When to wildcraft Juniper, Cedar, Pine...and what to do with it?

Juniper, Eastern Red Cedar, magnified by 10 using a jeweler’s loupe

Are you looking for all-natural, non-toxic, winter herbal projects for the whole family? Do you love true botanicals and herbal medicine? Here are some ideas using the abundant Juniper or Eastern Red Cedar. It’s rich in vitamin C, makes a delightful herbal tea, is key for routine breast health, makes an oil that smells like liquid Christmas, and can be used for a botanical facial and healthy lung steam for an unproductive cough.

Here is a video showing you everything I’m going to talk about in this post!

WHEN TO HARVEST EVERGREENS?
It is best to wildcraft Juniper (Eastern Red Cedar) in the winter or early spring. Because it’s so abundant here and the locals consider it a nuisance tree (it’s not), it is easy to ethically harvest to your heart’s content. In Zone 6 we probably have at least 2 more good frosts coming, so we are harvesting right now to make our salves.

In the winter, evergreens get rid of as much water in their leaves as possible to avoid ice crystals damaging their cells. So their leaves become concentrated with cryoprotectants (which lower the freezing point of the water that remains), Essential Oils, and Vitamin C.

The vitamin C acts as an anti-oxidant and helps repair damage that might occur in the leaves from OVER photosynthesizing at this time. On cold winter days, evergreens perform no more photosynthesis than their leafless neighbors. When we made essential oil in the winter from juniper leaves, it resulted in 6 times the amount of essential oil found in the same amount of plant material harvested in the summer. Timing our harvest properly means our salves have a higher concentration of Essential Oil.

The small still we use to make Juniper Essential Oil for our salves

WHY IS JUNIPER SO HEALTHY?

The oils have anti-cancer, anti-tumor properties which is why it is so amazing on little spots on your skin and for routine breast care. Infused oils extract the fat soluble constituents of the plant material and water will extract the Vitamin C.

WHAT TO DO WITH JUNIPER or CEDAR?

MAKE A TEA
Since we are still getting frosts, the modified leaves of this tree are loaded with vitamin C right now and in this youtube video, I show how to make a tea from them, but also how to use the leaves to make a smoked tea with any of your favorite blends.

To make a smoked tea, stack concrete blocks 2 high and place a fire safe grate on top (don’t use an old fridge or shelving grate, it needs to be specifically for fire). Set a pot of covered water on top and start a fire. When the fire dies down some, take the lid off and place a few freshly snipped juniper branches on the fire and stand back. It’s best not to do it on a windy day. On a calm day, the smoke will roll up and into the pot smoking the water. When the smoke dies down, use that water to make any tea with.

You can use this smoked water to make a Vitamin C rich Juniper tea. Snip up about a handful of needles per cup and let it steep about 3-5 minutes COVERED in water that is just off of boil (or not quite up to boil). The vitamin C escapes in the steam, releases into the water quickly and is ruined in super hot water. Juniper also has tannins and if you let the leaves steep a long time and in hot water, those will be released and tannins are not known for their flavor! So for vitamin C, in and out.

Add a little bit of Ghee or butter and some honey and enjoy this delicate Vitamin C rich herbal tea on a cold winter day.

MAKE AN HERBAL INFUSED OIL
You don't have to be too particular about just using the leaves, some little stems are fine! Snip the harvest up and loosely fill a jar about 3/4 of the way full. Pour them out onto a cookie sheet and let sit for a day or two to get rid of any excess water on the leaves. Or you can place in a bowl and toss a few times a day.

Return to your jar and top off with your favorite oil. I like to use sunflower seed oil so I can use this on my face. Label both the top of the jar and the side with the name of the plant harvested and date for 6 weeks out. Oil has a tendency to weep out, so I like to put my jars on a wooden counter top, but a piece of cardboard would do too. I strain oils with unbleached coffee filters held in place with clothes pins.

After you strain the oils, you can just use straight for skin conditions, for chest colds to make coughs more productive, for routine healthy breast and lymphatic massage, as a meditation oil, and for dry nostrils. You can make a salve too. This is the salve we make here in my etsy shop.

HERBAL FACIAL & HEALTHY LUNG STEAM
I have to give the obvious warning to be careful, steam can burn! Bring a pot of water to a boil and then reduce heat till it's just steaming. Drop in a few handfuls of snipped up juniper leaves and let them steep in the hot water a few minutes. We're making this for a lung and face steam, but you can leave a steaming pot of herbs going in the house for a nice smell and to kill microbes.

This steam is nice for your lungs, unless you have excess fluid, and helps moisten a dry cough, making it more productive. The anti-microbial and anti-fungal volatile oils are released in the steam.

It also opens up your pores to loosen trapped dirt, increases blood flow and oxygenation to the face and makes the skin more receptive to your all natural skin care regimen. Just relax, place a towel over your head, carefully hold your face above the steam and breathe deeply in and out through your nose for about 3 minutes

After a lung steam is the perfect time to apply an all natural botanical skin cleanser. Rub it in for a few minutes and wipe it off. Then I apply my botanical face butter. Since my products are free of water, emulsifiers and preservatives; I include sunflower lecithin as a humectant to pull water under the skin—turning the butter into a powerful herbal moisturizer. After the butter is applied, I’ll steam a little more to really activate the butter.

CAN EVERGREENS BE TOXIC?
The tree used in the video above is non-toxic. Here are some evergreens to avoid.
American holly (Ilex opaca) is famous for its dark green, prickly foliage and bright red berries. Its berries contain mildly toxic illicin that is poisonous only if consumed in large quantities.
Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), has steroidal alkaloids that will cause skin irritation and are mildly toxic if eaten.
Eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus spp.) contain cyanogenic glycoside and eucalyptus oil in their bark and leaves that will cause skin irritation if handled. The toxins are serious only if consumed in large quantities.
Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla) and Yew pine (Podocarpus macrophyllus), are not true pines, but both contain toxic compounds.
Some pines, including the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), are known to cause abortions in cattle.
Always identify any trees or herbs before you ingest them.

IS IT JUNPER OR CEDAR?
The tree commonly referred to as Cedar, or Eastern Red Cedar, is actually a juniper and it’s botanical name is Juniperus virginiana. True cedars belong to the Cedrus genus and are not native to this country.

JUNIPER NEEDLES OR LEAVES?
Though most people, including myself, tend to call the leaves needles; as you can see from the magnified image at the top of the page, they are modified (or folded) leaves. Through the jeweler’s loupe, which magnifies the subject 10 times, you can see the beautiful leaves look braided.

JUNIPER AND CHEMICAL SENSITIVITY
I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) so this means most of the products that the public uses will cause a neurological and inflammatory immune response in me. I am like a canary in the coal mine and artificial products take me out for the day. The infused oils and teas of the Juniper do not bother me at all.

KEEPING YOUR FAMILY HEALTHY
When you harvest and make products yourself; you can be sure that they are cruelty free, chemical-free, GMO free, phtalate free, dye free, preservative free, perfume free, emulsifier free, PEG free, and silicone free. Our world is saturated with chemicals from our clothes, cleaning products, and food and more and more people are struggling with eczema, digestive problems, migraines, brain fog, and mystery illnesses. I hope you take a stand and claim health as your birthright!