How to Harvest Pine Pollen
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- "Did you ever eat a pine tree? Some parts are edible." That's what world-famous wild foods forager Euell Gibbons used to say. This video is about how to gather what I think is the tastiest part of pine trees -- the pine pollen!
Pine trees put out an incredible amount of pine pollen in the spring. When it looks like yellow ash or scum is floating on the ponds and lakes, that's the time to get to harvesting pine pollen.
Any real pine tree is edible and tasty. A real pine tree has a scientific name that starts with the word "Pinus". Real pine trees have some sort of sheath at the base of their needles. And all the pines, except one, have 2-6 needles bunched together in that sheath. Here at Haphazard Homestead, we have the 3-needled Ponderosa Pine, the 5-needled Sugar Pine, and the 5-needled Eastern White Pine.
To get the pine pollen, we're looking for pine cones, but not the big woody pine cones. Those are the female cones that have the pine tree seeds. We are looking for the male cones that have the pollen.
It's easy to tell when the male pollen cones are ready to harvest. I give them a tap and look for the pollen to puff out. Then I just twist the little cones and they pop right off. Pine trees have lots and lots of male cones and pollen, so taking some doesn't hurt anything.
Not every little pollen cone will be at the same maturity. If some haven't opened up very much, I just lay them on a tray in a warm spot out of the wind. These cones are fully opened and almost done for the season. But there's still pollen left in them.
To separate the pollen from the cones, I think the easiest way is to put the cones in a jar or large paper sack and shake that pollen out! Shaking makes little brown bits of the cones come off, so these need to be sifted out, even though a few don't hurt anything in using the pollen.
If you want to play gold miner and pan for the golden pollen, go right ahead - but I think it's easier to just use a finer sifter. The best that I have found is the tiny mesh of these contraptions for making tea.
The pollen is tiny, as fine as dust. It sticks to everything. So I have a dedicated paintbrush that I use to sweep up the last of that valuable golden dust.
Every pollen is a little different and some stays fresh better than others. The pollen tends to get bitter or even rancid as it ages. A good way to keep pollen in good condition beyond a few weeks is to freeze it.
Pollen is great mixed with flour in all kinds of baking. I used all mine this year making batch after batch of pine pollen and spruce tree cookies -- they were so good! You can check out my video on those cookies.
Well, I hope you get a chance to enjoy some pine pollen come springtime. I hope things are going well at your place. I'd love to hear your thoughts on using pine pollen.
Pine trees: Genus Pinus, Pine family (Pinaceae)
My video on how to make pine pollen and spruce tree cookies: • How to Make Spruce Tre...
My playlist on foraging for wild foods: • Foraging Wild Edibles:...
My channel: Haphazard Homestead: / @haphazardhomestead
Music:
"River Valley Breakdown" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
creativecommons...
Photo: Pine pollen on lake: photo Brian Stansberry, commons.wikime...
Used under CC-BY-3.0, creativecommon...
Thanks for the video! I am 14, and I was able to gather tons of pollen! I was able to bake bread with just the pollen, eggs, and milk. Saves money and is tasty! All I had to pay for was the milk (we have chickens)! We have 5 acres of land and half of it is a pine needle forest.
Thanks for sharing that! I bet that was a tasty bread -- the pollen is like a super-fine flour. You must have an efficient way of sifting out the pollen. Nice work!
Will you host 2 day tours of your homestead ? Charge a moderate fee, limit it to no more than 4 people, and put everyone to work while there ! No better way to learn than by actually doing it !
When I take your tour, please have lotus gin cocktails 😊
Uhhhhh... I get a discount for the idea, right ? Lol lol
My kind regards to you. I request you sell me some pine pollen please. Am in Uganda. How best can I contact you?
Pine Monoculture? Lay down some Acacia Seeds your Soil will Thank you. It is Hungry of oils
@@technocracynow9339 many acacia seeds in Indonesia.. I will put and store it.
Since I use few pieces of acacia Wood for ECOPRINT/batik natural dye colour.. I didn't realize that it's seeds usefull to for adding soil..
How to process it.. I think it would blend/smash it before use.. isn't it?
I guess I've been living under a rock for 70 years LOL! I've never heard of this until watching your video. We have pine trees full of pollen right now. We WILL be harvesting as much as we can tomorrow!!
THANK YOU!!! ♥
I hope you were able to harvest plenty of pine pollen. If you did, I'm curious how you liked the flavor. Every kind of pine tree tastes a little different. So I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy the pines around me!
@@HaphazardHomestead
Fortunately I was able to reach a low branch and harvested 2 quarts of the little pod things which in turn yielded 2 table spoons of pollen. I see it will take a lot to fill a ½ pint jar. I'm hoping to learn of a better way to harvest more, so I'll be prepared for next year. But, I'm thrilled to know about the pollen and I'm thankful for what I was able to harvest! The pollen is delicious, tastes like powered pine nuts!! ♥
Hey thanks! New science shows that pine pollen has cellular regenerative and other healthy properties. I started putting it in my coffee and tea. Thanks for the info.
Wow that's awesome. Maybe one could also make face masks out of it.
I didn't think i could get more excited about eating wild plants around me until i found your recipes! Pine pollen and spruce cookies? Genius!!
Thanks, Ben! I hope you enjoy eating conifers as much as I do. They are so underappreciated for food and flavor.
It's really nice to see people using/showing how to use what nature has. IMO, we're so out of touch with nature these days and we'd do better as a society if we did some returning to our roots with nature instead of the giant international stores who are really only concerned with their Quarter earnings. Thank you!
my aunt makes pinecone syrup. she takes green cones, cutting them in half, then boils them till the water is white and the cones are soft, and then adds sugar (have no idea about the amount) and the syrup becomes pink. tastes good, helps to soothe cold and flu conditions.
How awesome are you?
You taught me something real.
+Jeremy Borino Thanks for the kind words - and I'm glad you found this video useful. There are a lot of pine trees out there, so there's a lot of pollen opportunity! If you get some and try it, it would be great to have your taste review here in the comments! Happy pollen gathering!
I love your videos! So informative, and no wasted time ever! Thank you for all that you do, and for your wonderful recipes!
Another great informative video my friend. Our spruce are just now ready to harvest the pollen and so I watched your video on how is the best way to go about harvesting.
well done, simple, informative and very interesting...I'm inspired to go collect pine pollen!
Thanks! Pine pollen is definitely worth getting. It's not a food we are used to eating, but it is really good. And it's crazy how much pollen a single tree must put out -- let alone a whole forest. If you get any pollen, please feel free to leave a taste review here in the comments!
This year was my first time harvesting pine pollen and collected a small amount today. Will sprinkle it on wild salads since that's all I can think of using it for right now. By itself was surprised at how gritty it is and the taste reminds me of pine nuts, go figure hey:) Did enjoy collecting it & look forward to many years of collecting pollen for it's health benefits, whatever they may be. I simply enjoy eating wild foods and don't worry much about what they actually do unless they are a potent plant. Thanks Chris for showing us how to harvest this great food, ATB from northern B.C.!
What time did you harvest it? I mean wich month? :)
Haphazard Homestead,, you make my heart glad..
Aww, thanks, Jack Ranger!
you are a amazing! such a polite and gentle voice, good info, then bringing the cookies out and melting my heart... nice work!
Thanks for the nice words. Those cookies are good!
I'm new to all this. I want to know everything lol. Please make more of these. I just found u. I need to learn to be self sustaining and teach my family. I love in london Kentucky.
Hello, thanks so much I've been watching so many of your videos lately. I'm planning on foraging this week and seeing what I can come up with for my family of 11 in the kitchen. Your recipes look so delicious. I appreciate you very much. I wish you had a cookbook hehe!
Love the technique for harvesting. I always like to collect my forage out in the field quickly and then take my time back at home processing it. Until I watched your video I would have just beat the cones on the branch collecting the pollen into a paper bag. But now I think I'll take them home and do it in a more leisurely way ;]
+TheNorthwestForager I think gathering the pollen is a lot quicker this way -- for pine trees. And I think I get more pollen this way, too, since I can let the cones open up more out of the wind. But for cattail pollen, I still prefer shaking the stalks in a paper sack.
LOL her voice XD
I freeaaaking love it
I really enjoy your videos!...... Please show us the process of making Pine Cone Jam! and Pine Honey....Thanks
you know I enjoy your series so much that rewatching the whole thing this weekend. oh. and you can collect a crapload more pollen using a vacuum. we use one only for "food" it comes in handy. (we put a gripper end we made on it.) it rips and sucks. handy as hell on a garden.
at the end you put the whole mess in a bucket and the same way you do wheat with a drill and a chain you do the pollen heads. Keep the heads more then one day you do it muti times. after each time make sure to spread the chafe out so it gives it another chance to dry a bit.
you can silter faster buy buying a filters use for weed. they are bubble filters. im not really big on weed but they come up with interesting planting and harvesting.
Those are some great ideas for big pollen production! I might have to think about something like that for some big harvest! Thanks a lot!
Must try!!! I know what I will do next may on vacation, every year we get there at pollen time and there are lots of pine trees!
Pine pollen is amazing stuff. I hope you enjoy the pollen you get!
You do God's work and we thank you for sharing. blessed be.
+romandogbird Thanks for your kind words!
What a great channel. I hope you make it to a million subscribers 👍👍👍
You are so wonderful thank you for sharing your knowledge
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Good video to
I find your videos so helpful and inspiring. Hoping to actually harvest some from a neighbor's tree this year. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Excellent video!! God bless you.
Well wow how kool. . Who woulda thought. Thank you 😊 . I’m going to find me a pine tree ASAP 🌲. Love your channel
Bu bilgi icin tesekkur ederim ilk defa duydum polen toplicam tesekkurler
Never knew you could eat pine pollen. I'll have to try it.
First time to this channel & love it already. Subscribed 😊
Awesome tutorial video. Thanks for making it!
Such a great video, thanks so much for the info!!!
Thank you very much for this informative video. I learned something new today. You gained another subscriber today! 😊
great information, thank you. I love the way you speak, also.
+Jason Bouchard Thanks for your kind words and I'm glad you enjoyed my video. I hope you get to enjoy some pine pollen, too -- it's great!
Thank you so much.... well I never... I LOVE YOUR VOICE. You should do voice overs to Disney movies. Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed your informative video and please do more. Best of luck :)
Thank you for this very informative video. I just noticed that our pines are now putting pollen on my truck and thought yay it is time to collect... I missed it last year. Now excuse me I am going out to collect some of that golden goodness 😊
I was thinking it may taste like pine but no? It has a rather nutty flavor? Well, who would have thought... Thanks for sharing! :)
+Rainbow Gardens There is no piney taste to it at all! Very fresh and a mild nutty flavor. It would disappear in a carrot cake, but really shines out in a butter cookie or buttermilk biscuits!
Can’t wait try it. Love your channel 😊
Great to learn a new thing, especially one that is tasty. I have used bulrush pollen in beer batters and it gives a great golden colour to deep fried fish.
I am in Australia so l assume l will not be able to harvest pollen for six months , due to seasonal variation of continents
Great video, I did not know you could eat the pine pollen like this.
Do you know if there is a risk of an allergic reaction to the pollen when consumed?
Great video, thanks for the cookie links as well!
I'll have to try some this year. Thanks for the idea.
Great video and super helpful!!
The only pine we have around here is in an occasional yard or a Christmas tree farm. But I still enjoyed your very informative video. Hope you and yours is doing good. ~Bob
I have Loblolly pines around my cabin and when I got a first rain in the Spring, there was all this yellow muck on the top of the rain barrel catchment. Next time, I'll see if I can just strain it out and save it. I'm not so sure if baking it is the best use. Perhaps mixing it with sour cream for a dip, or designing a salad dressing based on the flavor of the pollen would be great. Maybe toasted or grilled bread with pollen and butter or pollen and cheese. For sure, pollen and avocado can team up for some great flavor. How about a bacon wrapped jalapeno stuffed with pollen, green onions, ricotta, and cotija? Add pollen to your favorite meatloaf?
I used a lady stocking (yeah I know) but it is some finely meshed that only one pollen gets through. Just put it in and shake and tap it out in a wide bowl
That's a good idea, Andreas T. T. That mesh is pretty tight. I gave up my nylons long ago. But I do have nylon 'footies' that I put around my apples for insect protection. They were too small to shake effectively. But I'll have to try the stockings some time.
Very cool! I love pine pollen but haven’t collected much myself! Thanks for a cool and informative video!
Thank you for the video! I am looking for undamaged pine pollen for optical experiments (they produce nice colored rings around the sun or moon, "pollen coronae"), but the stuff that can be bought in Germany has always broken cell walls (i.e. the grains are squished). So I will go and harvest my own supply next spring following your method.
Thank you for the good information video and my question is you collect pollen, why you shake off first?
If you don’t do that steps you will collect more of pollen? This is my first time for the about eating and cooking with the pine pollen, it’s very interesting, I have been drink pine needles powdered tea couple times a week, Please kindly post explain to why? Thank you.
nice update im about to collect a bucket of it now
+Permaculture Homestead That's great! I'd love to hear how you like your pine pollen and how you are using it! What kind of pine trees are you harvesting from?
Very interesting Chris. Thanks for posting it.
+dakotabob10 All those evergreen conifers taking care of themselves in some difficult places. And they have so much to offer for just a little effort -- less than tending weeds in a garden! Pine pollen is worth the effort! Hope you get to try some sometime!
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead I have seen and heard of it. My problem here in ND is just finding pine trees. You have to remember that the state tree in North Dakota is the telephone pole.
dakotabob10 Ha!
Looks good now I much try getting some
I have watched a couple of you videos and just like those this one is great and I never saw a vid collecting pollen. Thanks for all of your information. I really like listening to you, your voice and speech pattern is soothing. You make everything sound so yummy! Quick question, are all pine pollen edible? I have 8 pine trees lining my property. I’ll be harvesting the pollen this spring.
I got to try this! I got a pine tree in the back and I want to check how good this is...
Works in the spring only.
David Lee I know. I cant wait until spring comes-just for this! I usally don't like Warmer seasons but, I'm too hyped for this.
Lovely and very informative
Great Video
+E Wade Thanks!
WOW. This is Beautiful!
Thank you for sharing, I love smart people!
Mine was bitter and rather tasteless (it was a two needle per sheath tree) but hey it is super healthy so I will still eat it and it's fun to eat.
Thanks for the taste review -- Every pine does have a different flavor. So it's worth trying some different trees to find ones that are tasty. I think that's one reason more people don't try wild foods, because they can taste different from place to place. But I think that's what makes it interesting! I hope you can find some other trees that have tastier pollen -- but as you say, all the pine pollen is good for you!
Really liked your tutorial but how about any noticeable health benefits?
This is new to me as well ty for more food to forage!
+hope crews I think trees are under-appreciated for all that they have to offer us! There's a lot of good eating from trees! And as long-lived perennials, they are about as easy as it gets! They are also one way that people can create edible landscaping in their yards and parks. Let me know how you like pine pollen, if you try it!
Amazing info thank you ❤
Thank you for this really informative video.
Thanks for.the video,great job,the best way to retrieve all the properties from the polen is with alcool...1g polen with 5ml alcool mixing in a bowl for 6 weeks.
Does it mean I'm old because I remember Euell Gibbons and him on TV LOL That was a fun video! I was wondering how you were going to collect the pollen.
+Melody Capehart Medina Euell Gibbons sure influenced a lot of people in his time! I hope his legacy lives on a long time! This is the easiest way to collect pine pollen that I know. I have tried, and see people, gathering it directly from the tree in a sack, but that takes a lot of fussing and wrangling!
I have seasonal/spring-time allergies to other tree pollen. Wonder if pine pollen consumption is safe for people like me...
love this, i am surrounded by pine trees!
Great info thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the video!!!!
You're welcome! I hope you can harvest plenty of pine pollen yourself this spring!
Haphazard Homestead thank you, I ate some today and it's great!! Thanks again for showing us 💪💪
Thanks you for sharing!
great vid!
Thanks! I hope you enjoy getting some pine pollen yourself sometime!
Hi I'm Bruce. I live in the Pacific North West. I have Douglas Fir and Hemlock evergreen trees. Can you substitute, or use the Doug Fir Pollen for the Pine Pollen? Thank you. I enjoy your video's.
Hey, love the videos very informative, could you tell me if you can put the male pollen flowers in a cup of hot water for teas?
Im definietly gonna try it
I hope you get plenty of pollen to try out, yellowstone soon! If you want to give a taste review or a review of your picking turns out, I'll be interested to find that out. Happy pollen foraging!
Very interesting! Thank you!
interesting I will definitely give it a shot
Can you cook this during the winter months? Because I want to make them on Thanksgiving and Christmas... Please answer back, thank you.
Great, thank you! This year's season has been quite rainy. Does rain have an effect on the pollen or what should be best practice when it rains regarding harvesting - is it fine on a rainy day or how many days later? And are the cones after the pollen has been removed from them also somehow usable? Love
I'd love to do this but i don't know if my pine is poisoness.....clusters of what looks like mostly 2 sometimes 3...thats all I know of my pine
I know what im doing next spring in the forest on the end of the city (we have a massive thick pine forest few kms wide and 3kms up into the mountain)
Do you know if i can harvest Cedar for this too ? I plan on making pine tinctures from it (different and labeled bottles ofc)
Thanks for this relaxing video and guide
Only 3 months away from massive cedar pollen harvest and many away from pine pollen harvest
Any of the trees in the Pine Family (Pinaceae) have edible pollen. So it depends on which Cedar you actually have -- some trees that are commonly called Cedars are in the Pine family and many others are not. That's especially important when making medicinal stuff.
Did a fair bit of research, its Cedrus Atlantica or Atlas Cedar.
I did harvest a tiny bottle amount of pollen once, stays fresh for more than an year in the air tight bottles of the valerian pills,afraid to use it now lol
Its only a month or two away from growing flowers and we have uh..7 grown trees ,all accessible 3-10 mins of walking , just have to warn folks to stay away from me as all are in heavy crowded parks
Thank you for teaching me about 'pine pollen'. Very interesting. Are their any medicinal properties?
+LARK'S GARDENS There are a lot of people selling pine pollen for all kinds of medicinal uses, especially immune system and hormonal system issues. But I'm not qualified to advise anyone on medical issues. And I don't personally know anyone using pine pollen medicinally. I like using pine pollen as a food. It's really tasty and has such a fine texture, like the finest ground flour, that it enriches a lot of things like pancakes, biscuits, and cookies.
+HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead I wish I knew this earlier. At my previous house, I hated my pine tree. It dumped pine needles everywhere and keep my grass from growing. If I knew this info earlier, I would have appreciated it and tried this out. Thanks for sharing good info. #everythinghasapurpose
I just now saw your comment from 8 months ago -- I hope you have enjoyed some pine pollen this year.
I have read that it is good for a testosterone booster.
LARKS GARDEN have a look at markus rothkrantz pine nuts and pollen, he has masses on it.
youtube video's
Awesome video! New friend here
Are the males considered pine nuts like I eat in hummus?
No, pine nuts come from the female pine cones, the big woody cones. The male pollen cones are small and much more temporary. Most woody pine cones don't have very big seeds, though. The Stone Pines and Pinyon Pines have large seeds in their pine cones and are commercially harvested for your pine nuts. But you can freeze those male pollen cones, before they even begin to produce their pollen, and then use them in smoothies. There are a lot of ways to eat a pine tree! Enjoy your hummus and pine nuts!
@@HaphazardHomestead Thank you for such a "nutty" reply! I love foraging with you!!!
Wish I'd known this 55 years ago!
where r u located, pls? do u sell the pollen? what about not separating the pollen from those pink things, but mill them together and store for the whole year?
I can try this next spring
+LCJ farms You may not have spruce trees down there in Florida, but you have lots and lots of pine! I think you will be surprised at how fine it is -- taste-wise and texture-wise. Thanks for watching and commenting!
HChrisH200 - Haphazard Homestead here in Florida we have TONS of Southern Loblolly pine trees!
I've been wondering if there was a way to use a hand vacuum to collect pine pollen.
Amazing.
Thanks!
Any thoughts on redwood? I have tons of those.
thanks for a great vid !!
You're welcome! Enjoy those pines! :D
Great video, I had no idea!
+rzashida Pine trees will never seem the same now! : ) As long as they are not sprayed, pine pollen is fun and it's really tasty! It's fun to put in pancakes and biscuits, not just cookies. The pollen makes everything light and fluffy.
Can this help cure or treat seasonal allergies?
Due to severe allergies from pollen, this both intrigues me and scares me. I wonder if it would have the same benefits as honey when it comes to allergies. 🤔
Many people use pine pollen who have allergies ❤
Does it work well in bread making?
"Except other pollens..." I was just wondering about other pollens this evening when i found this video!
For example Birch pollen! What other pollens are edible/may have medicinal value?
Besides bee pollen that is... ! :)
That's a good question. In the video, I do mention that any conifer in the Pine genus (Pinus) and in the Pine family (Pinaceae). I mention cattail pollen, too, but I haven't made a video about that yet. I made some videos about Elderberry flowers, though. The flavor of elderberry flowers comes from their pollen. But it's easiest to harvest the whole flowers, rather than just the pollen.
Can you make mugolio with the pollen?
thanks for this video m'am
Does this build immunity for seasonal allergies?
how caN you tell when the pollen has gone bad? What does it smell like ? I've had some in refrigerator for a year
.
Are there this type of pine tree around White Rock or Surrey?