Pinon Penny and Her Work - History of US Pinon Pine Nuts' abuse on Public Lands

Our vision in a nutshell :)

Tu Ba Be – "Find a solution to a problem that moves your heart, and make that your life's work"

Penny's life's work: stopping destruction of American pine nut groves

Penny started working to stop deforestation treatments on U.S. public lands in the mid-1990s. Here is a chronology of her standing up against the powers-that-be in an effort to save America's pinon pine nut trees. Her objective is to "create a demand for wilderness, using wild products as an alternative to development." Looking at the potential value of pinyon pine nuts from public lands, she has continually advocated on behalf of a plan to manage the land for its "natural food values" as opposed to destructive conversion to other uses such as grasing. Penny, a former electronic research paralegal busted her chops, year after year when there were no pine nut harvests. She learned all about which pines produce good pine nuts, and how the native people used pinon pine nuts as a primary food source. She generously shares her wealth of knowledge about cooking with pinenuts or about food values for various pine nuts, including the uses of the raw soft shelled pinon pine nut in raw food cuisine. Finally, this website provides detailed information on growing pinon or pinyon trees.

Coming from a research background, Penny started looking for a wild product that would help protect wilderness in 1993. She read everything she could get her hands on about pinyon before selling her first nuts in 1996. She asks questions no one else asked. Please explore her pine nut research. We also invite you to learn about bio-diversity and conservation using non-timber forest products.

Goods From The Woods: Organic Forest Farm

Penny and her family expanded the natural sytems agriculture plant use into the Ozarks. Her family and, a group of neighbors formed "A Wildcrafters Growers Group" receiving a S.A.R.E. grant to help preserve native biodiversity through use on small farms. She belives strongly that unless people are tied to the land, they lose respect for life. She and her husband have developed "passive solar, bio-intensive food production systems" for year-round local food product. Penny's husband, George works with geodesic design in a variety of mediums, www.ozarkdomes.com. Additionally, they continue to developed Native Plant Products, such as Natural Flea power from wild Pennyroyal, Comfrey Tea Organic Fertalizer, Wild Bergamot Soap and Hydrosol. She has discovered that pine nuts are just the tip of the iceberg for "Creating a Demand for Wilderness with wild products." Penny is a dyslexic dryad and begs your forgiveness for her typographical/spelling, puncuation oversights. Living on an Organic farm in rural Missouri she finds great whismy in working for social change with nuts!

Biodiversity conservation and networking

We are a certified Wild Native Nursery in Missouri. We have our Organic Crops Certification and Wild Harvest Certification. Forest plants sold on this site, are harvested in a respectful, responsible manner. We are trying to help people find economic ways to conserve private lands , biodiversity and forests in Missouri, offering ideas for small scale, sustainable land use based in the natural plant systems.

Penny and her family are members of the National Network of Forest Practioners and actively participate in The Non-timber forest products working group. Penny publishes a newsletter for the working group.

Thanks to tremendous help from Drs. Eric Jones, Rebecca McClain and Katie Lynch, Penny has received training, support, consultation services, and mentoring from the Institute For Culture and Ecology.