Preserving Moss

Image by Kbiv3000 from Pixabay 

I am still learning to work with moss, including the best way to preserve it. 

With some mosses, especially the “old man’s beard” or “witch’s hair” (usnea lichen) we have simply let them dry naturally. Other mosses can be dried as well, and – according to the literature – are not dead but dormant and can be brought back to life. While I have dried some varieties of moss, I have not attempted to rejuvenate them. 

The first step in drying moss, after collecting it, is to clean it. You can put it in a sink of soapy water and gently wash away the dirt, pull out sticks and encourage bugs to leave. Rinse the moss and gently squeeze out excess water. Lay the moss on newspaper or paper towels to dry for several days. In this dried out, dormant state, it should last for years.

I know of two other ways to preserve moss, one I have tried and the other not (yet). With these methods the moss is soft, pliable and will last a long time, but cannot be brought back to life. Both make use of glycerin, a clear, sweet syrupy liquid made of various vegetable oils (palm, coconut, soybean) that is easy to find and inexpensive. Smaller bottles can be found in the drug store; I ordered a couple gallons off the internet. Glycerin is used in preserving flowers and leaves and I have used it to preserve fall leaves, salal (lemon leaf) leaves and scotch broom. If you add food coloring to your preservative mix you can colorize your leaves or stems as well, although that is also something I intend to do in the future, so have no personal experience.

Image by TanteTati from Pixabay

First, the glycerin/hot water method of preserving: I have used this method to preserve sphagnum moss. I would recommend a ratio of three parts water to one part glycerin, although I have seen recipes for one part glycerin to two parts water as well. Put the mixture in a large pot and heat it on the stove until hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat and add the moss, leaving it in the water for about an hour. You may have to weigh the moss down with a plate or brick to keep it submerged. When the mixture cools, take the moss out, gently squeeze to remove the excess solution and put the moss on paper towels to dry. It will be soft and will remain that way for months if not years.

The glycerin solution can be reused for your next batch of moss.

The second method, which I have not tried, adds methyl hydrate (methanol) – wood alcohol – to the glycerin. This is said to produce more reliable and long-lasting results than the water-glycerin method. 

The glycerin can be found in drug stores, the methyl hydrate in hardware stores. 

Mix two parts glycerin to one part methyl hydrate - no heating, just mix it together.  Add the moss and let it sit for about ten minutes, then remove the moss from the solution and lay it on paper towels for a few days. It will feel crunchy at first as the alcohol replaces the water in the moss, but then will soften and remain so.

Up next…what to make with your dried or preserved moss!

Margaret

P.S. Here's a good explanation of both types of glycerin moss preservation. 

Moss-colored Glasses

Image by woong hoe from Pixabay 

We’ve spent a long time knowing each other, mosses and I. In telling their story, I’ve come to see the world through moss-colored glasses.-Robin Wall Kimmerer

We have harvested a number of specialty forest products, or non-timber forest products, from our own land over the years. Conks, a type of mushroom, was popular a few decades ago, and we sold Douglas fir seed cones for a time. Cascara bark and moss were other items we engaged in foraging and marketing. 

Moss is actually big business. Folks, beginning with local indigenous tribes, have long found good uses for the many varieties of moss found in the Pacific Northwest forest. Currently moss, as an industry, is centered around the floral and decorating markets, used in gardens, aquariums and various types of décor. 

I would like to offer my Etsy shop customers more in the way of moss sustainably harvested from our own private forestland. There is a small hiccup, however. Moss is slow growing. Back in the 70’s the state of South Carolina banned the wild harvesting of moss from Pisgah and Nantahala National Forest because they realized too much was being taken and it was detrimental to the health of the forest and the creatures that depend on it. 

Wild harvesting moss in the Pacific Northwest and Appalachia for commercial purposes is a world unto itself, a sort of underground economy. Honest moss collectors will get the required permit or contract to harvest from national or state forestland or get permission from a local landowner. Not all collectors go to the trouble of doing that, however, so the amount of moss actually collected is uncertain. Estimates run in the millions of pounds, though – and millions of dollars. Because of the uncertainty of how much is actually being taken, and how much can safely be taken, permits for federal or state lands are restricted in many places, if not banned. 

Which, of course, does not stop those who would harvest without a permit. We still have a huge underground economy, often shrouded in secrecy.

As a private landowner, what issues are there if I want to sell to the floral or decoration market? What do we face? 

Theft? We have a large, isolated tract of land and security is an ongoing concern. Not only have we had game poached off our land, but we had a rash of vine maple thefts a few years ago, which would have been sold to the landscaping market as native plants. We haven’t made patrolling for moss thieves a high priority, but it is something to keep in mind. 

How much is too much? For landowners with a stake in the health and sustainability of the forest, learning more about the secret life of mosses is paramount. We could harvest some moss for floral sales, but how much and how often?

Image by NaoYuasa from Pixabay Moss ball

Agro-forestry? Moss, while slow-growing, is actually pretty easy to grow. Perhaps part of the solution is agro-forestry rather than foraging. And how does that look?

One proposal is to grow moss in nursery-type settings instead of wild harvesting it, but what does that require in the way of investment and support? 

A great deal of study and research needs to be done: a moss inventory to determine how much actually grows in our forest, testing to determine how fast it grows back…

In the meantime, we enjoy the lush moss carpet beneath our feet, the witchy strands of old man’s beard flowing from alder branches. 

Moss is worth getting to know.

Margaret

Pine trees

Image by Thanks for your Like • donations welcome from Pixabay

Between every two pine trees is a door leading to a new way of life. 

- John Muir

We have a couple of stands of Ponderosa Pine trees on our property. The vast majority of our timber is Douglas fir, but the pine is a nice touch and creates a more diverse forest, a mixed-species forest, which, by the way, helps mitigate climate change. The wood, while currently not bringing the higher prices of Douglas fir or alder, is valued for furniture, window frames and other specialty uses. 

Our pine are relatively young, and eventually will be harvested for lumber. In the meantime we have begun using the boughs, needles and cones in various ways. We sold pine boughs at Christmastime, although there is not a big market for that. Still, in our own wreaths, we found a touch of pine adds some variety to the look. The cones we use in

pine cone flower wreath

various crafts, making everything from wreaths to Easter bunnies. The needles can be used – and I believe some of ours were – for essential oils. Ponderosa pine essential oil can be found here.

pine cone bunny

Pine essential oil has a number of benefits. With its clear, fresh, “Christmas tree” scent, it is often used in diffusers for aromatherapy or as an air freshener. Used in massage oils, it is known to benefit the skin and is an antibacterial, promoting healing of cuts, bruises and other skin problems. It can sooth inflammation, soreness, aches and pains and will promote circulation. It’s best not to take it internally and be careful around pets. 

My mother, years ago, learned to make pine needle baskets. Although she used the southern long-leaf pine and raffia, we have learned our pine needles are long enough for basketmaking. 

Pine needles are also used for pine straw, a sort of mulch used in yards, flower beds and gardens to hold in water and prevent weeds from growing. In the south the forest floor is flat and the needles can be easily raked. In our forest there is a thick understory and even under the pines the grass and bushes create a difficult terrain to even walk, much less collect pine needles in the amount needed for straw. But we can collect enough for baskets...

Pine is a very versatile as well as beautiful tree. Glad to have them in our woods!

Margaret