Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow....Let's Go Winter Foraging: Acorns and Pine Needles.

Just because it's nearing winter doesn't mean there's nothing to forage.  Granted there isn't much greenery but there is still abundant food sources. I've selected a few common fall/winter foraging foods to talk about and over the next few posts I'm going to tackle a couple of them each time so I can give you some in depth information about each one.

You might decide to forage in the winter just to familiarize yourself with what's out there or you may forage because you want to stretch your winter food budget or because of other personal security reasons. Whatever the reason, take a special note of today's selections - I think they are super important because of how common they are and because of their awesome nutritional values.

Today I'm discussing Acorns and Pine Needles..............

Acorns (particularly as flour products) have long been a staple of indigenous peoples diets and only within the last 100 years have they fallen out of favor as a food.  They are labor intensive so they became known a "poor people food", it was just easier to go buy wheat flour and truthfully, wheat flours makes a far superior bread due to the gluten content, whereas acorn flour is a starch and has no gluten.  There are other plants and roots that can be used as flours and/or starches but we're sticking with acorns today. Acorn flour will sustain and nourish you in a survival situation but you probably won't find it as satisfying as that soft, white Sunbeam bread.  Even so, Sunbeam won't be around when TSHTF so you need to have a backup plan and acorns will provide that.

As I mentioned earlier, they are labor intensive to convert into flour, but not so much that you will find it unworthy of your time. Acorns have tannins (different species have different tannin levels) and if you don't leach the tannins out prior to processing, you will have a bitter flour that will stain your teeth. dry your mouth up and can cause considerable constipation. Makes you excited to eat them huh?? lol. Okay, here we go.....
First thing you need to do is locate the species of oak you have growing near you.  Take a pic of the leaves and acorns from the tree(s) you have and look them up on Google and determine the species you have then you'll know how to process each one so it tastes best. I found an acorn webpage that has a wealth of good info on this wild nut and some recipes too.  It has a list of the best tasting acorns, which I thought was a great addition!

Acorns aren't just utilized as flour, they have a respectable amount of nutrients and are a decent source of protein, high Vitamin B and are a good source of minerals.  This makes acorns very versatile and are used as a coffee substitute, cooked and eaten as you would a chestnut, added to soups and even pressed to extract their oil to use in external applications such as massage oil.

Humans have eaten acorns for about as long as there have been humans.  The Greeks were one of the first people to utilize them as a flour, alone or combined with wheat or barley flour, and used to make bread.  The Confederate soldiers used acorns as a coffee substitute during the Civil War when the north cut off supply routes (take note of this fact, it might come in handy soon <wink, wink>) as did the Germans in WW1 and WW2.  The Germans called it Ersatz which literally means substitute and that name has turned into Ersatzkaffee which is still available as a product called Postum - a grain based hot beverage.  Acorns were dried, crushed and roasted to make "coffee" but it didn't resemble the taste of coffee at all except in that it's served as a hot drink and I'm sure as they were fighting a war in the brutal winter, it was a very welcome treat, regardless.

Oak trees and their acorns were a symbol of strength, longevity and family legacy.  Our Scandinavian, European and Germanic ancestors valued the oaks so much that the acorns were used as emblems on the shields they carried into battle and as military uniform patches,

 



Preparing acorns is a lengthy, but not overly so, process.  It's very rewarding to know that you have made flour or coffee from these lowly nuts.  Also, if you look back at my post on Yaupons, you'll see that you can roast the leaves as a substitute for coffee as well and they have a big supply of caffeine.  Add some roasted Yaupon leaves to the roasted acorns and you have a very acceptable coffee substitute. The same website I listed above that detailed the different species of oak according to taste also has the instructions to process the acorns from start to finish to make anything acorn you might want. There's even a recipe for a acorn flour cake that is the best I've ever had.

Next, let's talk about the wonderful Pine tree.  It's versatile in so many ways.  You can make your home smell good, make a waterproof short-term survival shelter, make pitch to waterproof a boat or building, it's nutritional and medicinal and it's awesome tinder to start a quick fire.  But since we're talking foraging here, we'll just stick to the edible qualities of the Pine.

A great way for a beginner to get an introduction to using Pine as food is to make Pine Needle Tea.  It's easy and nutritious - Pine needles have 5 times the Vitamin C of a lemon and is very useful as a survival food but is very useful medicinally, too.  It is used to treat coughs, colds, sore throats, hypertension, urinary ailments, as an antidepressant and numerous other uses.  While most all of the Pine is edible, not every Pine species is suitable.  There are 3 species of Pine/evergreen that should NEVER be consumed because they are toxic and arbortifacients in both animal and human, so be sure and avoid these.  Let's get these details out of the way:

The toxic Pine family are:
Yew (Taxus)

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)

Norfolk Island Pine (Araucana heterophylla)

The safest Pine for beginners is the White Pine (Pinus strobus), which is also one of the most commonly found.

Let's make some tea!!

Pine Needle Tea
Gather a good sized handful of White Pine needles, chop small and place in mug.  Pour 8-10 oz boiling water over the needles, cover and set aside to steep.  As soon as the needles have settled to the bottom, the tea is ready (about 30 mins). Warm back up if necessary, add some honey or orange juice for sweetness, if desired and enjoy!