Top Seed...

Are acorns not really wicked seeds. There's something about them that is supremely pleasing to the eye and touch.

For part of Ewan's autumn holidays homework where he has to collect seeds of various types that fall in autumn. The two of us went for a rather pleasing wee saunter at the weekend and managed to get a good portion of the seeds but there were a few that either don't grow round here or we didn't quite know what we were looking for.

EcoDad came to our rescue on the acorn section as we don't have any seed bearing oaks near to us that I know of.

Whilst ponderng the humble acorn, I found out some fascinating information about them. Acorns can be used as food and are or were part of the staple diet of Californian Native Indians. Before making acorns edible you have to leach the tannin out of it. This is done by passing them through water. Squirrels store acorn because part of their process is allowing ground water to leach the tannin out of it. The tannin by product has other uses but one of those is in preparing cow hide to become leather which it why the process is called tanning. I guess this also makes acorns the source of the phrase 'Ah'm gonnay tan yer hide'.