Pine nuts??

[steve1975]

Only just getting into bushcraft seriously over the last few months and now looking at everything outdoors in a whole new light. Never took notice before but my local park had loads of pine trees and they all have cones on them. Are they worth collecting for the pine nuts? Any advice would be very much appreciated..I know they won't be in season until around October but would like to gain knowledge well in advance.

[OakAshandThorn]

Only just getting into bushcraft seriously over the last few months and now looking at everything outdoors in a whole new light. Never took notice before but my local park had loads of pine trees and they all have cones on them. Are they worth collecting for the pine nuts? Any advice would be very much appreciated..I know they won't be in season until around October but would like to gain knowledge well in advance.

The pine nuts - "seeds" is a more correct term - you see in stores (at least in the US) are from Pinyon Pine, of which there are 5 varieties, if I remember correctly. They grow in the southwestern part of the country and into northern Mexico. You can certainly collect the seeds from just about any conifer. I've done so with the local Pinus strobus - nice and crunchy, if a bit oily.
Pine seeds look similar to those of the maples, in that they are winged. You should see two inside each scale of the cone.

[wildish64]

i've looked at a few types of cones but the seeds are so tiny its not been worth the effort.
im guessing its a certain type of pine which ive yet to find

[OakAshandThorn]

Well, it's not like you there's a lot of effort required to harvest the seeds .

[wildish64]

Well, it's not like you there's a lot of effort required to harvest the seeds .

this is true,just a pair of pliers,its just finding a tree that gives a decent size seed,some of them are as small as poppy seeds,have yet to find anything that even comes close to the size of the ones you can buy

[OakAshandThorn]

Dang, that's a bit odd. Where I live, all you have to do is shake the seeds out of the cones (sometimes you have to pick them out)
From what type of pine are you finding them? Austrian Pine? Scot Pine?
Well, as I said, store-bought pine seeds are from the Pinyon varieties in the southwest US. Too bad they don't grow in temperate environments - otherwise, the squirrels would go bonkers!!