#tincturing

I kinda feel I have not done enough preserving, since in my previous “Need to preserve it? Kyphi it” post, there is a distinct lack of mention of foraged materials. HOWEVER I do use foraged resins and I would like to share with you how to clean them after harvest, to store them for future use. 

I do this every year this time of the summer at my moms cottage, where she has a row of beautiful pines and firs, that have been cut some decades ago, yet still bleed resin profusely.

When in the woods or anywhere, where there are trees, keep an eye on older wounds in the bark, trees that have been cut or pruned and look for spots where your desired (or happenstance) resin leaks. 

While scraping the resin off, take care to not to damage the tree more than it is already.

At home, prepare a water bath using a pot that will forever more be resin coated (!!). Warm the resin until it is fluid and then pass it through a strainer, cloth or some such, that again will be resinous until the end of times. You can however reuse your resin stained tools for the next harvest! It is ideal to pour the resin from the pot, through the strainer and directly onto a sheet of baking paper, where you will leave it to cool and harden for a day or two, before breaking it up and storing it. 

You can also save the saturated bits of wood, needles and other natural pieces left in the strainer to burn as a part of an incense. 

This year, I decided to try and tincture my remaining bits, for a wonderful amber liquid that smells like a forest ♥