The trees are letting go of their leaves, for this season. We are grateful for the fall rains that have finally come to recharge the soil moisture before winter; the rains give me hope that the tree roots won’t go to bed thirsty, and the trees will wake again fresh and green in Spring. Meanwhile, I’m letting go of the season and preparing for winter.
Today we had a lovely “women’s walk” in the woods… to the top of the South bluff. The rain stopped just before we headed out, so we had to be careful with our footing on the somewhat greasy trails. But the wet surface of the fallen leaves muted our footsteps, and the aromas of moist vegetation wafted on the air as patches of sunlight and mist greeted us. It was a lovely day for a hike. Most days are a lovely day for a hike, and one of today’s participants was Marge Loch-Wouters, who writes a frequent blog about Hiking the Driftless Trails. It is well worth checking out her notes on places to go and how to enjoy the great outdoors in all seasons!
In preparation for winter, I’ve been processing oak nuts (acorns) into acorn flour, which I will tuck away to make acorn crackers and other goodies throughout the year. The process starts with collection of acorns… thanks to a lead from a friend, I was able to squirrel away 4 gallons of lovely swamp white oak acorns. The partially dried white oak acorns easily fall free from the bitter seed coat (testa) and generally do not contain as much tannin as acorns from red oaks. All acorns have water-soluble tannins that must be leached out to make the nutmeats tasty and safe for human digestive systems. I crack each acorn with a pair of pliers, then roughly chop the clean white meats, then run them in my blender with water to make a coarsely chopped nut slurry. I suspend that slurry in fresh water, then let the nutmeat sludge settle out for several hours, then siphon off the tannin-laden water. I add more water and repeat, through several changes of water, until the slurry is no longer bitter. That is when I know the tannins have leached out. I transfer the slurry to the dehydrator trays for a few hours, then grind up the dried mash in my blender to make flour. This probably isn’t the simplest method for processing, but it works for me. I store my processed flour in the freezer to keep it fresh. I should have enough acorn flour to be able to serve acorn crackers at most of our foraging-related events next year!
Speaking of events… we have an upcoming luncheon and mini-workshop on Curiosity from 12-2 next Saturday (Nov 16) in the Gathering Room at Iowisota. Maryann Baldwin will lead us in this fun exploration of how curiosity enriches our lives. If you’re curious, check it out on the events page and sign up to join us!
Through every season there is so much to learn and so much to enjoy, so I’m wishing you the best as you let go of this season and embrace the next!