Acorns abound! What do you do with them?

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There are acorns everywhere. What do you do them? Are they useful for anything?

My dogs eat them - is that ok? Can I eat them?

What I did with them is gather them up - and put them on my small back deck (off my back office that has sliding glass doors to the deck and lots of windows) - it overlooks our back yard and woods. The dogs love to lay in the room in the sun. I put them on the stairs that lead up to the deck and then on the railing and on the deck itself. I have seen little red squirrels and the bigger grey squirrels sit on the railing enjoying acorns.

I thought this good use as it will provide entertainment for the dogs if the squirrels and chipmunks come to feast on them (the acorns that is - not the dogs).

So what do you do with this overabundance of acorns?

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@Linkat,

You can make flour out of them and add it to baked goods. Nutritious and delicious. But you need to do some preparation to neutralizes the tannins:

Preparing Acorns to Eat

From what I understand, the acorns from the white oak species are the best.

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@hightor,

Sounds like a lot of work -

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In the New Forest at this time of year pigs are released to eat the acorns. The animals that normally roam free are donkeys, horses and cattle and their stomachs are upset by acorns but the pigs can eat them alright.

I think that like olives and cassava root they’re foodstuffs that need a lot of processing, but unlike them they don’t taste good enough for the work involved.

I once saw a TV programme about Royal Marines survival training and they brewed up a drink similar, ‘allegedly,’ to coffee, but I don’t think any of them bothered unless it was a matter of survival.

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@izzythepush,

Indeed, you can make "coffee" from it.

Generally, it's used around here to feed pigs - for getting "Westphalian ham" but most prominently for Jamón Ibérico de Bellotaand and Jamón Ibérico terminado en montanera which comes from free-range pigs that have obtained approximately 40% of their live weight from acorns.

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@Walter Hinteler,

There’s a word for releasing pigs to eat acorns, it’s called pannaging, apparently the practice dates back to William the Conqueror.

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It worked ... a coupe of chipmunks came and started filling their cheeks but the dumb dogs didn’t notice ... I needed to get the lazy butts up and then of gorse the cutters heard me and ran away

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@Linkat,

Quote:

Sounds like a lot of work -

It is...but think of all the work you didn't have to do — like cultivating the land, gathering and planting the acorns, nurturing the young saplings, waiting for the first crop, pruning, watering, fertilizing, and physically picking the individual acorns!

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@Linkat,

When we lived in Florida, we had a mango tree. The biggest one in the neighborhood. I loved mangos, but way too much to eat.

I would take trash bags full of them to work (a nursing home) and leave them in the employee break/lunch room. I made a lot of friends. Smile

Every year, someone, usually a Cuban, would come by the house and offer us money if we would let him come into our yard to gather them. I guess they would sell them.
Not sure if I would have let them, but Kirk didn't want people coming in our yard.

Do you think people would help themselves to them if you kept a big bowl down by the sidewalk full of acorns, and a sign saying they were free for the taking?

I just looked on etsy, and this person sells 6 handpainted acorns for $22.
I don't know how many sets she's sold, but it says over 20 people have them in their cart right now.

Whoa! I just looked, and she must be selling them. She's got a lot of different styles in her shop.
Take a look.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChristysCornerShop?listing_id=644713711&ref=shop_overview_header#items

Says she's been selling for 8 years, and made 1148 sales (of all her different products) and all 5 star reviews. She looks like she's got a tidy little thing going with found objects she prettied up.

https://i.etsystatic.com/6883916/r/il/18bc9e/2024931888/il_1140xN.2024931888_6lfy.jpg

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@chai2,

omg I just watched that video of some guy processing the acorns for flour.

No way.

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@izzythepush,

Already in the Frankish Carolingian Empire, the value of a forest was judged by how much it could be used for grazing.

The evaluation of the forest according to its grazing capacity continued into the early 19th century. Forestry textbooks calculated the value of an oak forest not according to the presumed timber yield, but according to the capitalised acorn revenue, the "Dehme". (The term comes from the Middle High German dëhem. In the French form dîme, the Latin origin decima, the 'tithe', is recognizable.)

The right of fattening was already a medieval right, which determined who was allowed to drive pigs to fatten in a certain part of the forest. It was alienable in isolation from other rights.

King Harold had the conquered territory of England newly divided among his vassals after the number of pigs that were able to graze in the forests.

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@Walter Hinteler,

I remember seeing a documentary about an Italian village that had an ancient chestnut tree which the locals referred to as grandfather. Apparently it was the reason so many people made it through the Winter as its flour fed the whole village.

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@chai2,

Quote:

Do you think people would help themselves to them if you kept a big bowl down by the sidewalk full of acorns, and a sign saying they were free for the taking?

Not at all - people around here rake them up and throw them away - they are more a nuisance - and of course it attracts the vermin. There are so many oak trees around here that pretty much everyone has these annoying things in their yards.

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@chai2,

Ha - I can do that - why the h*ll would someone buy these?

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@Linkat,

acorns can be turned into a nice warm color for ebonizing woodwork. it takes more work than the vinegar and iron filings , but it gives a neater color .

i once tried the cooking em down and baking and crushing to make a nut meal trick . Lets just say its an acquired taste.

Penn State has developed a new strain of blight proof chestnuts. Id wait for them to become available as seedlings. maybe 10 or 15 years for some nuts. i dont know where the seedlings are sold.

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@Linkat,

I guess because there aren't any elm trees where they live, and they want them for decorations.

Like how people will buy pine cones.

If there's one thing I've learned, people will buy Anything.

The Breast Cushion. One less thing to worry about.

https://img2.thejournal.ie/inline/1103318/original/?width=630&version=1103318

1 Reply

@Linkat,

Linkat wrote:

There are acorns everywhere. What do you do them? Are they useful for anything?

My dogs eat them - is that ok?

A simple Google search would have answered this.

Quote:

Is it harmful for my dog to eat acorns that are falling from our tree?
Acorns can be toxic to pets if ingested. They contain tannins, which can cause stomach upset and diarrhea in some pets, and in particularly bad cases acorn ingestion can cause abdominal obstruction, internal damage, and kidney disease. Keep your dog from eating them if at all possible to avoid this, and speak to your local veterinarian if you have any questions.

Quote:

Are acorns poisonous to dogs? My dog ate an acorn, what do I do?
Is dogs eating acorns a cause for concern?
Acorns are nuts of the oak tree and are a common sight on the ground during the autumn and winter months. Curious dogs may be interested in these unfamiliar objects while sniffing around in the grass and while owners might not think much of letting their dogs pick up an acorn, it’s important to be aware that acorns and dogs are a toxic combination.

Are acorns poisonous to dogs?
Acorns are poisonous if eaten by dogs. They contain tannins, and possibly other compounds, which can cause stomach upset and in very severe cases, kidney failure and death. They are also hard and sharp and can cause an internal obstruction if ingested.

Acorn poisoning is also known as Quercus poisoning, which can also occur after a dog eats oak leaves.

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@chai2,

Someone, maybe Region, posted about some outrageously priced "Garbage Bowl" It was a plastic bowl to set on the countertop to contain small amounts of garbage. I had been using an empty can for years for the same purpose, so I decided not to make the switch.

Acorns abound! What do you do with them?

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