Acorns. I live in an area of the United States blessed with many, many oak trees, and right now, acorns are EVERYWHERE. I hear them falling on my house, I step on them on my driveway, I run over them on the road and in parking lots. Even at church, there are acorns all over the playground! I pull tiny oak trees out of my garden year round. At my husband's place of employment, there are thousands laying on the ground.
To the native Americans, these little oak nuts were used as the 'staff of life'. Did Europeans use them throughout the centuries as a source of food? I don't know. I do know acorn flour can be found in some Oriental food markets...mostly Korean, I think. Not sure about that.
I have never been in a place where acorns were not plentiful in the fall. All different sizes and various shapes. Ten years ago I walked in the park beside the Saint Louis Arch, and found the biggest acorns I have ever seen in my life. Some were almost the size of golf balls...they were amazing! And a couple weeks ago I held a small new acorn in my hand from my church's playground. It was smooth and beautiful, bright green seamlessly merging into lily-white, and so round it looked like a little marble. I carried it in my pocket most of the day, to touch and look at it, like a little jewel.
Acorns. They are everywhere, but mostly ignored. I know they are very high in fat and protein. I love they way they smell, but the tannic acid gives them a bitter taste. I know it can be leached out, but never could find a practical way to do it. Now I am wondering if I could mix it in with whole wheat flour and maybe it would taste ok. They are definitely nutritious! Maybe God put the tannic acid in them to make most people ignore them when times were ok. Acorns aren't commercially important, and because of that...as far as I know, anyway... they are untainted by 'modern technology', and non-GMO. They are readily available to many people to eat, being easy to gather and pretty easy to crack and eat. In times of true need, they will be there for those who recognize their value. I wonder if they were eaten during the Great Depression? I don't know.
As far as livestock is concerned, in the back of my mind it seems that there are cautions given regarding letting the animals eat too many of them. I can't say I even remember for certain what the caution was regarding, though it may have been due to either the high tannic acid causing problems, or maybe so much fat and protein that caused bloat or some other chemical imbalance. I don't know. I do know that two of my friends have oak trees and their goats eat the acorns that fall in the pasture every year with no ill effects other than the goats gain weight. I am thinking that should hard times ever arise, I would definitely supplement my goats, sheep, and hogs (when I have them) with acorns. Deer, squirrels, and wild hogs know all about acorns being a great, nutritious food source!
Many acorns seem to have a small worm inside them, so I don't know about long term storage. Maybe roasting or freezing them? Another thing I just don't know!
So...acorns will be on my mind all day, and I plan to research them further. If I find out something or do something interesting with them, I will let you know. And, if this blog post has piqued your interest...I hope that you do some research for yourself about these valuable yet neglected treasures.
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