posted 15 hours ago
Last winter I purchased 2 acres adjacent to my back yard that has a dozen or so mature black walnut trees (among many others). While I was doing morning walks to collect the newly fallen walnuts, I kept hearing what I thought was a large animal moving in the woods up the hill from my property. After some investigation, I found that it was no animal, but a MASSIVE red oak tree and a few of it's offspring dropping hundreds of nuts at every gust of wind. I excitedly started collecting the acorns from these couple trees along side the chipmunk.
As it appears to be a bumper year, It seems there is plenty for all of us (turkeys, deers, and jays included).
I bought a table top nutcracker and a bigger basalt mocajete to celebrate this bounty and am looking forward towards making breads, puddings and roasted/seasoned nuts.
I have also filled my small hot house with acorns and will hopefully be planting a hundred or so more red oaks next year. I've walked the small mountain uphill of me and believe that the couple oaks I've found are the only ones left in a sea of maple. I have told the tree thanks and promised the big one (now called big papa) as well as the concerned chipmunks that I will do my best to ensure a nutty future for us all.
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Seed slanging, dirt sniffer