How to Harvest Spruce Resin for Natural Fire Starting, Incense and Medicine | UK Winter Foraging

Spruce, along with many other conifers, produce a gooey, sticky sap or 'resin' when the tree is injured. Resin is a powerful natural medicine that has been prescribed for thousands of ears for a range of ailments including dry skin, rashes, insect bites, chapped lips and much more. A salve made from the resin can be used too draw out debris from wounds, and the sticky sap can be used as a natural glue to help close wounds.
Mindful harvesting is a must, as trees uses their resin to help heal wounds and prevent infection from bacteria or fungi from entering. Only harvest excess resin from the tree, and look for hardened drips further down the bark instead of harvesting from the site of the wound.
If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment :)
Please remember to never eat any wild food, be it plant, fruit or fungi, unless you are 100% certain of its identity and always cross check your resources. Always do research before taking herbs internally, especially if you are pregnant, have severe allergies or a weakened immune system. Finally, remember to take only what you need from places of abundance, and always leave plenty for the wildlife too.
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Thanks for watching!

[@pattybreiland7015]

Thank you for the video. I just want to clarify that resin and sap are in no way the same thing and should not be used interchangeably. This is a common misconception. Aside from their consistency being very different - sap containing more water than resin, and resin usually being thicker, stickier, and harder than sap - they have very different functions. Sap is the means by which the tree transfers needed water and nutrients to and from the roots to the other plant parts. Resins primarily act as a protection and healing mechanism for when the tree us wounded. Most trees produce sap, but not all trees produce resin. As I understand it, gums are more like resins, but are also different, and latex and waxes are completely different.

[@heidizuri]

Love your tea strainer idea, lady!

[@undefinednull5749]

So many ideas from this! The pine cone candles/fire starters are artistic I think. The amazing smell is better from spruce vs pine resin? Or fir maybe? The very strong glue that is pure resin is also amazing for sealing objects! Chewing gum (resin) is also supposedly antiseptic and has an interesting taste. I guess you can use it as a bandaid or in combination with plantain etc. When you melt resin beware to not overheat it! Do it slowly over not too intense heat and it will be fine. It can start burning if too impatient 🔥 !

[@denneweld4829]

keep the videos coming we love the info

[@danniinthewild]

Thank you so much!

[@sammillichap7374]

Just found your channel. Can't wait for more videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated.

[@danniinthewild]

Thanks so much for joining me and for your kind words! So looking forward to this foraging year 🙌🏾🍄🌱

[@paulaneary7877]

That's just fabulous. Thank you so much.

[@danniinthewild]

😊🙌🏾

[@TRIPPYbugger]

If you need to clean resin off your hands, apply regular butter to the resin, it will make it much easier to scrub off and the butter can be washed off with hot soapy water after.

[@danniinthewild]

Woah what a hack! Thank you!

[@Bambiprice82]

Looks cool :)

[@danniinthewild]

😊🌿

[@highlandjournalart654]

I’m new to your channel and love it x

[@danniinthewild]

Oh thank you so much for watching! 💚🫶🏾

[@highlandjournalart654]

@@danniinthewild on my walk I looked for resin and found a tiny bit on a cut fir branch. Not enough to take but the smell was wonderful. I will keep looking x

[@danielb913]

Lmao I was using beer cans too

[@Nitecrow314]

Nice vid. I don't have any spruce goo to melt, but hopefully this will help solve my insomnia 🙂 Not gonna mention the edge abuse to your axe!🤣

[@danniinthewild]

Omg don’t 🤣🤣 I’m a totally self taught forager/bushcrafter and could definitely do some some knife based lessons 🤣🤣

[@Preyhawk81]

Interesting thing Resin is soluble in Ethanol. You can make glue from it i think it was 1 part resin 3,5 parts Ethanol

[@undefinednull5749]

Why dilute it with that alcohol? Resin is sticky by itself.

[@DMetcalfe92]

Amazing! I want a spruce tree on my allotment now too 😆 How old is yours? I've seen a tree grow that thick from sapling in under 5 years, but I have no idea how fast a spruce can grow.

[@danniinthewild]

I want to say about 15 years at least but I’ll be honest in that would be a total guess! 😆 I inherited it when taking over the plot a year ago, though I have been on my site next door for 5 years and it’s been there all that time. So at LEAST 5 but likely much older. It’s a beauty!

[@2mint582]

Flashed

[@natureisallpowerful]

Just don't get it on your fingers or it hot on your skin, ouchhh!! 🌿🌳🌍🍄

[@danniinthewild]

Haha yeah like hot sugar!!! 😭😭