Inside the Harvest: A Season in Puntland

The tapping season in Puntland doesn't start with a calendar date — it starts when the trees are ready, judged by harvesters who've watched the same hillsides their whole lives, often the same trees their parents and grandparents tapped before them.

The first incision

A harvester makes a shallow cut into the bark of a Boswellia or Commiphora tree — just deep enough to reach the resin channels, not so deep that it damages the tree. The tree responds by exuding resin to seal the wound. That resin is left to run and begin drying directly on the bark.

Waiting on the weather

Natural drying takes weeks, not days, and it's entirely weather-dependent. Too much humidity and the resin won't cure properly; the dry, hot conditions of the Puntland highlands during tapping season are part of why the resin here develops the aroma and hardness it's known for.

The return trip

Harvesters return to the same trees repeatedly over the season to collect resin as it cures, rotating between trees to avoid over-tapping any single one — a practice that protects both this season's yield and the tree's health for seasons to come.

From the hillside to the sorting tray

Once collected, raw resin is brought down from the harvesting regions and handed over for sorting — the stage where tear size, color, and purity are judged, batch by batch, by hand. It's this direct line, from a specific tree on a specific hillside to a specific family, that we're able to trace back through every batch we sell.

We're building out a fuller picture of harvest regions and partner families on our Sustainability & Sourcing and Our Story pages as we're able to document and share it responsibly.