Windy couple of days here on the Northeast Piedmont. My car is rapidly collecting another year of dings from falling acorns, and the sound of them falling on my roof and on the metal car shelters of neighbors all around me wakens me frequently at night.

I've got a yard full of mostly red oaks. White oaks have lower tannins and are less bitter and most wild life prefer white oaks. White oaks also do not require dormancy and will often germinate in fall. Gray squirrels (maybe other species of squirrel also, I just don't know) can tell the difference between white and red oak acorns. They will eat white acorns right away, and bury the red acorns, hoping to find them late in winter or early spring, instinctively knowing that white acorns will not store, but will germinate.

I've worked with both red and white acorns to make "flours" and quick breads that incorporate wild sources of food. White acorns require much less leaching than red oak acorns, but either can be used. It is a tedious process of thorough leaching, drying, then grinding, but cornbread or other quick bread recipes that substitute ground acorns for part of the flour are quite tasty(provided one was sufficiently thorough with the leaching process.) Like any bread that incorporates nut "flours", the texture will be more dense as nuts do not contain gluten, and they tend to be on the dry side, but also higher in nutritional value.

It is a mild and windy night tonight. I don't dare venture out from under my carport, and standing out there, all one can hear from all over the oak-forested neighborhood is the wind and the crack of acorns falling.

If I were more wildlife than I am, I'd be happy to know this is another bumper year for mast.