I’m sorry, but pickled acorns sounds gross. I know a lot of stuff improves with pickling, but acorns?
@clarkinks, interesting to hear about your ancestry and your grandfather. I was born and raised in Oklahoma, and my maternal great grandfather was either full blood Cherokee or Choctaw, and I remember him teaching me how to count in his native language. I have since forgot it, though. My dad’s family has Native American ancestry as well, I think that side of my family has Chickamauga Cherokee heritage.
It’s funny that the person I learned the most about how to grow stuff was my grandmother, who was 100% German. She could get anything to grow, a real green thumb. She was a hard working, no nonsense woman, but as generous as can be.
Fascinating its a small world! Yes close friends are german which are very talented in many ways and gifted in agriculture. I learned plenty from them. They are not picky eaters! My mom talked of a family of germans none of which was less than 300 pounds each at least 6’ tall that were talented gardners
I’ll try just about anything, though, so maybe they’re okay. I used to eat all kinds of sushi, much to the disgust of my wife and everyone else in my family, so pickled acorns may not be that bad. I do love me some pickled okra. We canned a few quarts a couple years ago.
One last thing about my grandma, is that she was a firm believer in planting things in the right phase of the moon, and I try to follow that now that I grow things. Some may say it’s wives’ tales, but I think it has some relevance.
Many cherokee i was told turned con artist in the 1800s and 1900s and passed themselves off as gypsy with stories of being indian princesses, shaman , fortune tellers etc. White washing barns for a living etc. just to survive . The tribe is aware of the stories, the same as we are im sure. My family was honest farmers, store keepers etc. Psuedo Shamans Cherokee Statement | The Peoples Paths. My family was written up in the papers for locating things like dogs great distances away i would assume due to their understanding of nature. Similarly they could locate choice oaks etc by geography. There are people my family would not be around even though they are our relatives. My grandma learned well from her people not just about acorns but they picked cotton etc. to make money to survive. She lived with her brother once great grandma moved on they stayed in the area somewhere close to southern arkansas. Survival largely was dependant on acorns but never put all your eggs in one basket. My grandpa was a natural success and whatever he touched turned to gold. His entire family is like that. Their first house was a smoke house where they started to build their heard of cows and pigs up on free acorns and leaves. I envision a house stacked to the roof inside with acorns. Dont know if those first pigs were tame or wild or a cross of both but my grandpa never cared if they ate his acorns they were our pigs but getting them to market was challenging at times. He did some work in the early days for the railroad, grain mills etc. Establishing himself amongst those people he later did much business with. My grandmother was a genius at foraging foods and kept them alive. My question is why pickle acorns when they keep years off the tree? A squirell eats them all year by burying them why can them? I could see making them into flour that makes sense. Now if canning for taste i suppose that makes sense. In regards to canning there are 2 choices pressure or hot water bath. Hot water bath only works with highly acidic things like tomato, vinegar, peaches, . I dont think i would like acorns soaked in vinegar.
My question is, if you are, say, to process 20 lbs of acorns, what is the most efficient way to go about it? I know of the method of smashing them with a cinder block in the driveway. Anything better? and is it better to soak them whole or after smashing?
excellent video. Those were all large white acorns, so there is a way to save time. Time saving come from not soaking (they just carefully peeled off the skin), and just getting more meat from each smash. I will see this Fall if I want to go with the ubiquitous red oaks here (smaller acorns, but also fattier), or spend some time looking for a white oak.
White oak acorn are the way to go for sure when you can get them. By the way white oak acorns do not need stratified and they will sprout within 1 - 3 weeks if you want to grow your own. Now for the bad news " The white oak tree (Quercus alba) produces its first acorns after it is 20 years of age but has its peak production after 50 years of age. The span of time between its significant acorn crops can be four to 10 years. The tree’s thin acorns are up to 1 inch long and have small caps. Falling to the ground in September and October, white oak acorns are an important food source for wildlife. White oak is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9." - How Many Years Can it Take for an Oak Tree to Produce its First Acorn? | Home Guides | SF Gate
I guess the first question we better answer is how to identify different species because yes white oaks can just be eaten but others need soaked. This article will help but there are 400 types of oak trees. https://m.wikihow.com/Identify-Oaks-by-the-Acorns?amp=1
A quick google search yielded some nice charts which should help
Friend in TN who routinely makes acorn flour/mush from white oak group acorns hulls them and removes pellicle, then runs them in the blender with water to leach tannins, pouring off liquid until it’s no longer cloudy.
“It Will Live Forever” by Bev Ortiz w/ Julia Parker gives interesting overview of traditional Yosemite/Paiute acorn preparation. The Western Indian tribes seem to have preferred red/black oak acorns…they lent themselves better to longterm storage, had higher fat content, and more complex flavor than the white oak acorns.
“Acorns & Eat 'em” by Suellen Ocean is a more contemporary work, with lots of recipes.
Bur oak and bur oak hybrid seedlings planted here have generally begun bearing acorns at 6-10 years of age, bearing heavily and annually. No fertilizer, no mulch, even, after the first couple of years
