My neighbor's oak tree has produced at least 10,000 acorns

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

and that's a low estimate. the house is abandoned now and i went over to check it out. the deck is

completely covered in acorns.

the tree is about 70 - 80 feet tall. i don't know what kind of oak it is. it's tall and straight

with most of its limbs at the upper third. i have never seen it produce so many in all the years

that i've here. is this a good sign or a bad sign of things to come?

[smalll]

1. A bad sign. Any year oak trees produce 10,000 acorns plus each, the Dow ends the year

at least 15% lower than it began. You could look it up! ;)

It also means we're in for a hell of a hurricane season next year (as long as an American League team wins the next World Series.)

[I Have A Dream]

31. ...

:thumbsup:

[eShirl]

2. great news for the squirrels

maybe the tree had a break from lawn chemicals, enabling it to pour lots of energy into its reproductive function

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

6. the squirrels don't seem to care for these acorns.

[dysfunctional press]

3. it may be a bad sign for the tree itself.

how old is it?

i don't think that it necessarily portends anything about the future- although it may have something to do with the weather this past growing season in your area.

[tridim]

4. It's a sign that squirrels will soon rule the world.

[dgibby]

16. That might be an improvement! n/t

[laughingliberal]

18. and that would be different from the 8 years of Bush in what way? nt

[Andy823]

5. I have a big oak tree

They usually produce a lot of acorns, but some years it seems to produce a whole lot more! I hate cleaning them up, and on the years they seem to produce more, it's a real chore. They get chopped up with the mower, and then you have to make sure you have shoes on when your walk around the tree. I know some varieties of apples are alternate bearing, maybe oaks are too!

[Vinca]

7. What's the address? I've got some squirrels living in my attic

who need to go on vacation.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. With that many ACORNs...

...we know the tree isn't a Republican.;)

[laughingliberal]

20. Nicely played! nt

[tabatha]

9. Here is a study about weather and acorn production

http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/wkoenig/K075TA_96.pdf

Google for acorn recipes.

And here is a neat site:

http://feralkevin.com/

scroll down for acorns.

[aikoaiko]

28. When I own land, it will be nothing but pecan and walnut trees.

At least those are tasty.

[Turbineguy]

10. Oh noes!

I see a flurry of voter registrations coming!

[ima_sinnic]

11. it is natural for oak trees to have "mast" years every few years

Here is an old article picked at random from a google search that explains it pretty well:

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2005/10/10-25-05tdc/10-25-05dscihealth-03.asp

As mentioned in the article, the reason for the exponentially higher crops is not really known, but it is a natural phenomenon. It allows the acorns to "get ahead" of predators like squirrels and actually establish some new seedlings (but I am also sure that squirrels lose many nuts they've hidden that later sprout).

[Feron]

19. In the spring, we have corn plants shooting up all over the yard.

The squirrels bury the kernels, but never go back to dig them up. Of course there is no need because they are well fed. LOL

The hawks thank us as well. :P

[ima_sinnic]

25. you just made me realize, I will too, b/c I've been throwing dried ears out

in the yard for squirrels and blue jays (trying to lure them away from the bird feeder, and it works!). The blue jays look so cute working an ear of dried corn--after picking off each kernel, they throw their head back and swallow it, doing this over and over.

[JVS]

32. Fascinating

[Sinti]

12. It's a natural cycle - you can make acorn flour if you like

It's a tasty nutty flour, like Amaranth. Wash and dry them well before using and enjoying.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Acorn-Flour

[ima_sinnic]

26. I did make bread from acorns one year, following Euell Gibbons' guidance

and it came out great! After grinding the acorns, I did boil the meal for a while to get out the bitterness. That bread had a very nutty flavor. I really need to do that again, and I thought I would need to get a mill, but that web page talks about using a blender! That would be great and I will definitely be doing that.

[Fumesucker]

13. We had a huge number of acorns also this year..

Our metal roof over the carport rang for a solid month or more and the ground was uncomfortable to walk on.

But the squirrels have already done away with the great majority of them, there aren't many left at all.

[question everything]

14. Did you have a drought?

Our black walnut had several limbs broken this past fall and an arborist said that was because of the drought it produced a lot more walnuts that weighed the limbs down.

Something similar was with the cottonwood tree that kept producing seeds and fuzz well into mid July. Normally this happens in May.

[Kingofalldems]

15. We had very few last year--a bad year for squirrels

Had an article in the paper about it.

[newscott]

17. My dad's oak trees put out acorns like crazy this year too

I was helping him rake the yard and it was literally carpeted in acorns. Tens of thousands of them.

[madokie]

21. Its a good sign that it was a good growing season for acorns

we have a couple sweet gum trees that some years they produce thousands of seed pods that are about the size of a quarter but shaped like a mediaeval weapon or something and if you want to walk around in the following summer without shoes on you better rake them up this fall. Can't wait to get rid of both of those trees. The little balls, just like acorns, don't burn very good either.

[Skittles]

22. what the fuck is with the acorns this year?

millions of 'em here in Texas

[MilesColtrane]

23. Yep, ankle deep in my driveway.

This year has been wetter than usual.

I wonder if that's a factor.

[TexasProgresive]

24. Nut bearing trees tend to alternate good and bad years

The bad years reduce the squirrel/deer/hog population so that in the good years there are nuts/acorns left over to germinate.

[Incitatus]

27. not enough infomration

If it is an odd number, that is bad. If it is an even number, it is a good thing.

I suggest you start counting ASAP.

[Liberal_in_LA]

29. make necklaces!

that's what we did as kids. Had an oak tree in the yard.

[eppur_se_muova]

30. And last year everyone was concerned because there was an acorn shortage ... nt

[tuckessee]

33. White oak or black oak?

It makes a difference. White oaks have rounded leaf tips while black oaks are pointed.