Introduction to the willow tree. One of the most used in American history and prehistory. The inner bark or Cambriam layer of the tree contains a chemical called salicin, the chemical used for what we know as advil. A all natural nsaid painkiller. With the tree bark there are no side effects that goes along with the manufactured over the counter pain killers like stomach or liver issues. The same people who have trouble taking over the counters won't have the same issues. With this bark you can also do something you can't with the manufactured stuff is using topically. All in all one of the most important trees in the herbal medicine world.

Howdy folks let me tell how to turn maple sap into syrup. Late winter to early spring. When the temperature goes from freezing at night and above in the day it's time to tap your trees. You hear maple syrup but the truth is there are a lot of trees that you can tap. Most fruit trees, birch trees and maple can be harvested for sap. Now safety a maple tree can get you around 10 gallons of sap safely. The sap in trees are like its life blood. Take to much your tree won't have enough to continue to bloom naturally. Also too many taps can hurt the tree. You do not put more than three taps in a tree. Ok done safely. Now when it's time to tap you can take a power drill or bow drill to make a hole at a 45 degree angle. Bout 3 inches in. Hang a catchment container. I use 2 liter bottles. Make a whole for the nail or screw and one for the spile. Collect and put into containers. They do need to be refrigerated until you can run em. After you get a good amount now it's time to boil down. Big pot and boil away then boil some more. When most of the water is boiled away put it in a smaller pot and bring it inside. Keep boiling until it thickens. You might need to do this twice. Afterwards pour into mason jars and can them like I showed you yesterday.

One of the first plants to wake up is this guy, purple dead nettle. Part of the mint family and sharing most of the characteristics. Square stem, minty looking leaves. What sets it apart is the tall purple flowering tops. Both edible and medicinal. Edible it can be put in salads, the flavor is not good by itself. But if worse came to worse chow down. Medicinal it works for allergies. More of a folk cure but a folk cure that I use myself. Add it in tincture packs for allergies along with true nettle, goldenrod and ground Ivy.