Old Man’s Beard
One of the things I like to do in the morning, when I have time, is scroll through TikTok. On my for you page, I came across a man in the woods talking about Old Man’s Beard, also known as Usnea. He mentioned all the benefits and how easy it is to harvest, prep, and consume. So many benefits from helping with you feel better to curing athletes foot.
After doing some research to make sure his information is true, I decided I wanted to give it a try, especially when my uncle dropped a tree at my old house that had Usnea growing on it! I gathered some of it and was on the hunt for more. I didn’t have much luck finding more. Moving, renovating the new house, my health issues, and other challenges kept me from hunting more also.
A year later, renovations complete and my health is doing better. My dad decided it was time the for a sick mulberry tree to come down before it damaged a car or anything else. After he dropped the tree, he noticed it had a significant amount of Usnea on the tree. He called me to let me know. On my day off, I was able to go over there and forage for the old man’s beard. As I inspected each log, I stacked them in a neat pile. My dad will use the good wood to turn into bowls or Santa’s or angels. He may plane some for other woodworking creations. The smaller branches, we threw in the woods for compost and some will be used to heat the woodshop.
Back to foraging…
My dad joined me and when he found a log with possible treasure growing on it, he would show it to me and let me pick it off!! Together we cleaned the yard and I collected nearly a jar’s worth of Usnea off one sick tree.
