Bur oaks produce the largest acorns by volume and weight of any oak native to the eastern United States. In a hotter and dryer future, oaks and other members of the Fagaceae family are ideal choices for food (yes this means plant chestnuts and beeches, too). There is good evidence pointing to bur oaks being cultivated by Native Americans for easy eating and processing and that means likely there are ‘wild’ acorns out there that already meet our goals or are very close. 

We are trying to find the tastiest and lowest tannin acorns possible and trees that make a lot of them. We want less work in the future for gathering and processing these. That means they come out of their shell easily. It means they detach from the cap easily or on their own. That means they are very productive trees that get big and don’t have disease or pest problems, as well as being fire resistant. 

Bur oak is an ideal candidate for this. When we plant orchards of oaks, we want genetic variation so we don’t winnow our possibilities for future productive trees. That is why we try to select good acorns from many places with positive qualities. This is the first year. These goals are the bedrock of why we want to do this.

Our Guidelines:

Anyone who can gather bur oak acorns should be able to participate. For those who cannot afford to pay for postage, we will pay for you (up to a set total amount spent on this). Anyone who wants to plant bur oaks for the future can receive them. 

We will prioritize Indigenous and Black growers and those working with community aid systems. 

We ask those that can cover shipping costs for acorns sent to them to do so so that we can ship to those who cannot easily cover those costs. 

The Rules:

1. Identify your bur oak (here's a good short video on bur oak ID)

-Note the tree; its health, location, and volume of nuts.

2. Send a half-cup of weevil-free acorns with an e-mail address to follow up with to:

Andy, P.O. Box 251, N. Pembroke, MA. 02358

3. Come up with your best cultivar name. Burry McBurnuts. The Burnstien Burrs. Burr it's Cold in Here, there must be some Acorns in the Atmosbur. You can probably do better than me.

What we do:

We will test some of the acorns for flavor, some using equipment to assess tannin levels, and some will be put into refrigeration for spring planting. We will report back with tannin levels, and we will announce a winner, one for size, one for flavor, and one for flavor and size!

We will ask winners to try and take scions for us to do grafting work, and we will cover the costs of shipping if you have any more you'd like to contribute from the winning tree! 

All questions can be directed to contact@poorproles.com