Sooner or later a long-term worldwide famine is going to kill more than a billion people.
I don't know when the worldwide famine will happen. However, a famine is already killing young children in Africa. And a famine could begin in other countries later this year. Or next year. Or the year after that.
The families that survive the famine will know the specific details about the foods they can eat and they will know which foods they should avoid.
The purpose of this article is the share some information about the following nuts:
Acorns: One ounce of acorns contains approximately 130 calories, 14% fat, 5% carbohydrates, 5% protein, 5 vitamins, 8 minerals, and 18 amino acids. Detailed nutritional information about acorns is on my website at the following link: Acorn Information, Identification, Processing, and Recipes.
Hickory Nuts: One ounce of hickory nuts contains approximately 188 calories, 29% fat, 2% carbohydrates, 8% protein, 6 vitamins, 9 minerals, and 17 amino acids. Detailed nutritional information about hickory nuts is on my website at the following link: Hickory Nut Recipes.
Detailed information on how to identify the different types of hickory nuts is in two of my books that are available on Amazon:
The Food Book. This book discusses all types of foods, including edible wild plants. But it does not contain any information about practical survival skills.
The hickory nut information that appears in both of the above books appears below. I have decided to share that information on my website because I believe that information could be of significant value to the long-term survival of your family.
Hickory Nuts
(Same Tree Family as Walnuts and Pecans)
Hickory trees grow wild in many areas and they can live for 300 to 500 years. The male and female flowers grow on the same tree. Some hickory nuts are very hard to crack and others are not. Some hickory nuts are delicious but some hickory nuts are bitter and they are usually only eaten by wildlife, such as squirrels. Sweet tasting hickory nuts may be substituted in almost any recipe in place of pecans or walnuts.
How to Identify a Hickory Nut Tree
There are approximately 18 varieties of hickory trees in the world. The eight most common varieties in the United States of America are the following:
Bitternut Hickory: Grayish brown bark, 7 or 9 or 11 jagged serrated leaves per stem, very thin shell with bitter nut, grows in moist forests frequently near streams.
Kingnut Shellbark Hickory: Medium gray shaggy scaly bark, 5 or 7 or 9 waxy long leaves per stem, popular sweet large nut, grows best in rich moist bottomland soils.
Mockernut Hickory: Grayish brown bark, 7 or 9 waxy slightly serrated leaves per stem, underside of leaves have dense short hairs, sweet nut, grows in dry areas on slopes and ridges.
Pignut Hickory: Medium gray scaly bark, 5 or 7 sharp jagged serrated shinny leaves per stem, bitter nut, grows on broad ridges.
Red Hickory: Reddish gray rough bark, 5 or 7 or 9 reddish green leaves per stem, sweet nut, grows on slopes and ridges.
Sand Hickory: Relatively smooth gray bark, 5 or 7 or 9 narrow smooth edged leaves per stem, thin husks & shells, sweet small nuts.
Shagbark Hickory: Grayish shaggy scaly thick bark, 5 or 7 pointed leaves per stem, popular delicious sweet nut with a thin shell, grows near the top of dry ridges and in other well drained areas.
Southern Shagbark Hickory: Grayish brown shaggy scaly raised bark, 5 or 7 sharp jagged serrated leaves per stem, popular sweet nut, grows in southeast USA in areas with good limestone deposits.
Characteristics of Hickory Nut Trees
Bark of Pignut Hickory Tree
Leaves of a Hickory Tree
Green Husk
Brown Husk
Bark: The bark of many hickory trees is grayish in color and the bark will have vertical ridges going up the tree trunk. The ridges may be shallow or deep. The ridges may be very close together or they may be further apart.
Leaves: The leaves are usually long and narrow and they will vary from 2 to 8 inches (5.1 to 20.3 cm) in length with the longest leaves near the tip end of the stem. The leaves will usually have either jagged sharp, or rounded, serrations around their outside edges. A single leaf will grow at the tip of the stem but along the stem the leaves will be opposite one another.
Nuts inside Shells inside Husks: Hickory nuts have an exterior husk, similar to a walnut, that is between 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5.1 cm) in diameter that surrounds an interior shell. The husk will be green when it is young. It will gradually turn light brown and then dark brown, and the husk will gradually split open into four quarter sections. The shell inside the husk will be white when young but as the exterior husk splits the shell will turn tan or brown. Crack the interior shell to get to the nuts.
Roots: I have rinsed, whittled, thinly sliced, and slowly boiled hickory tree roots but I have never extracted any salt from the roots of a hickory tree.
Conclusion
Beginning in mid-September acorns and hickory nuts are falling off the trees onto the ground in many areas of the USA. And they will continue to fall on the ground until mid to late October. They will not remain there for long because they will be eaten by squirrels and other wild animals, and they will gradually rot on the ground.
Although you may have ignored acorns and hickory nuts in the past, it may be a good idea if you invested a little of your time learning about these two nuts while you still have some spare time.
May I suggest that you take your family on a weekend picnic to the mountains and that you teach your family about the wild foods that nature provides. Your entire family could collect acorns and/or hickory nuts and take them home with you after the picnic is over. If you collect acorns and hickory nuts now while they are available then you could put them in a safe cool storage area inside your home until later. If you don't need them then you could toss them in the trash next Spring. But if you do need them then you will have immediate access to them and they may help to keep your family from starving to death this winter.
Respectfully,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com
