from tiny acorns

We had the chance to see a couple of friends we don't see that often anymore. Folks we used to see on a regular basis, who knew us back before Homer even began talking about having a chicken, let alone cattle, pigs, laying hens, turkeys, vegetables, a commercial kitchen, a farm, ducks, feral cats and a little dog too. We moved north a bit, they moved south a bit and *poof, facebook keeps us in touch most of the time.

Our friends filled the back of the truck with acorns from their yards. Last year no acorns fell. This year there is a bumper crop, as this is the second time this fall we have loaded the truck. The pigs are happy.

And we noticed these...acorns already sprouting. There are no squirrels here...we see them closer to town, but rarely here. Just like deer, our neighbors keep those populations way down, as they hunt and eat them. So if we put them around the farm, in spots where oak trees would be nice, maybe a few would grow? The oak tree supports more caterpillars (those little things that grow into butterflies and in between feed many songbirds) than any other tree on this continent. We will withhold a few from the pigs...maybe a hundred or so, they won't notice...and plant them around.

Because, as the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

Now we need to be on the hunt for those sugar maple helicopters that hold their seeds in the tip. Because tapping trees for maple syrup 20 years from now is ok with me.