So April 6th was our first spring foraging run. We came back with a bit of yarrow, but not without gathering a full cloth grocery bag of fallen, still-green, fir sprigs! Then we spotted a Ponderosa pine with very loose bark layers. These layers are what I've been experimenting with as a cinnamon-like spice. Looking around at the base of a few pine trees reveals that the trees shed this layer regardless. We can either let it go to waste and become forest fire fuel, or we can do our part in reducing fuel for forest fires while also reducing our need to buy imported goods from overseas. Discovering that Lamb's Quarters are a spinach substitute whether raw or cooked, is another ingredient that doesn't need to be trucked the last mile if it is found growing nearby, or only the price of the gas spent to go get it, which for us, is equal to the cost of gas running to the store. Of course, the fewer runs to the store, the less gas spent. Money saved all around. Maybe this week I'll get around to trying out powdered pine bark in place of cinnamon in a cinnamon roll recipe. If it works, I'll share the recipe and call them pine rolls instead. We will be at the Vernon Wellness Fair April 11th and 12th, with a sniff sample available of Wild Apple Spice. If you live in the Okanagan, hope to see you at the fair, and we look forward to more foraging runs, workshops, etc, as the year progresses. Don't forget that we are available for various bookings this year. See the booking card below: For the full foraging report with photos, click here: https://naturalhealthgodsway.ca/2026/04/06/first-spring-foraging-run/