how can I reproduce my spruce , O have 3 but no pine cones yet ? Can I reproduce little trees , please tell me how ? Thanks 🙏🏻
Wonderful video and very informative! This is my first experience of your channel, and I truly enjoyed it. I already subscribed! Do you have any professional media training too? The way you communicate suggests you may have...and I could totally see you offering news segments on these topics...you know...the good news! :-D Just a thought! Or...I could imagine you having your own show on NPR covering such topics for foraging and natural living.
i agree. she's enchanting!
Thanks for your kind words! No, I don't have any training in communication or making videos. I'm just winging it here. So I appreciate getting some feedback!
Can you share about making Spruce Tea? I am a very interested in making it.
Hi there - a really enjoyable presentation and super useful. I had never considered spruce a foraging resource before. Thanks for the insight. I look forward to harvesting some for myself in season. A question. Can you eat raw tips? If so fantastic for hiking - a bit like munching on wild garlic as you go. Any way, very enjoyable. All the best to you. Mark.
Thanks! Yes, I eat raw spruce tips throughout the spring, when I'm out in the yard and in salads. The flavor will vary by the kind of spruce and the situation of the individual trees. I have found that if you are in the high mountain country, where the spruce start growing later in the year when the sun is high and intense, the flavor gets resinous faster. So you may not enjoy their raw flavor as much. If that's the case, try soaking them in water -- that water has great flavor then! Feel free to leave your taste review back here in the comments sometime!
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead Great advice. I will certainly share a word or two when I am fortunate enough to put this into practice. All the best there. Mark.
enjoyed your video,you mentioned other conifers,i was wondering abought cedar. any recomendations on what to do with cedar? any how im gonna be like a spruce beetle next spring . thanks !!!
There are several trees that folks call Cedar, so I'm not quite sure how to answer. In this video, th-cam.com/video/GCwNlz7IDU0/w-d-xo.html, I use the Deodar Cedar (Cedrus deodara) with 21 other plants to make a wild salad. Those are cedars in the Pine family (Pinacae). But if you mean one of the cedars in the Cupressaceae family, like the Eastern or Western Red Cedars, Eastern or Northern White Cedar, Incense Cedar, or others, have some nuance and precautions to using them in different ways. That would be a good topic for a future video! Thanks! At least all the Pine family are good -- enjoy those spruce tips in the spring! :D
Cedar makes great garden raised bed sides. Also is great for a cabin. Both because of its acidity and past control that derives from that
This is why I'm here spruce best wood
You know what you're talking about, Turtle Sprucey! : )
@@HaphazardHomestead lol what is life
Can you use the older Spruce Pines needles for tea year-round? Also can you use the new spruce growths for 42? Thank you so much for this informative video as I have a huge blue spruce Outback. Very informative.
I don't understand what "42" is....
I'm sorry I was voice texting and didn't check, what I meant was can you use the young spruce growths for tea too? Which ones are better for tea the old-growth or the new growth? Are there other uses for the young growth spruce? Thank you for responding In This Very informative video.
Yes, you can use the young spruce growth for tea. I like to soak them for a few hours in the sun, like sun tea. You can do that with the older needles, too, but the flavor will be different. Where ever you like the flavor of the spruce needles, you can use them. But they are easier to eat if the young tips are chopped finely. And the older needles should be ground up in a food processor or blender -- their needles are sharp and their taste is probably better as a seasoning rather than as a food.
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead Thank you, the tea was superb with both young and older spruce tips, Drying the needles for seasoning sounds delish. If i was to cut a branch off ,would you dry it out a few days , pick off the needles then grind them up ? How long do you dry then out ? ThankS
Can you use old spruce tips or does it have to be fresh?
I have two massive spruce in my yard, and I'm wondering if the little purple cone buds are edible. I'm reading that they are...But wanted to know if you have any experience.
I love your video! More information than I've found looking on the internet for an hour....lol
Yes, they are really tasty!
So I know this is an old video and idk if you see new comments or not, but the reason I searched up this video is bc I was just on a Finnish site and they have Spruce sprout powder that you could add to shakes and things for the nutrients. I tried to look on Amazon to see if I could get the powder there and there isn't any. So I was wondering if you had any advice on drying and grounding these spruce tips into a powder while still preservingthe nutrients? Thanks in advance 🙂
Greetings from England. I'm a horticulturalist, and I work with spruce trees a lot. Their needles give me such a prickly rash when they catch my skin, and it seems to happen to lots of people I've spoken to. If it does that to my hands, then I do worry what it would do to my stomach if I ate them.
Can they be dehydrated and used in the winter? And if so...what could they be used for? Love your video. Can the spruce needles be used for anything?
you can dry them and make a tea in the winter or anytime. You can make tea from the older parts also. Pine, Spruce, and fir are safe. Don't use Yew or Ponderosa Pine. Yew is poisonous but it is easily recognizable.
Is there a way to preserve the tips for the rest of the year? I have too many to eat only in three weeks that they come out. And nothing the rest of the year. Wonder if you can freeze them? Same with the red cones. They will puff to release their pollen even when kept in the fridge.
I do freeze both of them. I just put tight, unopened pine pollen cones in a jar.in the freezer, and use them in smoothies. If they are putting out pollen, I let the cones open up and then put the sifted pollen in a jar in the freezer to use all year. I put spruce tips in the freezer in a bag. I don't use them fresh, but they are good for making cookies, spruce tip syrup, or the spruce tip vinegar. I do try to use them within a few months rather than save them for years, though. Hope that helps and that you can enjoy your harvest over a longer time!
My friend gifted me a few branches in mail but not new tips. I hate to see them go to waste. Was thinking of making a balm or salve. Do you know of all needles are "edible" or able to be used or is it just the tips.
What if you tap the tree for sap? is the bark any good to eat? and how to make oils from the tree?Could you do a video on that? like your video!
+phil letwist Glad you enjoyed my spruce tree video! There's a lot more interesting things that the spruce trees can provide -- from the needles and from the sap (or resin, the hardened sap that leaks from a wound in the bark). Oils can be made from either the sap or the needles. You've given me a great idea for a video when I prune my Colorado Blue Spruce this spring! Thanks! : )
I'm new to your channel! oh my can you eat them all summer ???
if they regrow from rain ?
im picking rosehips right now :)
Spruce needles get tough after they are past the new growth stage, so they aren't so good for "eating". But they are still good to use for their flavor -- in things like spruce beer, spruce soda, spruce sugar, tea, or for adding flavor to a roast. I freeze some of the new spring growth to use even in the summer. Maybe I should make a video on some of the other uses of the spruce -- my Colorado Blue Spruce needs to be trimmed again. Thanks for the idea! And enjoy your rosehips!
I have a huge Norway Spruce in my backyard, but I had heard that they are the only spruces you shouldn't eat, and I can't find anything definitive on if I can use them. Do you have any knowledge of this and can you direct me to a resource for it. I would love to try them.
+jen d Any of the real spruces are edible, including Norway spruce (picea abies). I have used them just fine. Every spruce tastes a little different, and even individual trees can taste diffferent. Ethnographers try to find out what plants people have traditionally eaten. Here is an example from Boznia-Herogovina that shows people using Norway Spruce shoots: www.bastabalkana.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Wild-edible-plants-and-their-traditional-use-in-the-human-nutrition-in-Bosnia-and-Herzegovina.pdf And there is a Swedish publication about improving the taste of wild foods for survival that included Norway spruce, but it is not open access for the general public: www.cabdirect.org/abstracts/19940608995.html;jsessionid=BE55F1C3AC9914FB5CC4D0F5E50BDE88 Hope that helps. If you try the Norway spruce, make sure it's the new, soft growth -- those needles get prickly! And give us all a taste review here in the comments!
Thank you for the quick response, I did try it and it was very, very citrus-y. I think I'm going to try to make some tea and some vinegar out of it and see how it goes. Best regards!
+jen d It's quite a surprise, isn't it? That Norway Spruce has just been wonderful all its life and now you know it for the tasty tree-t that it is! There are so many trees that are just waiting for us to get to know them! Thanks for that "taste testimonial" and I'm looking forward to hearing about your tea! : )
Hello can I do the same with balsam fir ?
Yes, What she is showing in the video IS a Balsam Fir Tree, Not a Spruce.
Can the pinecones of the spruce tree be used for extracting pine nuts..thx are they safe to eat?
Pine nuts come from trees in the Pinus genus -- real pines. And many of those seeds are small and hard to get. Some are good, like the pine nuts you can buy at a store. Spruce seeds, from the spruce cones, are a lot smaller. I've never tried to use them.
Ok thanks
You can make real good syrup with it too
Oh...and another tip: Be sure to add water in your smoothie brew in your blender.
Should we only use the new growth?
There's nothing wrong with using older growth, but the flavors become more and more resinous and harsh. Different spruce species, and individual trees within a species, can have stronger or milder flavors, so it never hurts to taste, but once the new growth is older, you'll have to go through a lot of harsh flavors to get a good one. I think the Colorado Blue Spruce gets "too old" faster than an Englemann Spruce, for example. Some of the other edible conifers hold their flavor longer, though. I can enjoy a Grand Fir (Abies grandis) anytime; they have such a great flavor. Hope that helps.
@@HaphazardHomestead very helpful. Thanks so much. 😊
can i use globosa spruce is it safe
The "Globosa" Spruce is a variety of the Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens). It's just a different form. I have a regular Colorado Blue Spruce in my yard and enjoy it. But I have tasted others that I don't like so much. If you have several of them in your landscape, one may be especially good. I hope so, for your enjoyment!, (as long as you're not spraying pesticides on them.) The newer the growth, the stronger the citrus-y flavor. The older the growth, the more the resin flavors come out. I'll look forward to what you think of the flavor of your Globosas!
@@HaphazardHomestead thank you
@@HaphazardHomestead can i dry the spruce for tea another time or do i have to store it different, i plan on making tea and vinegar out of the spruce
What about Fat Albert Spruce? Is that edible?
The Fat Albert is a variety of Blue Spruce (Picea pungens), so it is edible. I find that some Blue Spruce have better flavor than others, especially when the weather gets hot quickly. But I eat off my Blue Spruce every year and enjoy it. I hope yours has good flavor, too!
I got a spruce
How do I get to your spruce tree cookies?
is that pine?
No, these trees are all Spruce trees (Picea). I do use a Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) in my video on harvesting pine pollen.
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead Do you know which pine is safe to eat and which ones are not safe?..... i tried ti google it and couldnt find much. I live in North America btw.
For pine trees, I have a video on harvesting and using the pine pollen. The pollen from any of real Pine trees (in the Pinus genus) is safe to eat. The Norfolk Island Pine is not a real pine, though.
YOU CAN EAT A TREEE! I don't think i would like it I'm more of a sweet eater the most bitter i can take is caned spinach and Lipton sweet tea.
There are a lot of good trees to eat. I use some of these soft young needles in cookies and they were really good! I think the needles of the Tamarack tree are the mildest and sweetest tasting. I haven't yet met anyone who didn't like them when they tried the tender new needles. I hope you get to eat some trees someday!
"Just the tip"
Mm spruce shmorgishboard
I cant tell if your a 14 year old boy or a 50 year old woman