Spruce Cone

We have two large spruce trees in our front yard and both drop many, many cones each season. In the past, they have been used as fire starter, both in our wood fireplace and also when we’ve gone camping in the mountains, but I recently learned that they can be used medicinally as well. Indigenous peoples used them in tea as a health improving drink, but also boiled a pot of cones and water down into syrup to use in the treatment of treat colds, coughs, and chest congestion.