First Thing in the Morning… a Sharp Knife and a Good Cutting Board

In the morning before I get up, I think about what I’m going to fix for breakfast for my hubby and myself and what kind of sandwiches I’m going to make for his lunch. Because I am still half asleep when I get downstairs to the kitchen, I like a sharp knife and a large wooden cutting board. Standing at the counter cooking at 7:30 in the morning, is one of many things I do to keep healthy and energized. Having a sharp, long, slender, serrated steel knife that slices through tomatoes quickly, on top of a stable, wooden cutting board, gets the job done. The sooner I finish the breakfast routine, the sooner I can move on to things I really enjoy. Gardening, writing and ironically, cooking and baking… once I’ve woken up.

Suellen Ocean is the author of the vegetarian cookbook, Poor Jonny’s Cookbook and Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns:

http://www.amazon.com/Poor-Jonnys-Cookbook-Suellen-Ocean/dp/0965114031

http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

The Beginnings of a Wild Foodie Eating Acorns

There are a lot of books about Native Americans and when I wanted to learn about eating acorns, I thought that I could go to the library and find a book that would tell me how to do it. That was not the case. I went through countless books and the only thing I could tell was that they were using water to leach acorns. I did not know how long the Indians leached them, nor did I know if they kept them cool in the process. I was just a girl who loved nature and wanted to live and sustain myself within the woodlands of Northern California.

So, I gathered acorns. By the pillowcase full. I totted them up the hill to my house and with a large river rock, cracked them open. Then, I put the shelled acorns in a white plastic bucket and covered them with water. I had to guess how long to leach them. They don’t leach well if they aren’t ground up and without refrigeration, they get scummy. I lived without electricity, so I couldn’t keep them cool. I just poured the scum off and rinsed them really well. I ensued a lot of stomach aces though. Not from the scum but from the tannic acid not removed well enough.

With a lot of trial and error, I finally figured out how to leach acorns. The answer is; long enough to get the tannic acid out. Each oak species has different tannic acid amounts. You have to experiment. My guess is that you will need to leach them anywhere from one week to a month. The tan oak acorns I used in Mendocino County, California required only one week’s leaching. But the acorns I gather in the Sierra Foothills require three times as much leaching.

Don’t be discouraged. They’re worth the wait. Acorn dip with blue corn chips… the thought of it makes my mouth water. That’s probably the little bit of tannic acid that is retained, that gives the acorns and any dishes you make with them, their distinctive flavor.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns: http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

and The Acorn Mouse, an illustrated children’s story designed to teach the art of gathering and eating acorns: http://www.amazon.com/The-Acorn-Mouse-Childs-Eating/dp/1484140672

Eating Wild Foods… Is it OK to Eat Sprouted Acorns?

It’s the rainy season now in California and in woodland areas, there are lots of acorns on the ground. After all the rains, they may begin to sprout. That’s okay. A little sprout on the acorn won’t hurt. But when the sprout starts getting longer than half-an-inch, you may want to toss it where it can grow into a tree.

Sprouted acorns have grown from a starch to a sugar state. You may notice a difference in the leaching water color. It can range from black to white, depending on the species, the freshness, and whether it is in a starch or sugar state. Just because the water is white, doesn’t mean it won’t be bitter.

For the record, I’ve had plenty of tan oak acorns that had sprouted well over an inch. When it gets that long, it’s growing a root. I broke it off and processed them as I did any other acorns. It was all fine.

Native Americans record burying their acorns in mud until they turned purple, and then they leached them. The acorns that I used with the long roots attached, were tan oak and they developed bright pink on the tips. So my thinking is, the Indians were burying their acorns in mud so that they would gradually sprout, bringing them into a sugar state.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns: http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

The Garden of Eden Has Weeds to Pull

There it is, tall green grass, yellow buttercups, wild purple violets, songbirds… just like the Garden of Eden… until… it all dries and turns to weeds and the county threatens the neighborhood. “Cut that grass or we’ll cut it for you and send you the bill.”

Such is the life of those who live in the country. It all comes at once, the change of the seasons when everything needs to get done… now. Seeds need to be planted, soil needs turning, fences need repairing… quick, hurry, stress!

Years ago, a friend came by and I stood gazing out the window at the beauty the spring brought. “I get really stressed out about needing to get my garden started,” I told him. He was not easy on me. He rolled his eyes disgustedly and said, “What’s the point?”

My friend had it right. I moved to the country so I could let my hair down, wear two different colors of socks, grow my own food, have a horse, dogs, cats, rabbits. The Garden of Eden meets Noah’s Ark. Even if it’s a mini farm, it is a lot of work. It’s tiring just thinking about it. Good thing I have a husband, I call him, P G & Jon. (PG&E is our utility company.) There is nothing my husband can’t build or fix. “Even a broken heart,” my mother used to say.

I’ve been living like this most of my adult life. Someday, I’ll move from here because I’ll be too old to lift a shovel, or maneuver a weed eater. Until then, I’ll try not to forget that it’s paradise.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns. Find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973

Get Enough Sleep, Take Walks, Admire Acorns… Just Do It!

There is tremendous scientific evidence that taking a walk in nature has a positive effect on our brain. It helps it rejuvenate. I have lived in nature for forty years and I’m glad to hear it. I’m also pleased that the medical field is teaching us how important it is to sleep. I hate to say, I told you so, but I knew back in the 80’s and 90’s that people were working too hard and pushing themselves too far. I remember seeing a new campaign at one of the big grocery chain stores. One day, all the checkers had big red buttons affixed to their shirts that read, Just Do It. One of the checkers wearing the button had been in my speech class in college and I knew her well enough to know that she did not appreciate having to wear that slogan. What does that even mean? Just do it? Even if it kills you, do it anyway? Even if it will harm someone else, do it anyway? Needless to say, the buttons didn’t last long.

With so much at stake, we must eat as best we can, get the sleep that we need and take those walks into nature. While you’re out there, lost in the tree canopy, keep an eye out for the acorns. Those acorns are a reminder that the earth continues to provide for the creatures that live at its roots. And even if the wind someday blows it over, animals will make homes in the holes and caves of the roots. Life regenerates. And as the scientific evidence shows, so do our minds when we walk in nature.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Acorns and Eat’em, a how-to vegetarian cookbook and field guide for eating acorns. Find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Acorns-Eatem-How–Vegetarian-Cookbook/dp/1491288973