Rooting for Acorns

 Urban Outcast Music #48 - When We Were Young by Falls

September 11th, 2022: We have all been there, sometimes you just get a craving for some starchy goodness. Admittedly, for me most of the time that involves something from a crinkly bag but this fall I decided I really wanted to eat some acorns. I have never eaten acorns before and now I can't even remember what made me think this plan was a good one. But I did know a couple of the oaks in the neighborhood were having a banner year so I collected some helpers, strapped them into our harvester and headed out.  

The first target was my second favorite tree in the neighborhood and a little internet sleuthing revealed it to be a red oak of some sort. It didn't take very long for the low profile collectors to fill up the bag and it was up the hill to tree #2.

It was another red oak and we had a plentiful bounty. It was only later that I learned that red oaks do not like to shed the bitter, inner skin but supposedly a deep freeze could help so we dumped them in the freezer and continued the quest. My main goal was to find some non-red oak varieties but the various walks from the house highlighted just how popular the red oak and its cousins are in Seattle. My personal favorite is a massive scarlet oak in the Wedgewood neighborhood which is a minor celebrity 

We hit the mother lode when we discovered the Seattle Arboretum has 70+ oak varieties and most of them come with handy labels. Plus, if you are not a fan of aimless wandering while looking at your toes for acorns, there is a handy interactive map that claims there are 237 trees to visit. Tragically, the squirrels had beat us to the valley oak harvest but the husks were monsters, think almost chestnut size. Similar story with the white oaks which have lower tannins and are easier to process (so I hear). 

Back in the basement, it was time to pull out the red oak acorns and see if freezing made them any easier to deal with but nope... I still could not get the skins off. If you happen to find some cooperative acorns, the water after shucking is to prevent them from oxidizing and helps you avoid a dark brown flour.

Looking forward to trying again next year. I've already got a few trees to check in on and I'm hoping to venture further afield to gather some starchy goodness.