Pine sap- miracle medicine

After the first couple weeks of being here, we realized we were positioned on a popular trail that led to a beautiful lake.

There was one man in particular that all of my kids took to especially my youngest. His name was Larry. He was a vet and had lived here all of his life. We were excited to meet a local who knew about the land! Larry had a lot of wisdom to pass on. I looked forward to our talks about life and how things were when he was young. He told us about how him and his brothers would chew these little hard balls that came off the pine trees. He called them pine gum. Nasty at first, but if you don’t give up and keep chewing, the bitterness subsides and it has a sort of taffy texture in your mouth.

The weekends got a little heavy with many 4 wheelers and hikers. Although we realized we weren’t completely secluded, we didn’t mind them passing through. In fact, my youngest daughter made a point to say hi to each and every person that came by.

Larry also told us that the sap from the pine trees could be used as medicine. Mixed with a little lotion and applied on any wound, even deep cuts.

Pine trees secrete resin as a defense to close wounds from insects or other forces. The sap provides a protective layer or sealant over the injury . The sap hardens forming an amber glob which turns dark in color over time. Pine sap acts as an antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial. Much like the toothache plants that I grow (which I will tell you about later).

I thought this was so cool! I wanted to collect as much as possible to have on hand for later. About a week or so later, my youngest daughter was on my oldest daughters back and slipped off. I heard the blood curling scream and couldn’t make it out of the tent fast enough! I cleaned up her wound and then realized I had used this sap on one of my cuts–just for fun, and to see if it did in fact work. Which it did. Was better than a bandaid in my opinion because it was waterproof and I don’t have to keep changing it. Once it was on, it did it’s thing and came off on its own when it was done. So I went ahead and applied it to her face.

Tip- keep hair tied up and away from sap. Otherwise it will bond to it and you won’t be able to get it off without damaging the hair

Here we are a week later and I’m absolutely amazed at the results! She’s as good as new now!

So that’s my bit on pine sap and how amazing it is for those of you who didn’t know. You’ve learned a useful and important tool. Your welcome 😊