Eating ACORNS 🌰: How to Forage, Store, & Cook Acorns
Acorns are a super sustainable source of sustenance that you can forage from the forest to your front yard! In this video, Wren discusses the different types of acorns, how to identify a good nut, foraging tips, processing acorn meat, and how to use your acorns to make DELICIOUS food. Let us know if you have any acorn recipes below!
NOTE: The labels on the oak leaves at 3:57 are swapped- the left leaf is a white oak and the right leaf is a red oak.
Read more in Wren's Insteading Article
insteading.com/blog/how-to-ea...
Products Mentioned:
Davebilt Nutcracker shop.davebilt.com/Davebilt-43...
Meat Grinder (example) amzn.to/3iPg33S
Nature's Garden by Samuel Thayer www.foragersharvest.com/store...
Hank Shaw honest-food.net
Practical Self Reliance practicalselfreliance.com
Pascal Bauder www.urbanoutdoorskills.com
0:00 Intro
0:55 Acorns as a food source
2:55 Foraging Acorns
4:15 Good and Bad Nuts
6:15 White Acorns and Red Acorns
7:00 Acorn Weevil Larvae
7:27 Cracking Nuts
8:04 Sorting and Prepping
9:20 Leaching
10:20 Acorn Flour
11:15 Acorn Recipes
13:55 Additional Resources
14:54 Conclusion
Never tried eating acorns, I knew you could as a kid but taking the caps off and throwing them at my older brother was always more enjoyable but usually ended in a fight
The love between siblings truly is a beautiful thing. xD
I did as a kid it was terrible very bitter never again heard they were poisonous.
My daughter and I saw your video at 4 PM, then collect/process for a half corn meal/half White Oak acorn bread for supper. Added two tablespoons of honey. It tasted almost like banana nut bread at supper. It was awesome.
@Miles Doyle hail satan
Thanks so much for sharing! I'm excited to get around to this myself.
@Miles Doyle Can we not.
@Miles Doyle u sure you didn’t ingest a wacky mushroom?
@@YourLocalChoccyMilkDealer He totally did lol
I use roasted and ground dandelion roots and mix them with the ground acorn meat before drying them. Gives it a slightly chocolatey/coffee type taste.
Interesting ! Thanks
I love drinking roasted dandelion - it's even better than real coffee imo, a lot less bitter
Might try this
@@TheodoreHoesevelt You should try either one. i can personally vouch for dandelion root. Roast it at 250 for about two ours to taste and it does have a cocoa smell. . Have no tried to ise acorns like this yet. I like to make too much flat bread with them.
@@Nero_KarelLol... but no caffeine!
Dendrologist here! In general, red oak species tend to have a much higher tannin content than white oak species. White oaks also tend to have a higher sugar to protein content. This is why many species of wildlife tend to go after the white oak acorns first. Another good reason to not let the white oak acorns sit is they germinate immediately whereas red oaks often need to overwinter (cold stratify). Awesome video! Thank you for the content!
Keep that advice going. Hemlock needles I heard are very high in vit c. I took a penn state dendrology coarse ,mid 80s and taught a climbing class few times. I have some non typical dendrology related opinions that are not mainstream. Like most of science ppl know more rumors or wives tales. I had a tree scv for decades.
@@jamesbullock7257 I can't say I've heard that about hemlock needles, but given the fact that pine needles, immature cones, and spruce tips/needles are full of vitamin c, I believe it.
Ooh, just like wine.
What about european oaks? Can you please say wich ones have less tanins? Thank you
Nerd
You are the first person to ever mention the Yurok! My family comes from Weitchpec and we still own land there. The Yuroks spend most of the fall across the Klamath River gathering acorns. My childhood memories are rich with gathering acorns for my Great Grandmother to make porridge.
Greetings from Miwok Country!. My brother, Mick Howard was Yurok and I still miss him.
Greetings from HoChunk land i harvest walnuts and hadn't thought of acorns. I read the book "Ishi" and acorn porridge was a regular staple of food for his ppl. I always thought Acorn Porridge sounded so delicious.
Thank you for sharing this. What wonderful knowledge!
Wow,isn't it pretty cool that a video about acorns can bring about so many good emotions?I certainly think so.
@@Anaris10 Greetings from Karok country! Glad to really finally learn about the acorns, I'm 65, healthy and happy living outside, sounds like tasty and fun work =)
Personally I prefer just raking up all the acorns up into a bucket and using the float test to sort out the good from the bad. Basically, if the acorn has been eaten inside it will float in water and it quick lets you sort the majority of the good from bad. As a bonus it makes it so you don't leave bad acorns under the tree where the bugs can further infect the tree. A simple, long term pest control for better harvests.
hmm My acorns don't usually attract bugs. By the spring, they've all been swallowed up by the ground (or eaten up by squirrels. )
@@loripiontek Do you have seedlings around your old tree a year or two later?
@@tatjana4503 Sometimes. They're usually in the flower beds, but not in the grass. I have Rose of Sharon next to them, too, without seedlings in the grass. It must be because they are constantly mowed down.
@@loripiontek because if you don't have any seedlings at all it could be because it's not only squirrels but also mice that eat the acorns. Those critters love acorns. Depending on how many mice are in the area they could make the rest of the acorns you leave on the ground disappear within the winter.
@@tatjana4503 I have woods around me, and my cat gets mice occasionally, so thank you for telling me that. My dog even crunches past the shells for the nut (she likes wine too!), but the hulls always disappear by spring. I wondered about that.
I've briefly scrolled through the comment section, but found nothing that says how intelligently written, and beautifully read your little lecture is. It's also delivered with a lovely sense of humour. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your KZhead dissertation, very very weldone! I have a small holding in the hills on the Wales England border. I have too many oak trees to count! So thank you for taking the time and making the effort
Apart from, it was full of cretinous American words and pronunciations like leeeesure.
Me as well I even commented on that when I shared it on FB.
Exactly! It is so well made, absolutely refined.
Because acorns are toxic and will kill you. bon appetite.
Ditto from Texas!
As a Korean, I would like to add that acorn jelly is very tasty and also low in empty calories than processed grain :) (it's considered a good food to eat when on a diet)
Interesting!
I love acorn jelly
My Korean mother in law makes acorn jelly; sesame oil and seeds, a little chile flake, salt and seaweed and it’s fantastic with the other banchan!
As a Korean Mook has no taste. It's the seasame seed oil, seeds and flavoring that makes it taste good. I'd rather eat anything else than this slimy jiggly thing that's hard to hold with chop sticks.
I love it. Also you can buy acorn flour from any Korean market.
I was gathering pecans today and, walking back to my car passing through a crunchy carpet of acorn, thought to myself: "Too bad people can't eat acorns." And then this. The specificity of recommendation coincidence is a trip sometimes.
I tasted an acorn as a kid and instantly dismissed as inedible XD
I think our phones can read our minds. Creepy
Yea that’s new, hey did you read this guys essay he wrote ^
@@CHRISTisKing197 ~ Exactly! 🧐. ....😅
@@cscott4815 ~ A) What's new? B)🙄....Their comment activity shows that they paste that text indiscriminately. If they had a purpose, there are many Bible passages relevant to this video's topic that they could have chosen. God's view on: Self-suffiecency, contentment, industriousness, reaping the benefits for one's hard work, appreciation for creation 🌈, and the earth's resources.
The writing of this presentation gets an A+
It may but pausing after speaking would be much better. Most of your famous narrators pause. If you sound like a typewriter while speaking, chances are you are talking too fast. The presentation otherwise was great. I believe the Native Americans tied them up and let them stay in a creek with running water for a few days to leach out the tannins. They also put them in the ground surrounded by clay for the same purpose.
yeah, and now I’m hungry
It was an awesome video, and I've often wondered growing up if acorns were edible. The only complaint I had with the video was the audio, I kept looking out my window because I thought someone was pulling into my driveway. :)
sure cause you dumb why they not eat them now days
This presentation is racist and full of white privilege.
My dad was in the service with Dave from Davebuilt in the early 50's. They were stationed in France together and Dave was the best man in my parent's wedding. After the service Dave started inventing tools to help the walnut (or nut) industry in California. I attest his inventions and designs are first rate, and Dave is honest in his dealings. It was a surprise to see his nutcracker in the video. My father owns one, and I've used it, and it works great!
I have a Davebullt myself. In fact I am looking right at it.
When changing the water to leach bring the change of water to a boil before adding as cold water helps to bind the tannins to the nutmeat. It takes just 3 or 4 changes of water using the only hot water method. In the mid Atlantic area Chestnut Oak give you best and largest acorns you will commonly find. Acorn flour that still tastes bitter can be used as a coating over various fruits for drying, it works fantastic with persimmons. Just rinse off the flour before eating, keeps bugs off and the fruit from sticking to everything.
I took a field ecology class in college. We did a lesson on hunter gatherers where we had to collect acorns with different "technology" (bare hands, with bags, as a team etc). The TA then gave us extra credit for taking our acorns home, making flour and bringing him something edible. It was a really interesting class!
Do you know how many pounds of raw acorns does it take to make 1 pound of acorn flour?
Glad acorns were introduced in your class. Good to know my old mind, is now open to look down on the ground to search for acorns :)
They gross.
Pretty cool
@@wannabecarguy Everything is gross if you don't know how to make it
As a squirrel, I must voice my protest.
As a squirrel you're also the greatest threat to the U.S. power grid, even more than hackers funded by rival nations. The funniest part is that this isn't even a joke.
As a friend of the squirrels, I also protest.
As a squirrel hater, I don't mind stealing squirrel food as they steal food from birds and become all greedy. Next, thet see a nice human house and tear it apart, when that particular resident had done nothing wrong and had been living there for many years. Honestly, if squirrels were to go extinct, I would love that. Seven year old me would never fathom why I would say that. Me, grown up, who has seen the greed of these vicious rodents would happily enjoy seeing the same happen to this animal.
We all know squirrels are just robots created by the car repair industry to increase business.
#SquirrelLivesMatter
I've heard stories from my family that during ww2 in cities in the Soviet Union, people would try to make use of the acorns to make food because of how starved they were while under siege. But, a lot of those people or at least some of them died from the acorns and because of this I assumed they were poisonous. After a bit of research I found that the tanin which apparently is indeed toxic, was probably what caused the deaths but the leaching process makes the acorns completely safe. Glad to see an in depth guide on how to do this stuff and this really made me realize how underused this stuff was
This is a great video, I collected & processed acorns into flour one year and used it in cookies & pancakes. Southern Oregon oak species include saddlers oak, black oak and tan oak which were important food sources for local tribes. It is a mistake to assume tribes did not tend the land or practice agriculture. Most tribes intentionally tended the land with fire, burning under different conditions for different purposes. Fire helped reduce the vegetation under oak canopies making acorns easier to collect, reducing the insect density and reducing competition with oak seedlings, ensuring oak trees of many ages so there were always young trees to replace those lost. Tribes also used fire to drive game into confined areas to make hunting easier, stimulate new growth attractive to browsing game and modify shrub growth to generate wood suitable for tools & arrows. While it is true the tribes of southern Oregon and Northern California did not live in permanent settlements they had an annual cycle that brought them back to the same areas every year. Many tribes had policies whereby areas of valuable resources such as camas swales or berry patches belonged to individual families, and were passed down the matriarchal lineage. Most of these resources were managed to ensure they were not over harvested and even expanded over time. Woodlands & forests were managed for specific species with intentional planting of beneficial species and removal of less useful ones, resulting in food forests with higher than normal concentrations of food plants. The remnants of these historic food forests can still be found. I would argue that they were practicing agriculture and land stewardship, they cared for the land to ensure there was enough food left for the animals and that the plants would persist to feed future generations. European settlers did not find an untouched wilderness but one that had been intentionally developed through thousands of years of stewardship. Blessings 😊
Yes. Just because it didn’t look like European farming, doesn’t mean they weren’t incredibly knowledgeable and deliberate about their interactions with the land! The forests of America and the Amazon are all giant food forests thanks to the indigenous people who lived and live there.
During much of the 20th century my family, like many Germans, survived by eating cabbage, nettles, potatoes, and acorns. Acorn coffee was standard fare, especially, when even roasted grain was not available to many people anymore. Thank you for a very well-done video.
Acorn coffee?
I love nettles! My kids gobble up a creamy nettle soup every time!
When she started by saying 20th century western culture didn't know about ACORNS? Glad she's sharing this with those who weren't familiar with acorns out of necessity.
@@romavandemark5689 Well, when there is no "real" coffee and you were too poor for even "Malt coffee" (= roasted grain) you still had a dark, hot, and healthy brew.
What did they use as a protein source??
I can't believe I've been living in my house going on 25 yrs with a laurel oak in my front yard not realizing I could eat the acorns or if nothing else collect them for my chickens! I so glad I just happened to see this video!! Thank You!
I've heard of red oak & live oak, recently either first heard or a reminder of black oak, but laural( laurel?) oak is new to me. Is it much different than the others.
@@peggyhall5363 A Laurel oak looks similar to a live oak.
My chickens right now are loving foraging the acorns from the oak tree that overhangs their coop & run in the yard 😊
Flex
Me too. We live on a lake and every fall im out there sweeping acorns off the dock. Lol never knew that they could be eaten. Big old tree on our property.
Thank you for this! When I was younger I read about how the local tribes where I grew up would eat acorns as part of their diet. So at one point I crushed an acorn with a nutcracker and tasted it to see what it was like. As you might imagine, I concluded that my modern palate was too far removed from theirs to find it remotely palatable. I'm pleased to see that-perhaps predictably-I was doing it wrong!
Surrounded by oak trees, maple trees, beech trees and birch trees. I can honestly say I could not starve. Not to mention the berries and vegetation growing low on the ground. This is nuts!
During hard times, this information could save lives. Thanks!
Hard times are coming friend
💥🔥🚀🔫
@@smoothlyamusing1502 LOL if we elect biden again, yes for sure.
In the middle ages acorn was staple food, since it was easier to get than oat, rye, barley, and wheat, the latter being one of the most expensive flours for peasants. The reason why acorn were easier to get is that because oak used to be grown in great quantities throughout Europe ever since the iron age, because it not only provided acorn, but the wood was excellent to make a great deal of things, and it was used as forage for cattle during winter times. There used to be entire oak forests back in the day.
Together with the linden tree wich was always known as food tree as everything is edible or medicinale from the leaves to the seeds to the bark and its treesap. Thats why we in the netherlands still have so many linden trees everywhere. It was also used as a shade tree and its practically indestructible. Oak, linden, birch, beech and willow. Those are the pillar trees of society in early netherlands. I do think other trees like pine and walnut should be there too. Thanks for your explanation, I loved to read it.
Isn't oak trees also connected to tics on wildlife and dogs?
there are still entire oak forests....
@@Psilocybism beech nuts are good too, if you have one of the beech species that make nuts that are large enough for human consumption...
The wooden walls of England were made of oak, and kept Johnny Foreigner out till our ships were made of iron.
This is a tree-mendous video you've put together! I knew you could eat them, I just didn't realize how valuable they were as a food stuff. Thank you so much for taking the time. With October upon us, I plan on doing some acorn collecting and making a heap of flour.
I thank you!! For over a decade I've had a red oak pummeling me on my deck. I was recommended your video since I study a lot of forging and living off the land. I've reached and watched and read so much but not once do I recall ever hearing anyone say acorns can be a staple!! My gosh! The food we could supply or even educate others it would surely cut down famine and hunger. But we all know these problems are created to bring about precreated solutions... We must educate ourselves and others as the profiteers surely won't in a meaningful way.
Have seen acorn flour sold in Asian stores... 🎉
So true
Well, my mom was right when she said to me, "I don't ever have to worry about you going hungry, you'll always find SOMETHING to eat"!!🤣 Thanks for sharing and you're right..."the world looks different" now. Sending my friend this link as she once picked one up and said..."I wonder if you can eat acorns? 🤔
😀 Thank you I ❤️ this video A+
((((((((
I had a little Jersey milk cow, Bubbles, she loved lapping up the acorns under the oak trees. Even after eating several pounds of acorns, she didn't show any signs of discomfort or have any digestive issues. Bubbles did this every fall for many years without any ill effects. On the contrary the acorns seemed to be good for her.
A cows digestive system is significantly different from a humans.
@@kyroskiller Well, yes it is. Glad that you are aware of that fact, it's a good thing for people to know. My comment is because the lady in the video states that she does not know if acorns are okay for cattle to eat.
Did she taste like acorns?
@@MikeCheckBiloxi she was a milk cow so I doubt he knows
@@MikeCheckBiloxi Dunno. You don't eat milk cows. ;-)
I’ve watched at least a half a dozen videos on how to use acorns and this was hands down the best. I love in the Northeast and eat a plant based diet and this can be a wonderful protein source for me and they’re free !! 😊
Something made with acorns would be GREAT for Thanksgiving! Good conversation piece too :)
Lol.
Native American Indians used to eat acorn Thanksgiving time. They harvested acorn before Thanksgiving or late fall.
I am sure that when I was a child I was warned that acorns were poisonous. I have since learned that most of the stuff I learned as a child was wrong.
Technically it's not wrong. If you don't boil them first as shown and you eat enough of them the tannon could be poisonous. Probably not enough to kill you but it could make you sick enough to where you would wish you were dead. Also the bad ones are often moldy and rotten with all kinds of bacteria. After all, where there are acorns there are most likely squirrels and other animals who eat them. This means there will be animal droppings all around where the acorns are. Being in an outdoor environment who knows what kinds of mold and bacteria would be ingested. Since a small child would not have the capacity to process them correctly, people tell their children they are poisonous to prevent them from eating them right off the ground.
I was told eldaberry was poison I think it was to keep children from eating the old timers got to have there wine and jellys
I was told arsenic was poisonous too. Our whole life is a lie.
@@imasonofadeadbeat2928 😂😂
Well, have you read George Washington's Farewell Address yet, paragraphs 19 to 26 in particular? Enjoy your acorns, thanks.
I store my red oak acorns in the shell for over a year. They crack easier and leach quicker. Once leached, I dry for storage. The thin skin sloughs off once dry. I always leach tannins with cold water as the heat leaches out starch also. Shells and caps can be used for cloth dye for a nice acorn color to wool.
Cool! Would you mind sharing how you learned about it? I want to have that knowledge and I’m just not sure where to start!
How do you know they're not filled with bugs?
@@xxxxxxxx183 usually if they have larvae inside they will have a very visible hole and be a little black at the top so you should try not to pick those when gathering and inspect them before storing
@@warclassics They won't have holes in them until the larvae dig their way out of the acorn.
@@xxxxxxxx183 You only know if you open them up.
Love love love that you used all manual tools.
Allow me to confirm your assumption that acorns make good feed for pigs in addition to the other animals you've actually fed with acorns. The world's most prized (and expensive) ham is called Jamón Iberico, and it comes from Spain. There, black hoofed pigs are raised running free in the forest, where an important part of their diet includes acorns. It is said that the distinctive flavor of the jamón iberico contains many of the same nutty and sweet tasting notes that you mention in your video.
Used to be common in my area, (Appalachian Mountains) to let your hogs run free in the woods so they could eat the “mast” of the woods. Acorns, nuts, and such. Made for the best meat, better than what comes from pen raising.
interesting
Pigs and acorns... the Jamón Iberico is lightyears better than Prosciutto IMHO ! It is SUPER expensive, $98 USD / LB. Acorns are added to their diet and the nuttiness can be tasted. I'd rather have a single pound of Jamón Iberico than an entire ham of the best Prosciutto di Parma.
@@KJ-kw7gh Agreed, in England they reportedly looked down on acorns, fit only for the pigs set loose in the forests with the nobles assent, along with gathering just the fallen branches. Forest Law was very rigid. Strangely. Hunter gathers they were not, not in the true sense.
@@KJ-kw7gh The pigs used to eat the American chestnuts and were, as I have heard, absolutely unique in flavor. However as they also ate white oak acorns they were often so bitter that the farmers would round them up and feed them corn for a few weeks. Check out the first Foxfire Book about this, with pictures and all. Sadly the American chestnut was hit by a blight in the '2os and '30s and all but made extinct. I did some woodworking with joists made of American chestnut many years ago and it was astounding. Dark like cherry or pecan, but cut like pine.
This is an extra ordinary simple, practical, and interesting presentation. I’ve suggested that some young students look at it, as well as some community members. A+ level. Thanks so much.
I noticed she showed how to deshell the nuts and put in a jar for later. Do you know if they need to set out in open cool room before putting in jar. Mine have been in jar for two days. Thanks if u can share. My first time foraging.
@@abc-ug5ym bitter does not mean toxic, take chocolate for example.
@@abc-ug5ym most food cannot be eaten in its raw form. 😋
The way you described the taste of acorns just made me want to make acorn cookies. I imagine they'd taste amazing!
Little grubby nut destroyers! Well put! I loved this video! Well done it’s so nicely made and you explained everything in depth and it’s so pleasant to listen to and watch. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 😊
We used to finish about 60 pigs each fall (formerly Afton Field Farm) on acorns in our 5 acre oak grove of 100+ year old white oaks. The pork was amazing and our customers clambered for it! We also loved it because it easily cut our feed cost in half during that time!!
Afton? Uh have you heard of fnaf?
I’ve had a ham which was fed acorns. It was amazing thank you
Clamoured. Sorry, I can’t help myself……
Feel kind've bad for pigs as a species..
@@TheMercury-13 nature is nature. if not us then something else. also we are still animals my friend.
I live in Korea and I was actually under the impression that Korea was the ONLY country that eats acorn (called 도토리 - dotori here). The jelly you talked about is called 도토리묵 (dotori mook) and I love it. This video makes me believe I can make it when I go back to the States!
You can still buy acorn flour in some places in Italy.
도토리묵 맛있어~
Great video, concise and thorough! Thank you for the visual aids and links as well! My daughter (11) and I have been looking forward to October all year and your video has us excited and feeling confident.
I love this and have shared with my family! Texas is notorious for thousands of oaks and they are easy pickings even in the city. I have a wheat allergy and this video was recommended after viewing other grain bread recipes. I love that you explained the process so well that anyone can attempt this ! Plus it’s going to rain tomorrow and something to do!! ❤
This is the most informative and well-edited video I could find on acorn processing. You know I'm smashing those like and subscribe buttons.
I was just going to say the same thing, but this guy said it first! Great video!
Same!
Me too!!
Awesome video, my son whose only 8 said acorns where edible....I'm 32 and NEVER knew this😅 we will be foraging this year's crop and working together with the help of your video! Thank you so much!!
This is a great resource. Thanks!!!
I finally picked up Nature's Garden, and it really is the best foraging book I've ever come across. It's worth it for the 50 page section on acorns alone! Thank you for all the information and inspiration :) this year my favorite oak tree-heavy park has at least 4 colossal trees that will be producing. I can't wait for the good drop!!
Who’s the author?
@@Jraab18 His name is Samual Thayer :)
If you continue making this level of quality consistently you will blow up
Get good health insurance, that sounds costly!
Native Americans used acorns, making a bread from them and other food products. As for books, if you can find them, the books called "Fox Fire," are a treasure trove of knowledge from the people living in the Appalachian mountains, and they can teach you everything, from cooking up a possum, to wild plants for food and medicine, even how to cook up a batch of moonshine! "For medicinal and special occasions!"
Moonshine yes ,possums no 😂
foxfire books are a great read to understand what modern people have lost, they say people are smarter now but take all there modern gadgets and see how long they survive in the real world
@@coolroy4300 possum's really good if you know what you're doing. My Grandparents would catch the possum, then keep it in a cage, feeding it only cornbread and milk, for 6 weeks. this cleans out the possum's system, and guarantees a tender, tasty meal. Great with sweet potatoes.
Gonna check it out
@@coolroy4300 Aah, moonshined 'possum.
This was informative and fascinating! I really enjoy your sense of humor, too. Subbing! ❤
Love this. I grew up knowing people in the south use to use acorns for flour but I've never seen it done and had wonder what you do to get rid of the bitter taste! Wonderful video 🙂
This is everything that an informative video SHOULD be!
Everything in a nutshell
In the Netherlands when I was yong. The schools in our town had once a year a acorn weigh in for pig feed. The children got paid for the kilo's acorn the gathered.
I had forgotten all about that but remembering now we used to do that too! Maybe because I'm from the Netherlands too 😋 groetjes!
You are quickly becoming my favorite homesteading channel! Well-researched presentations expertly videoed makes learning easy! Plus, thanks for including links to topics and resources you mention in the narrative. Thank you very much! I look forward to watching more of your videos and learning.
I like the style of your presentation. You sound very sincere and cheerful about your subject.
Wow. I always thought maybe there was something in them that was bad for people or something. I guess I just thought that cuz I’ve only seen squirrels eat them, but never people. I was landscaping at some apartments a few years back. There was a large population of Ethiopians there. The ‘eldest’ woman of their group would watch me work and just be looking at me so hateful and I couldn’t understand why. But one day someone explained to me that these certain weeds I was pulling up and throwing out was something they cooked with. So that day, once my tarp had a huge heap, I offered her what was there. She was so grateful that she would always try to give me food and little gifts after that. It was so sweet. The experience was humbling to me. I think partially in recognition of how simply understanding eachother can make such a difference. But also because it made me realize how much we overlook or take for granted here in the US. Father please help us to recognize that YOU have ALWAYS provided for your children, and ALWAYS will.
@April Garcia That was a wonderful and heartwarming comment - Well worth sharing with us! 🌟🌲🌟
It was probably dandelions
@@modestoca25 No, it wasn’t that. I wish I would have found out the name of it. But I have heard of people using Dandelions for teas and stuff
I've learned that most of our medicinal resources comes from wild roots, (that's why root doctors are disappearing)...We in the Black Community make delicious meals from Green leaves!...Im, sure in every culture, our elders could shows us weeds we never knew that are valuable, for food or medicine. God Bless you for taking the time to care...it paid off huh?...😏
@@sophiizplace it really did pay off. And really, it was so simple to appease her once I understood. We would do well to learn about the culture and beliefs of our neighbors. Most of the barriers are simply a lack of understanding.
A while back I read "My Side of the Mountain" (catching up on all the suggested reading I never had the patience for as a kid) and in it the main character did a lot of foraging and survivalist things. Including harvesting acorns for flour and to use in pancakes! The idea of it (and foraging for something more than a quick snack on a hike) was frankly kinda amazing to me since I never looked at an acorn and thought of it as food. Like, I knew that people lived off the land before modernization. It just never really occurred to me that you could still forage or grow your own food rather than buy it all at a store.
That book was my first exposure to the possibility of acorns as a free food source.
That book was my introduction to minimalist long term camping/ hiking.
Great book it be cool if it was turned into a movie
You wouldn't believe how much food we have growing all around us. I hear cattail roots can be roasted and taste like sweet potato, many parks have apple trees, the park near me has hazel trees - and home grown tomatoes will *always* be better than store bought. Rosemary grows like a bush just about anywhere. Stinging nettle leaves are really nutritious too. Food is everywhere if you know where to look!
@@Just_Sara You are correct about cattail roots, but did you know that you can also eat the fruit? If you get the 'tail' before it turns brown (so when it's still green), you can boil them and eat them like an ear of corn. Kind of tastes like corn too, slightly sweet and good with butter. In early spring you can also pick and boil nettle sprouts. Don't do it in the fall; the leaves are too tough and bitter by then. Boiling them destroys the stingers, and the taste is similar to spinach. There is also a plant called garlic mustard that grows as a wild weed at the edge of wooded areas. It can also be boiled or used raw in salads and has a strong garlic mustard green flavor.
Love the video. The writing is very good and so is the overall production. Thanks for this and the suggestions for other content providers.
In my Baltic town we have many acorn trees but sadly all the white oak trees seem to have a disease. A few trees seemed pretty hardy so I have gathered a lot of prime acorns to try to spout them and plant the seedlings in an open forest patch, away from disease. Now the red oak trees were bursting with fat nuts so I gather them for the few squirrels and deer. I was all ready to go out and gather another batch before leaves cover them. Will come back to this. Saved this YT.
Subbed. When I was a boy my teacher tried to tell me that acorns were poisonous, I looked her dead in the eye and asked "Then why aren't all the squirrels dead?"
super smart genius
Good answer.
Reminds of that bit in Walden where Thoreau complains that a farmer told him you couldn’t survive on a vegetarian diet because plants gave you nothing to make bones out of, while sitting on an ox who must not have had bones.
Lol 😂 cute
Well, like most nuts actually they are poisonous until properly leached.
Nutloaf. 2 cups of coarse ground dry white acorn meats from California Valley oaks. Leach to taste thru dedicated sackcloth and wring dry. Now use still wet as you would hamburger in your favorite meatloaf recipe. (You can substitute popped popcorn for breadcrumbs.) Also makes good meatballs over spaghetti squash. Secret ingredient: rosemary.
I was so glad to find your video! I have a ton of acorns this year. I was told this is a sign of a harsh winter. I will be collecting and processing my acorns now that I know how it's done. Thank you! ♥️
Last year we had a record amount of Acorns and the Winter wasn't particularly harsh.......I've never really seen the correlation between the two.........This year we got almost no Acorns, we'll see what happens.
This brings joys to my belly and smiles to our families. Love & blessings ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜😇🙏
Growing up we used to take the acorn cap and use it as a whistle.
Ice done that
I still do that when I see a cap lol
Right. And so did I. But, trying to teach that seemingly simple skill to a non-believer is like trying to shuck oysters with mittens on.
I forgot about that.
@@northerniltree Can you shuck oysters with mittens on? I think it's best if you can get 'em to take their mittens off.
I remember the delicious acorn bread my mom made during my childhood. I have long wanted to try making it myself so I was very happy when this video popped up in my feed.
can you add raw gluten to fine acorn flower so you can bake better with it, so you can use 100% acorn flower in your breads? Would probably be more nutritional since acorns are a nut and nuts are heartier than grains like wheat, rice, and corn...
This is the most concise, masterfully-described diy video I've seen in a while. Thank you to the Narrator. Fantastic. Subbed
That was really cool! My mind has gone blank, but many years ago I remember reading an autobiography of a British paratrooper who fell behind enemy lines in Italy during WWII and the Italian family that hid him used acorns in much of their cooking. He wrote about it in great detail and said how at the time, it was considered 'poor man's flour' and everyone longed for good old wheat flower, which was unavailable to peasants. Fascinating stuff! I live have spent many years in Asia and I have had acorn jelly and other acorn flavored products. I always liked the flavor.
Natures Garden is one of the best books period. Samuel Thayer is truly amazing
I actually tried gathering and processing acorns once as a kid, after watching a documentary on Native Americans that showed a bit on it. I didn't know about the leaching, so it came out super bitter, but otherwise I'm surprised that I hit as many of the needed steps as I did with so little knowledge. Can't wait to try again. XD
Add coarse-acorn-flour to homemade sausage or meatloaf, add fine acorn-flour to cornbread or tamale-masa, include it in pemmican recipes with wild berries for nutritious long-lasting survival-rations; mix coarse-ground acorn meal with soft cheese for an appetizer spread, or dust pizza pan and dough with it as a non-stick substitute for cornmeal.
I will have to try mixing with my pemican
Great ideas to utilize this food source!
Make me.
Hutchins was my maiden name.I don't see it much. It's fun when I do
It's a nice video, thank you. Will try today!
i grew up in NORCAL and my parents took me to Miwok Grinding Rock State Park a lot. There is a MASSIVE flat boulder that has holes dug in it that they used as a gigantic mortar and pestle to prepare acorns. If you ever get a chance to go it's really neat.
We have a park in Escondido, SoCal with rocks for grinding near a stream. I found a very large pestle in a stream years ago up north, likely Miwok. Now I think I know where I can find the right trees! Thanks!
Acorns can also be frozen for quite a long time and cracking them after freezing helps get the tests off with the shell more easily! Not super practical bc they're so bulky, but if you're doing smaller batches of cold leaching, It can be helpful! Great video , I am so excited to stumble across your channel :D
can you add raw gluten to fine acorn flower so you can bake better with it, so you can use 100% acorn flower in your breads? Would probably be more nutritional since acorns are a nut and nuts are heartier than grains like wheat, rice, and corn...
Thanks for the great video. We are pescetarians with a homestead/mini-farm and grow about 95% of our foods in 7 garden plots (10,000 SF.) Everything that I've planted at the farm is edible; trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, etc. I retired from my handmade, mosaic, ceramic tile business last year, so I'm completely focused on getting to the 98% sustainable number this year. Creating flours is #1 on my list. Currently we only process field corn for flour/meal, and chick peas for flour. White acorns will be a great addition, plus our Hazelnuts that finally produced this year; very exciting! Thanks again.
This was an enjoyable and educational watch. Looking forward to try!
How do you... only have 83 subscribers??? This is superbly informative, and fantastically edited!
Thanks Grace! We just launched so thanks for the kind words - please share the channel if you know anyone else who might be interested!
I just subscribed. So that makes 615 one month later . Up from 83!
963 subscribers now!
@@irisbrouillard9728 wow. She is on a roll now. ! I wish I could have more time to sit down and go to "her school" I would sit in front row !lol
1.48k subscribers now!
When I was a kid, I always fantasized about making acorn pie, now I know I can, thanks.
I've wondered about this all my life - particularly when I see them abundantly covering a parking lot
Thank you! You can eat acorn weevils, although I haven't tried it yet. A technique I've heard of for leaching the tannins from the nut is to put the nuts in a mesh bag and hang them in the toilet tank. Each time you flush, you get fresh water, and the tannins allegedly help disinfect the toilet.
the extra resources you give makes this already excellent video, absolutely a masterpiece.
I add acorn flour to all my baked goods. I add about 10-20% acorn flour to bread, piecrusts and pastries. Acorn flour is also a gluten free gravy thickener. I like to make the Korean dish, dotorimuk. This is a bland slice of acorn jelly with a variety of flavorful sauces.
Do you know how many pounds of raw acorn makes 1 pound of acorn flour?
can you add raw gluten to fine acorn flower so you can bake better with it, so you can use 100% acorn flower in your breads? Would probably be more nutritional since acorns are a nut and nuts are heartier than grains like wheat, rice, and corn...
that's awesome! I have a cousin with Celiacs may I have the recipe please?
@Robin Sunbeam - can you please share the recipe in making dotorimuk ? Thank you in advance !
@@ernestoherrera2755 No. A lot. Many of the acorns have areas that need to be trimmed away. I estimate I can get 1-1/2 lbs from 5 gallons of acorns.
AMAZING VID!!!! God Bless you !!! Thank YOU!!!!!!
This is a fantastic video - thank you for such well-presented, thorough information!
I've been eating acorns for years. They can be found at most cracker barrel parking lots. I peel the shell and then the layer of tanin before eating them.
Kinda taste like walnuts. Pretty good, really.
In California they have a "Grinding Rock" park that is dedicated to the Large ancient oak trees, where the natives lived grinding their acorns.
Rock grinding pits in boulders all over my yard. And a creek adjacent to soak them in.
Where at?
@@malindadenlinger882 Sierra mountains, California, elevation 3000 feet. You can see the creek on my site, a fairly extreme canyon with waterfalls. Used to be grizzly bears here, and salmon about a thousand feet below the waterfalls. Indian paradise, water all year round.
Sounds beautiful:) We homeschool and We’ve been to Knight’s Ferry to see the grinding rocks there along the river and the salmon run:)
@@RRaucina It sounds like the description of the beautiful land where Ishi, the last Indian, lived. Without all those others trying to kill you...
Think I've watched this video like 5 times now while trying to do my first " 'corn huntin' " Super grateful!
The acorn trees here have been extremely prolific this year. Now I know what to do with some of them. Thank you for this! You make it so simple and unintimidating.
Oaks lol they're called oaks :D and thats good to hear!
I found a really big acorn many years ago and I planted it. I now have a huge tree in my backyard. It has been producing a lot of acorns that sound like rocks hitting my roof. The squirrels seem to prefer the little acorns from other trees. After watching your video the description of how they taste has made me interested in acorns. As for the grubs in them, I found out about those when I was a kid and put some rather shiny attractive acorns in my dresser drawer only to discover the grubs crawling around in it a few days later. Ugh.
Where are you? I'm in South Carolina we have lot of oak trees here.
@@imasonofadeadbeat2928 yes, we have a lot of oak trees. All sorts. The tree from the large acorn I planted and grew has leaves different from the other oaks around here. Instead of spreading its branches like the live oak it goes straight up. It's almost 3 stories tall now.
As someone that just did roof repair for the upcoming winter... This made me cringe, lol. Not a good place to put a tree.
@@susanfarley1332 Whoa?! How many years has that thing grown?
@@imasonofadeadbeat2928 can't remember the year I planted it, but it has been at least 20 years, maybe more. I also planted a pecan tree before that. It was an almost dead stick marked down to $5 at a grocery store. Since it still had green under the bark I took a chance on it. It is now 3 stories high. I have only gotten a handful of nuts from that tree because those treerat squirrels get them before they are even ripe. Take a couple of bites out of them and drop them to the ground. The squirrels have planted a few new pecan trees but I am not getting nuts from them either. There is a plague of squirrels in my area.
As a kid I always thought acorns tasted like ear wax. As an adult, I try not to think about how I knew that.
Enjoyable and delightful! Thank you. I'm going to do that! It sounds so practical AND delicious!
There is a gorgeous red oak in my front yard. Now I finally know how to process them. Thank you!
I don't know if it is the only reason,but as a child ( France) my grandma told me they used to make acorn coffee during WW2 because of shortages. Maybe using acorn as a food reminded our elders about those dark times ? I know some tasty vegetables like rutabagas were kind of forgotten after the war because people associated them with food shortages, since they were easy to grow, easy to store crops
I'm glad I ran across your channel! I think a person can learn a few things at this day and age with everything going on!
Wow, this is great information! I upvoted and subscribed even before the video ended, and I'll share this with my friends.
Respect to Host and Channel 👍✌️
Some of the best hams are from Italian and Spanish hogs finished on acorns. We have 2 very large shumard red oak trees and we give the acorns to a friend who raises hogs in exchange for some meat. Great video 👍
I’ve shot wild hogs that were feeding heavy on white oak acorns and they were delicious. I could smell acorns when I was dressing them.
I don't eat pigs... Too many diseases and parasites that easily transfer to humans.
@@shin-ishikiri-no Have you seen fish? OMG. My friend bought a fish from the store, and we looked at it under a microscope - TONS of parasites that were still alive, despite the fish being from RALPHS Grocery store and frozen. Just cook it good and pork is YUMMY
I wouldn’t want to tell the things I’ve seen inside wild hogs while gutting them. It’s not for the faint of heart. But as long as you wear gloves and cook the meat to proper temperatures it’s fine. Pork isn’t my favorite meat but if I shoot a wild hog, I’m going to use the meat. I either eat it myself or give the meat away. I shot this boar on my place once and by the time I walked to get my tractor to haul the hog with this brute of a black bear was already gnawing in it. I was like good for him he can have it, I didn’t feel like dressing that nasty hog today anyway. Lol
@@wasidanatsali6374 Yeah I'd rather eat plants mate. No thanks.
Thank you for the information. When I was a child we used to gather acorns for fun. Ne er ate them and left them for the squirrels. Never new they were able to be utilized as human food.
Just went out today to collect the first of the good nuts, and have the meal drying in the oven right now. Thanks for the helpful video!
Wow! I'm in the UK and hoping to go "Virtually" off grid and I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the wonderful charm and quality of this SUPER INSPIRATIONAL vid! LOVE IT! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE!🙂😊😘
I'm so thrilled to have found your channel! I'll be binge-watching and sharing for sure. Thank you so much!
Wow. Such a most informative video. My granny used to make coffee from it but I did not know how. In JHB South Africa there are hundreds of acorn or oak trees and I always wondered what could be done with it.
Are they imported from Europe or are they native oak species to Africa?
i will be using this. Many thanks for your efforts.
So happy to have found your channel. Thank you for such an enlightening experience.
What an incredible and in depth video. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to put out such great content!