The above acorns are the nut of a white oak tree. With much work, specifically boiling them to extract the bitter tannins, they are said to be edible to humans. Jay birds, squirrels and small ground mammals love them; they have a high ratio of nut meat to shell, from the animals’ perspective. It is said that a deer’s diet may consist of up to 25% acorns certain times of the year.

With the persistent rains and winds in Greensboro, acorns and leaves have been dropping everywhere. The sound is especially dramatic on the tin roof of an outbuilding. When you hear them dropping in rapid succession, you know that fall is on its way. Greensboro hasn’t had too much damage from the recent rains in the southeast; however, we have so many mature trees and several have fallen and there have been some power outages. Other than that, our roads seem much safer than those in South Carolina. We have been fortunate. 

The above leaves don’t look especially healthy, but the acorns do. Anybody local need some to feed deer?