Sweet Birch

Posted by Violet Snow Sep 6, 2007

It’s a pleasant shock to discover, for the first time, the fresh, mintlike smell of wintergreen emanating from a tree branch. The flavor is equally appealing, and I love to chew on a twig while walking through the woods.

The summer I first got to know sweet birch, I decided to make a tincture, or alcohol extract, of the bark, since it has medicinal uses for the treatment of inflammation and muscle aches. Not realizing that the bark is difficult to peel in the summer (spring or fall are optimal, when the bark is loosened by the movement of sap), I harvested some twigs and set to scraping the bark from the pith. It took me about an hour to separate enough of the green inner bark to fill a small jar. After sitting there, inhaling the aroma of wintergreen, I felt strangely sleepy and ended up taking a long afternoon nap.

A week later, I thought I’d try making a sweet birch oil and went through the hour-long process again, with the same result—an immediate snooze. I later read that the inner bark also has sedative properties, but I have never experienced sleepiness from taking a normal dose of the tincture (one dropperful). Perhaps larger doses are sleep-inducing.

Here is a recipe for birch bark survival food, which I have never tried. I’m told it doesn’t taste very good but has saved lives. Collect a lot of twigs and branches, peel them and then peel the outer from the inner bark, dry the green stuff by a fire, pound it into meal, mix with water and bake.

For more information, see the article on Birches.