Do you remember the year I made acorn flour from the enormous overflow of acorns in my driveway and side yard? Well, I thought of that today as I woke up to people collecting acorns from the white oak beside our house. They brought rakes and hoppers, and I had to learn more.
I learned the county sent them to collect the acorns, plant them, and grow oak trees to replenish the game lands and areas of Pennsylvania. They collected on the church land near our property line, but they made sure we were OK with them collecting from our yard, too. I felt so proud of my acorns! I imagined my white oak producing thousands more trees for Pennsylvania.
Far and wide these acorns will go. They will replenish the whole forest.
I had so many questions. I started with this one: How do you know which acorns will grow into a tree? One researcher told me that, initially, when they wash the acorns, the ones that sink to the bottom of the wash basin are viable. The ones that float aren’t. But then, they experimented and discovered that the floating ones also grew into trees. So they plant them all, and some take root.
Today began as an ordinary day, but now? Now, I’m part of the history of the Pennsylvania forest with our acorns.
