Homemade Tree Tip Syrup
Harvest spruce, fir or pine tree tips to make delicious tree tip syrup at home with just two simple ingredients! Make your own homemade syrup out of tree tips and brown sugar and enjoy over breakfasts, desserts or in cocktails.
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Back when I was still living in the city with limited space and a north-facing balcony, I wasn’t able to grow food like I do today. But I still wanted to play a role in my own food production.
I began learning how to make things from scratch, preserve at a very basic level, and forage for simple-to-identify wild foods
Then one day, I picked up a copy of the Urban Homesteading Cookbook at my local library and decided to bring it along on a camping trip my husband and I were taking. I flipped through the pages as we sat around the fire.
The book was full of recipes and bits of insight from the author: a conservation biologist who was homesteading out of her high-rise condo in the heart of downtown Vancouver: proof that even people in the tiniest of urban spaces can be homesteaders too.
She kept meat rabbits in her tiny, 400-square-foot apartment, quail on her balcony, an aquaculture tank to grow plants and even grew mushrooms in her closet! I was fascinated and inspired to dive into homesteading despite the fact that I still lived in the city too.
Amongst the pages of this book was a recipe for tree tip syrup. It seemed like such a novel idea to
a) make your own syrup, and
b) make it from tree tips, that I knew this is something I had to try.
The syrup is made with two simple ingredients: brown sugar and new green tips from spruce, fir or pine trees. These tips are the new growth on the tips of the branches in the spring. They’re bright green in colour, soft in texture and citrusy in flavour. They’re also edible and high in Vitamin C, and can be used to flavour all sorts of dishes either as an herb or a preserve.
And lo and behold… we were camping in May, right at the exact time all the new tree trips were growing. I looked up and literally almost every tree was bursting with bright green new growth.
I packed a freezer bag full of them and stuck them in our cooler until we got home. This part was important because I couldn’t let them dry out since the recipe requires that the tree tips be moist.
How to make tree tip syrup
Back in my kitchen, I pulled out my bag of tree tips and began stuffing them in a Mason jar. As per the recipe in the book, I packed a layer of tree tips onto the bottom of the jar, then followed that with a thick, packed layer of brown sugar. Then I layered more tree tips and more brown sugar, and repeated this until my jar was full. And then, I waited.
Over the course of a couple weeks, the sugar drew out the moisture from the fresh tree tips and began to liquefy. When the sugar had completely liquefied, I strained out the tree tips, and bottled my freshly-made syrup.
I was pleasantly surprised at how citrusy it tasted, and I convinced myself that even though it was really just pure sugar (like all syrups), at least it had the added benefit of containing lots of vitamin C, right?
In either case, it was damn delicious too, especially over pancakes or vanilla ice cream.
But also in cocktails, like this tree tip mojito, made with mint, lime, fresh tree tips and tree tip syrup.
Yum.
How to forage for tree tips
Tree tips tend to be ripe for the picking throughout the month of May here in the Pacific Northwest. You’ll know as soon as you see the bright green tips shoot out from the ends of the branches. Just remember to harvest responsibly and only take what you need.
You can store your tree tip syrup in the pantry or the refrigerator. While I’m not sure of the shelf life, I had a bottle in my pantry for two years that was just fine. I’ve only ever had one batch go moldy, in which case I tossed that bottle. Otherwise this has always proven to be pretty shelf stable, as well as being a crowd pleaser at family breakfasts and holiday brunches.
You can also make tea, jelly, infused oils, vinegar and alcohol from tree tips. If you’ve never tried them, I highly recommend making this the year that you do!
I would also highly recommend a copy of The Urban Homesteading Cookbook to anyone interested in learning more about foraging (especially in the Pacific Northwest) and/or homesteading in tiny, urban areas. Looking back, that book made a huge impact on me at that time in my life and pushed me to move deeper into the homesteading, made-from-scratch lifestyle even while I was still living in my own condo in the city.
And now that I live on 1/4-acre homestead on the edge of the forest, far from the big city where I used to live, I’m still making tree tip syrup every spring. The only difference is, now the trees are literally in my backyard:)
Homemade Tree Tip Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 cups of fresh spruce, fir or pine tree tips (the bright green new-growth tips in season in late spring)
- Brown sugar
Instructions
- Harvest the tree tips by pulling them gently off the end of the branches by their base. Discard any papery covering still left on them. Harvest responsibly!
- Rinse the tree tips off and let any excess water dry off.
- Pack a layer of tree tips tightly at the bottom of a Mason Jar. Then pack a tight layer of brown sugar over top of the layer of tree tips.
- Continue alternating layers of tree tips with brown sugar until the jar is tightly packed all the way to the top.
- Once the jar is packed, screw the lid and band on (you can reuse old lids), and leave in a cool place to sit for a couple weeks.
- Turn and lightly shake the mixture every few days in order to mix it up and allow any sugar sitting at the bottom of the jar to blend in and liquefy. Continue to add sugar (and tree tips if you have more) to the mixture as the sugar liquefies and condenses, leaving room in the jar.
- After the sugar has completely liquefied, strain out the tree tips and bottle your syrup in a bottle or another Mason Jar and store in a cool, dark place.
Wishing you homemade, homegrown, homestead happiness 🙂
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It’s easy to romanticize homesteading, but the truth is that those homegrown vegetables, those freshly laid eggs, that loaf of bread rising on the counter, and that pantry full of home-canned food takes time, effort and dedication. It doesn’t “just happen” overnight!
But if you work on learning one new skill at a time and gain confidence in it before moving onto the next, one day you’ll be looking back and marvelling at how far you’ve come.
That’s where I’m at now. Life today looks a lot different than it did 10 years ago, when our homesteading and self-reliance journey was just beginning.
Back then we still lived in our city condo and were just beginning to dabble in all of this stuff. But my husband Ryan and I felt a sense urgency to start pursuing a more self-reliant lifestyle, and we committed to taking small steps, one day at a time to make that vision a reality.
Over the years we’ve continued to put one foot in front of the other, adding new skills and tackling new projects along the way that have helped us get to where we are today.
While there’s always more we want to learn and do, as I look around me right now, I’m so grateful that we took those first steps, especially considering what’s happened in the world over the past few years!
If you’re also feeling the urgency to take the first (or next) steps toward a more self-reliant life, this is your final reminder that today is the last day to join The Society of Self-Reliance and start levelling up your homesteading and self-sufficiency skills so that you’ve got what it takes to:
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If you’ve been feeling called to level up your self-reliance skills (because let’s be honest, we’re in for a wild ride these next few years with everything going on in the world), now is the time to heed that call.
Link in profile to enroll before midnight tonight, or go to thehouseandhomestead.com/society
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There are so many reasons to grow your own food at home:
💰 Saves you money at the grocery store
🍴 Healthier than conventionally grown food
🔑 increases your overall food security
🫙 Gives you an abundance to preserve and share
But perhaps the number one reason is because it just tastes better!
Not only does food taste better when it’s freshly picked or allowed to ripen on the vine, there’s something about putting in the work to grow something from a tiny seed and then getting to see it on your dinner plate that just makes it so much more satisfying than anything you’ll ever buy from the store.
Plus, having to wait all year for fresh tomatoes or strawberries or zucchinis to be in season makes that short period when they’re available just that much more exciting!
With the world spinning out of control and food prices continuing to rise, it’s no wonder more people are taking an interest in learning to grow their own food at home. But that also means changing our relationship with food and learning to appreciate the work that goes into producing it and the natural seasonality of organically grown fruits and vegetables.
(It also means learning to preserve it so you can make the most of it and enjoy homegrown food all year long).
In my online membership program, The Society of Self-Reliance, you’ll learn how to grow your own food, from seed to harvest, as well as how to preserve it so you can enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor all year long!
You’ll also learn how to grow and craft your own herbal medicine, detox your home, become your own handyman, and so much more (because self-reliance is about more than just the food that we eat… But that’s a pretty good place to start!)
The doors to the Society are now open for a limited time only. Click the link in my profile or go to thehouseandhomestead.com/society to learn more.
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If you’ve been watching events unfold over the past few years and you’re feeling called to start “cutting ties” with the system and begin reclaiming your independence, The Society of Self-Reliance was made for you!
When I first launched this online membership program last year, my goal was to create a one-stop resource where members could go to learn and practice every aspect of self-reliance, as well as a space to connect with other like-minded people pursuing the same goal. And that’s exactly what you’ll get when you join!
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn inside the Society:
🌱 Food Security and Self-Sufficiency: Learn the art of growing and preserving your own food, ensuring you and your loved ones have access to nutritious meals year-round.
🌿 Natural Living and Herbal Medicine Mastery: Discover the secrets to creating a low-tox home and and to growing, making and using herbal remedies to support your family’s health, naturally.
🔨 Essential Life Skills: Learn essential life skills like time management, effective goal setting and practical DIY skills to become more self-sufficient.
As a member, you’ll enjoy:
📚 Monthly Video Lessons: Gain access to our ever-growing library of video lessons, with fresh content added each month.
📞 Live Group Coaching Calls: Participate in our monthly live group coaching calls, where we deep dive into a different self-reliance topic every month, and do live demonstrations and Q&A’s.
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I only open the doors to The Society once or twice each year, but right now, for one week only, you can become a member for just $20/month (or $200/year).
In today’s world, self-reliance is no longer a luxury, a “cute hobby,” it’s a necessity. Join us inside The Society of Self-Reliance and empower yourself with the skills you need to thrive in the new world!
Link in profile or visit thehouseandhomestead.com/society to learn more.
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Got out for an early morning harvest today. Been up since 3am, contemplating life, the future and the past, the order of things…
There is a rumbling right now, not just in North America, but around the world. Many of us can feel it, and know we are on the precipice of something big.
I’d been hearing about this new song that’s become an overnight viral sensation, written by an (until now) unknown singer named Oliver Anthony. His new song Rich Men North of Richmond has had 14 million views on YouTube in the past week alone, so I decided to check it out.
I also saw a clip of him playing a Farmers Market last week, and anything that has to do with Farmers Markets always has my attention;)
I can’t tell you how many tears I’ve already cried listening to that song. If you’ve heard it already, you probably know what I’m talking about, and if you haven’t, I highly recommend giving it a listen. All I can say is it’s been a while since a song resonated so deeply with me, and in this strange new world, I know I’m not the only one.
One of the lines in Anthony’s song is “Livin’ in the new world, with an old soul,” and that’s something I think so many of us in the homesteading community can relate to.
Trying to cling to better days; To a simpler time; To the old ways, all while doing our best to get by in the new world.
The world has changed drastically in the last few years especially, and it’s set to change in immense ways over the next few years. Today I’m feeling thankful for people like @oliver_anthony_music_ who give a voice to what so many are feeling right now.
Know that if you’re feeling it too, you’re far from alone. And while the future may feel uncertain and even a little scary, remember that if we stand united, we the people are a force to be reckoned with.
(Continued in comments…)
Another garlic harvest in the books!
Garlic is easily one of my favourite crops to grow. It’s pretty much a “set if and forget it” crop. We plant in the fall and leave it to overwinter, fertilize a couple times in the spring, start watering only once the ground starts to dry out, and then harvest in the summer. We can even plant a fall succession crop after our garlic if we want so it really makes great use of garden space all year round.
Over the years we’ve managed to become completely self-sufficient with garlic. We now grow enough to eat all year (and then some!), plus we save our own seed garlic and usually have extra to sell or give away. And around here fresh, organic garlic ain’t cheap, so it’s a good cash crop for anyone who’s serious about selling it.
It took me a few years to really get the hang of garlic, but it’s one crop I’m now very confident with (knock on wood, because it’s always when we make statements like this that next year’s crop fails! Lol.)
A while back I compiled a comprehensive guide to growing, harvesting and using garlic both as an edible and medicinal crop. This is usually only available as part of a paid bundle (or in the fall 2022 issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine if you’re a subscriber;), but for a limited time I’m offering it for free, no strings attached!
Plus you’ll also get access to my step-by-step video lesson on planting garlic so you can set yourself up for success with your garlic crop this year.
Comment “Garlic” below or head to thehouseandhomestead.com/garlic-guide to get your free copy!
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Going through photos and videos from our trip to the @modernhomesteadingconference and the vast majority are of our daughter having the time of her life!
Even if I personally got nothing else out of this gathering (which I most certainly did), watching her discover her own love of this lifestyle outside of what we do at home made my heart grow three sizes!
Homesteading is about so much more than homegrown food and self-reliance. It’s about passing on invaluable skills and an understanding of and respect for our connection to the land that provides for us to the next generation.
Being around so many other kids and families who are also pursuing a homesteading lifestyle helped show our little one that this is a movement that is so much bigger and greater than what our own family does on our little plot of land. This is a lifestyle worth pursuing, with a community unlike any other.
Glad to be back home and more excited than ever to involve my kids in everything we’re doing. But also, I think I speak for my whole family when I say we can’t wait to go back someday!
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#homesteading #modernhomesteading #raisinglittles
If you’re simply looking for ways to save a little extra cash this summer and live well for less, here are 12 tried and tested frugal living tips for summer that you can use to save money this season without sacrificing a thing.
Head over using the link in my bio!
https://thehouseandhomestead.com/12-frugal-living-tips-summer/
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A brand new issue of Modern Homesteading Magazine just dropped!
In this issue:
🌱 How to forage and use five common edible and medicinal weeds
🏠 A sustainable, affordable alternative to traditional homes, greenhouses and more
👨👩👧👦 Tips for managing a homestead while raising a family (big or small!)
🫙 What to focus on when preserving food for true food security
🌹 How to grow and arrange your own cut flowers at home
🍓 The many ways to preserve summer berries (including 5 delicious recipes!)
💇How to make your own all-natural herbal hair care products at home
🧑🌾 Why “community sufficiency” is the new self-sufficiency
And more!
Visit modernhomesteadingmagazine.com (or click the link in my bio) to subscribe or login to the library and read the latest issue.
Plus, be sure to check out all of our past issues as well! There’s a wealth of information in our library on everything from farming and gardening to cooking and canning to herbal medicine, natural living and so much more!
*** This will be the last quarterly issue! ***
This little magazine has grown so much over the past 4 years and 32 issues, and now it’s time for another exciting evolution.
I’m excited to announce that we will be moving to an even more robust annual publication with the intention of offering the first ever print edition this fall if there is enough demand.
I’m also excited to announce the brand new Modern Homesteading Magazine blog, which is currently under construction and will be launching soon. While we will still be maintaining digital subscriptions, the blog will be accessible to all, free of charge, so that more people might benefit from the empowering and increasingly important information that we cover in each issue.
Thanks to everyone who helped make this issue happen! @homesteadingfamily @oatsandhoneyhomestead @omnivore.culture @thetaylor.leigh @doeraydesign (and more who don’t have IG pages;)
And a HUGE thank you to everyone who has subscribed over the years. Modern Homesteading Magazine would never have become what it is today without each and every one of you.
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If you’ve ever grown your own garlic, you might have noticed the spiral-shaped shoots that suddenly pop up in the centre of the stem, usually about a month or so before the garlic bulbs themselves are ready to be harvested.
These are garlic scapes, and believe it or not- they make delicious pesto! Get the recipe through the link in my bio- https://thehouseandhomestead.com/garlic-scape-pesto/
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This honey and chive blossom vinaigrette is a frugal, easy and healthy homemade salad dressing that pairs beautifully with fresh garden salads all season long.
Get the recipe through the link in my bio.
https://thehouseandhomestead.com/chive-blossom-vinaigrette/
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Whether you live in the city and grow a few herbs on your balcony, have a few backyard chickens in the suburbs or live in the country and have a larder full of enough home-canned food to survive the apocalypse, if living a more homemade, homegrown, self-sufficient lifestyle is important to you, Modern Homesteading Magazine was made for you!
Read it today through the link in my bio!
https://modernhomesteadingmagazine.com/
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This radish top pesto recipe makes good use of the edible radish greens that often get discarded once they’re separated from the root. The end result is a peppery, slightly spicy twist on a classic pesto recipe.
A perfect condiment for all your summer snacking!
https://thehouseandhomestead.com/radish-top-pesto-recipe/
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Hi Anna,
‘Sounds like a simple recipe, even I could do it! ;D
What about cedar or hemlock?
Thanks for your cool recipes and tips!
Hi Mary, I believe hemlock tree needles are edible and certain types of cedar are considered to be medicinal, however I know that Eastern Red Cedar (aka. Juniper) is toxic. I would do more research before consuming any of these plants, and ensure you know what variety of each tree/shrub you’re enquiring about as some types can be safe while others can be poisonous.
Are tips from all types of evergreens edible?? I don’t know how to identify the kinds of trees, and I don’t want to get sick!
Hi Amy,
As far as I’m aware fro the research I’ve done, all North American evergreen conifer trees are edible except yew trees, which are poisonous. You might want to double check what trees you have in your area to rule out yew. We don’t have any yew trees in our immediate area, so all of the light green tree tips that are growing right now are ffrom either spruce or Douglas fir trees around here. Spruce is most renowned for its citrusy flavour.