Re: Pycnogenol and pine bark

[Guest guest]

My mom was paying $20 for a little bottle of special pine bark

pycnogenol capsules. I laughed and went outside, trimmed a sapling,

and within 30 minutes of careful peeling had about $1000 worth of

white pine inner bark on the table. The inner bark of pines is an

incredible edible food supplement and I find it interesting that

science is backing up and resdiscovering the wonders of a traditional

food.

I've been told the Adirondacks in NY are named after the

Adirondack indians. They were called that by surrounding tribes as a

derogatory name meaning bark eaters, as pine bark was a winter staple

for them. Modern day primitive skills enthusiasts find it a lot

easier to run down a pine tree than a deer during a winter outing.

There is a whole art to harvesting it in a meaningful manner, one that

encourages the health of the forest instead of devastating it. In

other words smart folks don't girdle the closest and biggest pine tree

for a few meals. One of the best ways I've found to get a lot of it

quickly is to visit a wood harvesting operation after hours and select

from the thousands of broken and snapped limbs and log parts lying around.

I hadn't heard it was being used for chronic degenerative

diseases. I wonder how it would help an MS person I deal with? Guess

I'ld better start looking more deeply at this, I've always kept it

filed in my " edible plants " mental file rather than " medicinal plant "

file. Keep the research flowing folks.