Traditional Uses of the Juniper Tree

     I delve into the culinary uses of the juniper berry, the female seed of the juniper tree. This spice is used to flavor game and fish and the berry can be utilized dried or fresh. The dried berry can be ground and used in a manner similar to pepper whereas the fresh berries are crushed. The flavor varies from pine flavor to a flavor reminiscent of gin which the berry is used to flavor.  Many Scandinavian recipes take advantage of the abundance and freshness of this gift of nature. The blog at Brit + Co has gathered several exciting offerings that look too good to pass up and all use the juniper berry as one of several ingredients. There is an intriguing recipe for juniper and smoke marshmallows with marvelous photography of the process of making homemade marshmallows.  A description of hazelnut and sweet potato pancakes with warm juniper syrup is featured from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Appalachia.
     In traditional Navajo and other native cultures including the descendants of the Aztec in Mexico, the natives burn the juniper and mix the ashes with hot water and subsequently strain the solution after soaking for several minutes. The resultant ash mixture is then added to cornmeal to produce a tamal, a corn dough. This process is referred to as “nixtamalization”. Greater vitamin and mineral content is acquired as the ash mixture has an alkaline ph and releases more of the nutrients into the diet that would be severely deficient without this process to treat the corn, the main staple of the diets for native Americans for centuries. “No matter what their source for ash, all the native American cultures have essentially the same process for preparing corn into dough. Ash is stirred into hot water, then the mixture is strained. Alkali cooking frees otherwise unavailable nutrients, which are not absent in corn but locked in. These are the benefits:
• deeper flavor
• it takes the hull off the corn
• softens the corn kernels, more easily ground
• nutritional value increased
• allows dough formation
• enhances the quality of corn protein: it alters the protein content to make it a more complete protein
• it makes the niacin in corn more absorbable in the human body
• enriches the corn with needed minerals: increases, calcium, zinc, iron and magnesium content
• it significantly reduces molds that commonly infect corn” (Bit’éézh).
     I brew some herbal tea with the crushed juniper berries and add sage and catnip from my garden. The aroma is delicate and most definitely herbal. I add lemon and honey and sip the luxurious liquid, the fruit of my labor. The use of the juniper berry in the Navajo culture is as a detoxifying agent. This claim has been substantiated by modern research into the physiological effects of the berry which is actually a female seed cone that the juniper tree produces. “Juniper is used for digestion problems including upset stomach, intestinal gas, heartburn, bloating, and loss of appetite, as well as gastrointestinal (GI) infections and intestinal worms. It is also used for urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney and bladder stones. Other uses include treating snakebite, diabetes and cancer” (Editors WebMd). This summation of traditional uses of the juniper berry and essential oil is not comprehensive nor backed by extensive medical research. Warnings are also addressed to the potential user of the essential oil of juniper to not confuse it with “cade oil” which is a distilled product of the wood itself. The authors at Web MD also caution, “Juniper might decrease blood sugar. Diabetes medications are also used to lower blood sugar. Taking juniper along with diabetes medications might cause your blood sugar to go too low” (Editors WebMd).
     Juniper has many utilitarian uses. Lashings and cordage can be created from the roots and inner bark of the juniper. Students in a field biology project at Brandeis University report that, “Lashing is needed for almost every type of equipment from tents, to backpacks, to beds, to snowshoes. If man-made cord is not available, cordage can easily be produced from plant fibers or tree bark. Cordage is made from two or more plant fibers twisted together” (Hahn). More detailed instructions for the use of juniper and other trees to create cordage are available at
Lashings and Cordage.
     Juniper berries and foliage may be used as fodder however wild animals will only resort to
this source when nothing else is available. The juniper shrub and tree are found in all fifty states in the US and their use as rangeland forage during the autumn and winter months hold promise. Typical grasses used as range fodder are more palatable to the animals. As the season progresses, the grasses lose their nutritive value and the animals may seek an alternate source for survival into the winter months when ground forage may be buried in snow (Launchbaugh et al). Researchers at Texas A&M University observe that,
“Unfortunately, there is a sturdy fence between the critter and juniper forage.
            The fence is the essential oils that juniper produces. Understanding how
livestock detoxify these compounds and how the compounds affect juniper palatability
will lead to management practices that will help the herbivore get over this    allelochemical fence. These management practices are likely to include: selecting the proper breed or species of livestock, breeding animals with desired diet habits, giving them the proper early life experiences, and offering nutritional or pharmaceutical products to reduce the toxicity of the essential oils” (Launchbaugh et al).
            I pull into the Tusayan Ranger district field office parking lot in the late afternoon. The sunlight is turning a lazy copper color typical of the dust filtered summer air in this part of the Arizona rangeland. My old friend, Joel is on duty today at the field office. Joel used to work with me in the busy dining room we both manned, the Bright Angel Lodge, right on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Joel hails from New Orleans and occasionally slips into a soft drawl. He is very urbane and has a degree in English and has helped me numerous times assessing and critiquing my own English class assignments. Joel volunteered with the Forest Service and eventually worked himself into a full-time paid employment position as a Ranger here in Tusayan. He is the interpretive Ranger for the Kaibab National Forest office. Joel recently got married, and I offer to buy the newlyweds dinner in the steakhouse where I am employed but Joel modestly demurs. I congratulate him and reiterate that I would never allow myself to be roped into a permanent relationship like that. I want him to know his matchmaking efforts are not appreciated. “The thought of it makes me shiver. I am too used to living alone and tell the would-be matchmaker that I am happy that way and would feel smothered in a complex emotional entanglement.” I tell myself and anyone else interested in my opinion on the subject.  Enough of the pleasantries.
     Joel asks about my previous assignment, “How did your observation turn out comparing and contrasting the two juniper specimens?” I had been photographing native species and a juniper specimen in the vicinity of the newly opened Canyon Uranium Mine just six miles south of Tusayan. I reply, “Everything is fine, I got a good grade on the observation report but the professor wants me to limit myself to the original specimen.” Joel is relieved to hear this bit of news. I had related to him my confusion at receiving conflicting reports as to the progress of the uranium mine. The official Kaibab Forest online USDA sponsored website states that no uranium ore has ever been removed from the mine as of the present. Several of the locals had reported the extraction route for the transporting of the uranium ore to be on the road where my original specimen of juniper is located. Joel continues, “The subject of the mine is a sensitive issue with the government and the public.” “Yes, I know.” I reply. “I attended a meeting at Sinagua High School in Flagstaff sponsored by the Arizona Department of Water Quality when they sought public input regarding the permitting of the mine operation.” I continue, “The oversight of the mining operation is to include radiation detectors along the removal route. The route is south on AZ SR 64 to I40 in Williams, AZ. From there, the route continues east on I40 through Flagstaff to SR 89 north to Page, Arizona.” The sensitive issues embody international trade, (the mine is owned and operated by a Canadian company), native American politics, (the natives complain about the pollution from the uranium mines abruptly shutting down in the 1970s when the price of uranium dropped—the mine sites were not cleaned up), water quality of the local aquifer that serves the Hualapai Reservation and the towns of Tusayan, Williams, the Grand Canyon Village and parts of Flagstaff, Ash Fork, and Prescott. Also, the federal government put a moratorium on uranium extraction around the Grand Canyon National Park which formerly hosted the Orphan Uranium Mine directly on the edge of the Grand Canyon South Rim.
     Today, I want to harvest juniper wood for my woodstove. I pluck down the twenty dollars for the wood gathering permit and Joel gives me a sheaf of papers that allow me to gather wood from anywhere in the Kaibab Forest. The free permit is limited to certain areas and are usually picked clean of the dead and down wood quickly. The paid permit grants freedom to gather wood anywhere in the forest as long as the permittee does not harvest live trees. Chainsaws with spark arresters are allowed but the deadwood stumps must be no taller than a couple of inches above the surface level of the surrounding soil.
     I bid Joel good day, thank him for the permit and head out with my old pickup truck in search of the aromatic juniper that will make the winter nights on the windy open range more tolerable. I normally choose a mixture of aspen, pine, and the highly prized juniper. I have several cords of the pine and am in search of juniper logs and branches today. I must choose carefully. There are numerous dead junipers but not all can be used as firewood. The resin that burns and provides the heat must still be present in the wood to a certain extent. Otherwise, the effort is in vain as the wood is loaded, transported, processed with the chainsaw and maul and prepped for burning. Nothing is as disheartening as going through all that effort and not being rewarded with heat from the fire that is built. A German legend is that a vampire is present when this happens, a burning fire that does not emit heat! I asked a German émigré friend about this belief and she just stared at me. I hope I did not insult her as she was the widow of a US Army officer and was dependent on her benefits as a survivor of a soldier. Unfortunately, our relationship was put on the back burner as she travelled back and forth to Bremerhaven to care for her mother who was ill.
     I continue to carefully look for juniper that has a minimum of the shaggy bark on the exterior. When sawing the wood, the bark creates a lot of dust that mixes with the cutting oil on the chainsaw and creates a mess that clogs the machine everywhere. I look for the fresher wood that still has the resin in it. I am willing to let it season a year in my yard after processing. I try to remove as much of the shaggy bark as I can and collect that as well. The bark is ready made tinder for starting a fire.
     The snow is lightly falling outside, I have a small juniper and aspen woodfire started in my fireplace. I close the glass doors that permit me to enjoy the visual aspect of the fire. I have prepared my juniper tea and am enjoying homemade corn tortillas that are freshly made with traditional native masa mix that incorporates the juniper ash water into the dough. The filling for my tortillas is a delicious salsa verde with pureed tomatillos, garlic, onion, green Anaheim peppers and some crushed juniper berries. I thank my maker for such a fine repast and the enjoyment of the cozy fire supplied by the providence of the juniper and aspen logs. My two cats gather round to enjoy the fire as well. They are curious as to what I am eating so I share a few morsels with them. They purr loudly and I call them, “Here Buddy, here CiCi! They like to nuzzle my ears when I am in my recliner and I love listening to their relaxing purrs this way! Who could ask for anything more? I am grateful for such experiences as these that help me to feel a part of the local culture where I am here in Arizona. The juniper is an integral part of the Navajo culture and the tamale-masa mix is used extensively in Hispanic cooking here in the southwest. Living close to the land in this way I feel is much healthier than dependency on store bought items that cost for transportation to market, transportation that adds to the carbon footprint of modern society.
   

Works Cited

Bit’éézh, Gad. “Juniper Ash”. Navajo Recipes. Date unknown.Web.
     https://navajorecipes.com/corn/juniper-ash/ Accessed 21 June 2019.

Editors USDA, “Classification for Kingdom Plants Down to Genus Junip.” Plants Database.
     https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=JUNIP
     Accessed 19 June 2019.

Editors. “Vitamins and Supplements: Juniper”. Web MD. 2005-2019.
     https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-724/juniper Accessed 21 June 2019.

Hahn, Micah. “Lashing and Cordage”. Practical Plants of New England. Brandeis Univ. 2004.
     Web. http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Survival/Pages/home.html Accessed 19 June 2019

Huddleston, Justina.”16 Recipes that Make the Most out of Junipers”. Brit + Co. 17 Feb. 20.
     https://www.brit.co/juniper-berries-recipes/ Accessed 20 June 2019.

Launchbaugh, Karen. Taylor, Charles. Straka, Erika. Pritz, Robert. “Juniper as Forage: An Unlikely Candidate”. Texas Natural Resources Server. Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX. Date unknown. Web
      https://texnat.tamu.edu/library/symposia/juniper-ecology-and-management/juniper-as-forage-an-unlikely-candidate/ Accessed 20 June 2019.

At Long Last Rain

Burnished, parched Earth, shades of orange and brown
Eschewed her gossamer dress, veiled green gown
Denuded, She waits for rain.

Animals are dying, loss of fodder
Thirsty herds gather at tanks for water
Patiently, they wait for rain.

The garden wilts, though I water often
Wings of creatures in bright sunshine glisten
The pollinators need rain.

The flowers lack sweet nectar, drones have none
The dismayed swarm, stricken, may soon be gone,
Hive and honeycomb dried out.

Flying insects seek water to survive,
The sweat I bring aids their little lives,
Testing tolerance, no doubt.

Humidity lacking, nostrils stinging,
My tongue swells, nose bleeds from dust invading
I wait for rain, this death bout?

Wreaking havoc, dust devils summoning.
Saints preserve us from gritty storm’s fouling
Send gentle rain, we despair!

Hasten the moisture, wet timber and grass.
Assure us the fire from heaven does pass.
Restore the landscape so fair.

Scourged by water’s lack, all of Earth is bent.
Subdued by chastening so duly sent
Please refresh by waters flow.

We dance and sing, we bow in gratitude.
Hope for a future of life now renewed.
Grace abounds with seed to sow.

Ars Poetica: Histories

Ars Poetica: Histories Revised

A snapshot of past lives with words of poetry
shared styles of writers and poets living and gone
Yet they live on somehow with words that paint pictures
creation of long past worlds,
scenes of town and countryside.

How did the buildings look? What did the people wear?
How they fought, how they loved, and what did they fight for?
Is it just a dream, others past lives and epochs?
Do I see those who suffered?
The victims and predation?

Were writers in the past free to express the truth
or were they required to wear a social mask,
emotions deadened to preserve place and honor,
feelings barely recognized
and quickly turned away from?

Were chroniclers of the past permitted freedom,
writers and poets recording reality
as they lived it, without judgement or prejudice?
What did rulers require of them,
in service only to tribe?

To only present depictions of the good life,
beauty, love, valor of victorious armies?
Was veracity and truth an ideal of value?
Is it true the old adage,
That victors write history?

I fear absence of truth, it makes me feel brainwashed.
Should this trait be retained, nourished, cultivated?
Or is this obsession macabre and sinister?
Does the past even matter-
sleeping dogs be left alone?

The past is gone with no one able to change it.
We can learn, mistakes prevented in our own lives.
We can view the stories as cairns that mark the way.
Don’t fall off the steppingstone!
It is there for a reason!