this is a pile of cooking fuel and medicine.

i gathered up a large pile of the Alder branches that fell over the winter. Alder trees shed their lower branches as they grow taller. this pile of fallen branches will be my rocket stove cooking fuel from late spring to early fall, and a source of Usnea filipendula lichen which is a naturally occurring anti-bacterial powerhouse that also happens to be an air quality indicator depending on how large it gets.