Are the acorns from my oak trees safe to eat? If they are, what recipes can I use to prepare them?

Answer 1

Edible Uses
Coffee; Seed.
Seed - raw or cooked[183]. The large seeds are sweet and can be eaten out of hand[183]. The seed can be ground into a powder and used in making bread, dumplings etc and as a thickener in soups[183]. If the seed is bitter then this is due to the presence of tannins, these can be leached out by thoroughly washing the dried and ground up seed in water, though many minerals will also be lost. The traditional method of preparing the seed was to bury it in boggy ground overwinter. The germinating seed was dug up in the spring when it would have lost most of its astringency.

The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.

Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Astringent.

Any galls produced on the tree are strongly astringent and can be used in the treatment of haemorrhages, chronic diarrhoea, dysentery etc[4].

Other Uses
Repellent; Tannin; Wood.
A mulch of the leaves repels slugs, grubs etc, though fresh leaves should not be used as these can inhibit plant growth[20].

Oak galls are excrescences that are sometimes produced in great numbers on the tree and are caused by the activity of the larvae of different insects. The insects live inside these galls, obtaining their nutrient therein. When the insect pupates and leaves, the gall can be used as a rich source of tannin, that can also be used as a dyestuff[4].

Wood - hard, heavy, strong, tough, very durable, close grained.

Cultivation details
Prefers a good deep fertile loam which can be on the stiff side[11]. Lime tolerant[188]. Succeeds in a hot dry position. Young plants tolerate reasonable levels of side shade[200]. Tolerates moderate exposure, surviving well but being somewhat stunted[200]. A vigorous, fast-growing hybrid species, some forms are capable of reaching 1.5 metres tall in 2 years[183].]. Established plants are drought resistant[229] and tolerant of atmospheric pollution[226].

This species is occasionally cultivated for its edible seed, there are some named varieties[183]. It is a hybrid of garden origin, Q. alba x Q. macrocarpa[183]. Both of its parents prefer warmer summers than are usually experienced in Britain, often growing poorly in this country and failing to properly ripen their wood, resulting in frost damage overwinter[11, 200].

The tree flowers on new growth produced in spring, the seed ripening in its first year[200, 229].

Hybridizes freely with other members of the genus[200].

Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].
Propagation
Seed - it quickly loses viability if it is allowed to dry out. It can be stored moist and cool overwinter but is best sown as soon as it is ripe in an outdoor seed bed, though it must be protected from mice, squirrels etc. Small quantities of seed can be sown in deep pots in a cold frame. Plants produce a deep taproot and need to be planted out into their permanent positions as soon as possible, in fact seed sown in situ will produce the best trees[11]. Trees should not be left in a nursery bed for more than 2 growing seasons without being moved or they will transplant very badly. This species is a hybrid and may not breed true from seed[K].

Answer 2

I found this site about harvesting and eating acorns. Take a look.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/recipes/squirrel.html

Answer 3

yes you can eat them..but american acorns are too small to get anything substantial from. be careful there are no pesticieds or chemicals or dog pee...actually, you might want to stay away from them altogether.

Answer 4

Humans can but its hazardous to dogs.