On the Farm: Acorns Are For Squirrels

“Acorns are for squirrels to gather and eat during the cool winter months” was my response when the kids asked me about the purpose of acorns.  It has been a pretty mild Fall in our area but our yard has been full of acorns, squirrels, birds, rabbits, turkeys, and all kinds of animals gathering for the cooler months.  Our family has been blessed to have property with a lot of trees, a small creek, and plenty of wildlife.  Even though we live in the “suburbs” on our little 4 plus acres it feels like we are out in the country.  One of the Fall activities we have as a family is raking leaves and acorns.  Now that the acorns and leaves are steadily dropping the discussion regarding Fall, leaves, acorns, and activities around the season have been in full swing on the farm.

There are several oak trees on our property but the one in our front yard has produced an abundance of acorns this year (the ground was covered and continues to be covered with acorns even after raking and collecting).  After thinking about it for a little bit we concluded that the reason that tree was so full of acorns had to do with the extra “water” that is has enjoyed from our garden.  Jake and I were talking about the tree and the amount of acorns and jokingly mentioned that we could live off the acorns if we wanted to this winter.  The girls were already collecting acorns for their “acorn pies” they were making in the sandbox and asked us a couple times why we couldn’t eat acorns.  I honestly didn’t have a great answer other than my normal because “Acorns are for squirrels.”

After a couple weeks of thinking about our conversation and talking with the girls about how people in the past lived off the land through gardens, nuts, animals, and crops I decided to research acorns a little more.   I figured that if the squirrels are eating the acorns there has to be some benefits to them, right!?  They are a nut.   I read what articles I could find about how to cook acorns and decided it may be fun experiment for the family to try making something with the acorns.  There is not a huge amount of acorn recipes out there but I was able to get enough to feel confident to try it.  I figured it would be an interesting educational activity for the kids as well.

Here’s some fun facts about acorns that you may or may not know about:

• The first people that we can find in history who have ate acorns were the Greeks over 2,000 years ago
• The acorn has been a source of nutrition for many people during past food famines.
• Native American Indian tribes use acorns.  The Cherokee, Pima, and Apache Indians considered the acorn a staple food that they used in a variety of recipes.
• The majority of acorns cannot be eaten raw from the trees or ground.  They have a bitter taste which is the tannin that is used to make leather.  If you taste a raw acorn and it is very bitter it is best not to eat it until it has been processed.
• There are a variety of ways people have used to remove the tannins from the acorns.  Some records show that they have buried the acorns in mud for weeks then will dig them up and use the sun to dry them naturally.  Others place the acorns in a basket or cloth (the basket or cloth needs to be strong enough to hold the nuts but allow water to run through it) with heavy stones, place the basket in a quick flowing stream for several days or weeks then they would sun dry them.  Now with stove tops the process of removing the tannins is quicker by boiling the tannins out of the acorns (I will go through the entire leaching of the tannins process in a later post).
• It is said that a fully grown Oak Tree can produce as much as 1,000 pounds of acorns in one season.
• Acorns are low in sugar and have a sweet nutty taste.
• Acorn flour or meal can be used in bread, cookies, grits, pancakes, brownies, stews, cakes, tortillas, muffins, and many other recipes.  You can eat an acorn plain or with a glaze once it’s been processed.
• Acorns have carbohydrates, protein and fats, 6 vitamins, 8 minerals (including calcium, phosphorus, potassium), and 18 amino acids.  They have a lower fat content than the majority of other nuts and compare very well with other wild foods you find in nature.
• Eating 1 handful of acorns is like eating a pound of fresh hamburger (nutritionally equivalent)
• Much like the squirrels storing acorns for later we can store acorns for a long time as well.  Acorns do not spoil quickly so they can be eaten and/or processed at a later time.

There are two main types of trees acorns come from:

• The White Oak Trees can live over 650 years, be more than 4 feet in diameter and up to 100 feet tall.  The White Oak is the most common and has a dark green glossy leaf with light green on the bottom and the leaf edges are rounded.  White Trees have a smooth shell and the nutmeat is a shade of white.  The White Oak Trees are the best for acorns that you want to eat and use in recipes because they have a low tannic acid, but are still sweet and can be eaten after a little processing.
• The Red Oak Trees are not as common and their leaves have a glossy green top side (much like the white oak) but there bottom side is fuzzy and the leaf edges are pointed.  The Red Oak acorns can take up to two years to mature and the nutmeat is more of a yellow color.  Red Oaks require processing before to eating and generally are not harvested for human consumption unless there is a famine.   Red Oak Trees have a higher tanic acid level which is why they need more processing and are typically eaten when necessary such as starvation or famine because if you eat too much tannin it can be bad for your kidneys.

Why do Acorns need to be processed before eating them?

• Acorns contain tanic acid (if you try a raw acorn and it is bitter that is the tannin you are tasting) which is used to make leather and has several other great qualities, however, if you eat an excessive amount of tannin it could lead to kidney failure.  If you want to try processing and using acorns for recipes try to pick the acorns from a White Oak Tree since they are much lower in tannins; if you decide to consume ones from a Red Oak make sure to process them very well.  I will walk you through the steps to remove the tannic acid (tannins) from the acorns, the process is called leaching.

Information regarding Acorns was found at Wikipedia, Absolute Astronomy, Grandpappy, and Nutrition Data

I will be sharing soon how to pick the perfect acorn, sort them, prep the acorns for cooking, how to process the acorns to remove all the tannins, and a couple acorn recipes that we have tried.