The other day, I made mention of pine gum and a healing salve made from the stuff. Well, a slow hike around the property led to me finding my sap. Hurricane Zeta (and the many, many other storms this year) damaged so many of our trees that the sap was an easy find. I was able to ethically gather nigh on a half cup with no problems. I am sure the felled pines will not be needing the sap as we will be cutting them out of the live trees. My only problem is that the half cup is not enough for what I planned on making.
The salve is made by melting and blending the sap chunks in an infused carrier oil then having beeswax added to set the balm. It is an easy, albeit, time consuming task. You NEVER heat the pine sap and oil over high heat! That would be just asking for trouble. Everyone knows that pine gum will flame up in a heartbeat and adding oil to it just makes that a bigger potential. Since I needed to be in the same room at all times, I used a tiny cast iron cauldron on the old wood-burning stove. That way, I could do my painting project within a few feet of the stove and keep watch on my concoction.
Like I said, my first effort did not make as much as I preferred so I will visit the downed pines again to gather what I can. In fact, I am thinking a drip pot would be a wise idea. I could catch the sap continuously throughout the day and night. In the meantime, however, I will be satisfied with my small "half" jar of salve. Life is good when you can make your own!
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