Despite the snow, we bundled up and headed out to prune the cherry trees on sunday. The little trees need almost no pruning get. However the big producing tree needed a good prune to honest.

I have three large branches in water in a five gallon bucket in the tub to force the blooms as I want to use them in the kitchen. After blooming they will be prepared to future use in regards to smoking.

The tiny twigs were all trimmed off the rest and are laying out flat drying out and will be used in small smoking at a later date. The branches about the size of my pinky were peeled and the bark dried.

If you do not or can not watch the little under a minute video, here is a tip, use a veggie peeler instead of a paring knife to peel off the bark and under layer of the bark.

While a lot of people would want these for short term use to make a cherry bark cough tea, I am more interested in having it in the herbal cupboard for

a) going in the herbal wound wash blend to make into a tea

b) to be used in very small amounts in a blend for worming

c) using to strengthen my hair in a herbal rinse

I do not use it a lot so a little will go a long way in my herbal cupboard. It will continue to dry in a cool dark cupboard until crispy, then into storage and I will only grind fresh as needed.