What is a Tan Oak Tree? An Oak or a Chestnut? Tanbark Oak?

Sho’-kish (Yuki Indian name for this acorn)

Ha’-ha (Concow Indian name for this acorn)

This tree is thought to form a “connecting link” between oaks and chestnuts. Botanists are not considering it a “true” oak. According to several sources, the acorn of the Tanbark Oak was highly prized by California Native Americans. This attractive and slender evergreen grows abundantly along the west coast, from about a 300-foot elevation to 4,000 feet. Growing up to 100 feet tall, it can grow up to six feet in diameter. You may find it growing alongside redwoods and Douglas fir. The oblong leaves of Tan Oak are light green with “rusty hairs” on the underside, medium in size, sharply toothed, not divided or lobed, not bristle-pointed. The leaves are regularly toothed. The oblong acorns are set in shallow cups.

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

The California Drought… the Winners and the Losers

Let me start with the losers, that’s easy. Anything that sucks water. The winners are the little things… lady bugs, lizards, aphids… birds. These tiny creatures are at the bottom of the biotic pyramid but just as important as creatures at the top. Without lady bugs we’d have too many smaller bugs eating our produce. Same with lizards. They eat insects. And birds, wow. Some baby birds eat fourteen feet of worms in a day. Oh wait… we like worms, they build beautiful soil. But then imagine a world without worm predators, worms would be everywhere, and they’d probably grow large. But worms like moisture, so I’ll not worry about that… yet. I’ll just sit back and enjoy the proliferation of birds and honeybees that are sucking the nectar out of an abundance of wildflowers the drought has brought on in my neck of the woods.

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

Many Women Gave Up Cannabis Smoking When Growers Upped the Potency

Many women of the 1960’s, who before enjoyed smoking pot, said, “Enough, already, no more,” when their favorite herb was cultivated to produce powerful resins. What had been a pleasant experience, turned into a paranoid, delusional one. Perhaps some day, with the full legalization of marijuana, more women will enjoy the delicate properties of the plant, if species are cultivated and developed just for them.

Suellen Ocean is the author of Gone North. Available here:

Gone North: http://www.amazon.com/Gone-North-Long-After-Summer/dp/1484094360

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

Natural Hair Dyes…

It would be nice if one could find a plant substance of a pretty color and put it on one’s hair and the hair would accept it and the color would stay put. It just doesn’t happen that way and I keep telling my husband that if I could find one that did, I’d be rich. The problem is, the color doesn’t bond with the hair unless a mordant is added to the plant substance. Mordant derives from the Latin word that means, “to bite.” Long ago, manure and urine were used as mordants, not necessarily on hair but they were used to dye fabric. There is one plant though that’s quite good at adhering to the hair shaft if done correctly and that’s henna but it tends to be orange and not everyone wants orange hair. There is a large selection of natural hair dyes available but they can often be harsh on hair and scalp, perhaps not as much as chemical hair dye but wouldn’t it be nice if we truly had an alternative? Suellen Ocean is the author of the vegetarian cookbook, Poor Jonny’s Cookbook. Available here:

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

eBook or computer download through Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/260122

eBook through Barnes & Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/poor-jonnys-cookbook-suellen-ocean/1102338251?ean=2940016618609

Lavender Wash Water… The Romans Did It

During Roman times, lavender was used to perfume bathing water. The Latin word, Lavandula means, “to wash.” The Romans also started the art of topiary, the creative pruning of plants, which they used lavender for, as well as rosemary and juniper. After Rome fell, the art of cultivating gardens fell to Christian monks. In the monasteries, they grew medicinal plants and flowers for religious services, and they studied the genetic characteristics of the plants they bred. Suellen Ocean is the author of the historic novel The Celtic Prince Available here:

Paperback:

https://www.createspace.com/4240694

eBooks at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Suellen+Ocean&x=3&y=12

eBooks and computer downloads available through Smashwords:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ocean

Peppermint is Good Medicine

I always like to have peppermint growing in my garden. I drink it the way others drink soda pop. I usually don’t add anything to sweeten it, because it is fine alone but a touch of honey is nice. In the old herbals peppermint is used for ailments from A – Z, including nausea, vomiting, flu, hysteria, dizziness, fevers, etc. One source even claims it helps insanity. No wonder it’s so popular! I’d be careful about drinking it too soon before bedtime because it appears to be an excellent diuretic and you might make a lot of trips to the bathroom during the night.

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