The Nutty Buddy Collective
Acornucopia Project
"There plenty to go around and more to be had."
- Old squirrel proverb
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Nut Products
Click on image to view a vintage documentary of California Native Americans processing acorns
Nut Milk and cheeses-
Mockernut, pignut, shag bark, and shell bark hickories are difficult to crack out nut meats so they are choice candidates for our nut dairy. This efficient method of nutrient and flavor extraction was the traditional method used by the Indians. We like to add three cups of water to 1 cups of crushed hickory nuts and simmer for 10 minutes for maximum flavor. The nut meats will float to the top and can be skimmed off or poured off in the broth. It is amazing as tea, a base for soups and used to cook grains like rice to make a hickory nut risotto. We are now working with a vegan cheese maker who is making marvelous cheeses from our black walnuts and hickories.
Price:
1 lb of cracked hickory nuts and shells - 10.00
Nut meats -
We have walnut nut meats available sorted and sort-your- own. We do not have an automated sorter so we do it by hand and it it is time consuming and quantity is limited and expensive. The three pound bags of sort your own yield over a pound of nut meats. I think of them as nut "gem mines". It is the anti-puzzle. Why work so hard at piecing puzzles together, when it would be so much more relaxing pulling a pile of pieces apart and be rewarded for it. Therapeutically speaking, viewing natural forms is emotionally and psychologically soothing and sorting nuts is a great stress reliever.
Prices:
5 oz bag of black walnut meats - 7.00
3 lb bag of cracked and unsorted - 10.00
Therapeutic benefits - Priceless
Acornucopia book is in the works. A compilation of eassys visions, recipes and technical information to inpire us to deepen our relationship to trees
"Nuts furnish proteins of such fine quality that they render more complete the proteins of cereals and other vegetable foods. They are free from such waste products as uric acid, and carnine which go with meats. Further than that they are aseptic and free from bacteria of putrefaction at the time when they are eaten."
- R. T. Morris M.D. Nut Growing
Extra Virginian Oils -
We "cold press" our oils under 130 degrees keeping most of the delicate properties of the oil in tact. No treatments or chemical are added to our oils*. They can vary in color and flavor from tree to tree. They are excellent as tasting oils for salads. Hickory oil has excellent cooking qualities like high heat and low stick. When it heats up it is very aromatic. These are made from wild foraged native nuts in our region. They are a delicious, local, tree based vegetable oil.
Prices:
Hickory oil - 8.5 oz bottle - 18.00
17 oz bottle - 30.00
Black walnut oil - 5 oz bottle - 20.00
Acorn oil - 5 oz bottle - 25.00
*According to the Food Compliance Division of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture the oils you buy at the store have been bleached and "deoderized" to maintain uniformity. Chemical solvents are also a common technique for maximizing oil extraction.
Skin Care-
Skin care lotions and balms are primarily made of oil. Imagine local, temperate, perennially tree oil based skin care?
Flour Acorn flour adds an excellent nutty flavor and meaningful texture to breads, pancakes, (a)corn pones, homemade tortillas and oh so much more! There is nothing corn can do that acorns cant do just as well if not better. We are hoping that between an abundant mast crop and a strong "nutwork" of foragers we will have enough in quantity to sell for the 2018 season.