Acorns are fruits gotten from Oak trees. Today you are going to read the complete Best Way How To Pick Up Acorns From Lawn & Uses For Acorns. Oak trees are a great addition to properties, not only because of their beautification properties around our homes, but also it provides an excellent display of foliage, oxygen for breathing, and canopy for shade.
However, an Oak tree is home for squirrels and various birds, and acorns itself normally litters the yard. All these factors can be a nuisance for some homeowners. There are many other reasons why we should pick up acorns in our yard and we mention some of them below;
- Pests like mice and squirrels eat acorns, and these animals might carry diseases and transmit it to you.
- Acorns is capable of inhibiting the growth of your lawn grass, thereby hurting your lawn.
- If you leave your unpicked acorns littered in your yard, they can cause harm to you or to your kids.
- When acorns fall, they can sprout, and that means seedlings that you’ll have to remove later.
Finally, Do you want to clean your yard acorns and are you looking for the best way how to pick up acorns from lawn? We have some options for you to select from. These options will ensure your yard and landscape remains neat and free from acorns.
The Best Way How to Pick up Acorns from Lawn & Garden
Below are some effective methods to remove acorns from your yard:
Early Picking of Acorns
You have to set traps around your oak trees before the acorns fall. Traps can mean a net placed around the Oak tree. Shake the oak trees for the acorns to fall to your trap; once the acorns have fallen, you can use the netting or trap to collect your acorns. The traps will then be folded and emptied, and the acorns? Disposed off in your compost bin.
Picking Acorns From Lawn
The most affordable way of picking acorns is by hand; if you have a lawn, then it is a preferable method of harvesting acorns.
However, you should note that this method is tedious especially if you have a large expanse of land to cover.
Yard Vacuum
Yard vacuums can suck up any leave or acorns from an area. It is powered by a motor and sucks the debris into the bag that is attached.
For more effective work to be done, consider going for a powerful motor yard vacuum for acorns. It can be rented or purchased.
Lawn Sweeper
Lawn sweepers can also pick up acorns, leaves, and twigs. This is done by using rotating brushes to push the acorns into the bin or suck them up like a vacuum.
Depending on the type you might have purchased, the lawn sweeper may use either a scooping action or a suction device to complete the job.
Using Rakes
Finally, if you are looking for a low cost semi-manual solution, making use of a rake will do the work. This method helps you to gather acorns and also debris that you can scoop up and dispose off later.
For smaller tasks of picking up acorns, using a rake is the best. Here is some top quality rake for acorns and you can pick any one to clean your lawn & garden acorns easily.
Where do Acorns Come From
It is essential to know where the acorns come from. There is often a lot of confusion about it, and it is not for less: all the trees of the Quercus genus produce acorns. But there is only one that produces them with a very pleasant flavor: The Quercus ilex, or much better known as Oak.
This is an evergreen tree present in the mountainous and sub-mountainous areas of the Mediterranean region. It can also be found in different parts of the Iberian Peninsula, such as in Galicia or the mountains of Madrid, Spain. It bears fruit in autumn, finishing maturing towards October/November, which will be when we can go out and collect them.
But we can’t take all the ones we find. It is always essential to leave some so that they can germinate and thus grow to produce their acorns as an adult. Also, you have to observe them well before putting them in the basket; above all, you have to see that they do not have holes, or that they are soft.
When do Acorns Fall
The oak, the most emblematic species of our mountains and our yards, disseminates its seeds in October and November, although it can vary according to areas and years, being the most desired and characteristic species of all our acorns.
However, acorns are available from August through January. The cork oak, one of the most valued species for animals, produces three types of acorns according to the season in which it matures: there are already available in September and they are usually the largest ones.
Later, in October and November, a greater number of acorns matures, although smaller, are called medium,and in January the latest ones or pigeonholes fall because they are highly desired by the wood pigeons, forming large groups in search of these winter acorns, which are a fundamental food for our pigeons.
When to Harvest Acorns
When the acorns have reached maturity, they fall to the ground: all you have to do is pick them up. Leave those who are still tied in the tree; they are not yet ripe.
The harvest period is in October, sometimes from the end of September, during November. Take care not to take acorns with one or more small holes: worms or insects do parasitize these.
How to Store Acorns
Once your harvest is done, keep it in a crate or a canvas bag until the acorns dry a little but do not leave them too open, they will not keep well. If it is mixed with sand or dead leaves, they will be kept at the bottom of the refrigerator for a few months.
What Can You do With Acorns: Uses for Acorns
In the past, flour made from acorns was called “Arab racahout”. It was used to make women overweight and allow children to grow well. Today, acorns are still used in flour to make bread.
They are similar to chestnuts but can also have a nutty flavor. In Korea, a kind of jelly is made from Acorn flour, called dotorimuk.
How to Get Rid of Acorns of Their Tannins
Proceed a little as for chestnuts: cut the outer envelope of the acorns and cook them in water for 15 minutes. Then remove the outer bark and then the thinner one below.
Cook the acorns again ¼ hour after crushing them, change the water, and put them back to cook. When the water is clear (usually after cooking twice), it is a sign that the tannins have been extracted.
If you have clay, add it to the cooking water, it captures the tannins and will make you will speed up the process.
The Acorn Recipes
Acorn flour: To make flour, you have to let them dry (very gentle oven for a long time) before grinding them.
Acorn pate: Make a puree from the cooked acorns, and add the leeks, chopped onions, and garlic, salt, pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a little crushed juniper. Cook in a buttered dish at 6 degrees for 30 minutes. Enjoy cold with a green salad.
Acorn cake: Mix the cooked acorns to make a puree, and add yogurt, a tablespoon of crème Fraiche, honey, dried fruits, two eggs which you will assemble snow white, a little cinnamon and vanilla as well as milk to make the dough more fluid. Pour the dough into a buttered cake pan and put in the oven at 6 degrees for 40 minutes.
Conclusion
Since ancient times, acorns have constantly boast of excellent properties. Acorns contain high tannin content, so they have a bitter taste, and somewhat rough flesh, except for sweet acorns.
Another culinary use of acorns has been roasting, grinding, and using them as a substitute for coffee. They have 40% carbohydrates, 24% monounsaturated fat, 6% protein, and three hundred and forty-kilo calories per hundred grams; they are rich in B vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
Now, what are you waiting for? Go on, start picking your acorns now!!
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