Nut Wizard Picks ‘em Up to Create a Squirrel Magnet

by | Nov 28, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging

Man emptying walnuts on the ground for the squirrels.

Creating dinner

This fall we borrowed a Nut Wizard nut picker-upper from a friend and helped neighbors harvest gallons of black walnuts. We dumped them in our backyard and, over several weeks, delightedly watched a progression of squirrels haul them off to eat and bury.

They scurried off in all directions carrying a single nut in their teeth. After hundreds of squirrel trips our nut pile was gone. Those ambitious squirrels buried walnuts all over our property.

 

 

 

Derecho Destruction and Re-seeding Nut-Bearing Trees

Most folks don’t want or need walnuts sprouting in their yards but want to clear the yard of various nuts that fall from trees each autumn. The simple answer is investing in a nut wizard or borrowing one.  This handy gizmo, which comes in several brand names, rolls along easily capturing nuts that you can then drop into buckets to dispose of. Eastern Iowa suffered a huge tree loss in 2020 when a derecho smacked us with 140 mph winds. Mature trees fell like matchsticks. Since then, we have been “reforesting” timber patches and urban streets and yards. Using a nut wizard to pick up nuts and re-purpose them helps reforest our area. This is a far better option than dumpstering them. A local nature center or park might be a good option to help replant lost trees. Or you can learn to shuck and process nuts for eating.

Squirrels Do the Work

Squirrel burying nut

Squirrels bury nuts in caches to retrieve them later.

Back to our squirrels. One morning we watched one use its front legs to dig a hole beneath our window, drop a nut in, cover it with dirt, and pat it neatly down. We’re sure it will be its breakfast on a cold January morning. Not all nuts get dug up, so we expect to find walnut seedlings all over our yard in the coming years.

 

 

 

Nuts An Amazing Food

Nuts are an amazing food for squirrels and people. Unlike most foods, nuts don’t spoil for months. Humans worldwide throughout history harvested walnuts, hickory nuts, filberts, chestnuts, and acorns and put them into storage for delicious eating during food-scarce winters.

Nuts are loaded with protein, oil, fiber, and vitamins. Squirrels, many bird species, deer, bears, and chipmunks have always eagerly gathered and stored wild nuts, but generally people today shun harvesting for good reason.

In past years people gathered and processed nuts. It took time and effort to collect, process, and store them. It’s much work. Planned “nutting parties” were somewhat festive occasions where neighbors gathered to collect and process nuts together.  Probably many tall tales and gossip were shared that made the tedious processing more interesting.

Today it’s much easier to buy nuts at the grocery store but wild nuts remain a viable food.

 Common Nuts for Wildlife and Human Food

Black Walnuts: Common in suburbia and woods edges, black walnut trees drop messy nuts by the zillions every early fall. Removing the husk, cracking the shell, and picking out the nut meat is a tedious and messy chore that yields delicious additions to cookies and cakes.

Chestnuts: The American Chestnut tree once ranged throughout Eastern North America and produced enormous quantities of nuts that were relatively easy to collect and process.  Unfortunately, an exotic blight killed nearly all the trees a century ago.  Today similar nuts are dropped from related Chinese and hybrid trees that resist the blight.

Hickories: Pecans are a species of hickory that grow mostly in the south, but Shagbark and Shellbark Hickory have a much wider range and are equally delicious. One hickory, the Bitternut, produces nuts so bitter even the squirrels leave them alone.

Acorns: Oaks worldwide produce nutritious acorns esteemed by wildlife but generally shunned by people. We prefer gathering White Oak acorns and processing them carefully before storing the resulting flour to add to muffins, pancakes, and cookies.

We’ve shared information on how to identify, collect, process, and eat nuts in past blogs. Plenty of information is also online on how to do it.  


At Winding Pathways we’re so happy to share walnuts with squirrels that we use a Nut Wizard to collect them in friend’s yards and bring them to ours.

Furless Tailed Squirrels Revisited

by | Sep 5, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging, Mammals

A few years ago, after seeing many squirrels with nearly naked tails we researched and posted a blog in February 2022. Furless Tailed Squirrels.
The response amazed us. People from around the world visited it and still do every day. We had no idea this condition was so widespread.

So, we’re posting a follow-up. Two winters have passed and our squirrels now have perfectly normal furry tails. We’re unsure if older squirrels have regrown fur or if the new generation never had the condition. Since most squirrels don’t live for more than a few years, we will likely see younger animals.

Whatever conditions caused them to lose their fur seem over. That’s not unusual in wildlife populations. If a serious disease or calamity reduces the population the condition subsides and survivors reproduce with enthusiasm, rapidly restoring abundance.

Based on our website traffic we suspect furless-tailed squirrels have been found far and wide. We predict that they, like our Iowa squirrels, will rebound with healthy furry-tailed animals.

A Short Squirrel Primer

Although many people dislike squirrels for their habit of gobbling up feed intended for birds, we like them. Squirrels are just as fascinating as goldfinches or cardinals, so we put out enough seed for both.

During the 2024 Summer Olympics, we were thrilled watching the graceful and powerful movements of Simone Biles, other gymnasts, and pole vaulters like, Armand “Mondo” Duplantis.

Squirrel climbing up a tree.

What happens when a squirrel falls?

We’ve not heard of a comparable competition for squirrels, but they are also amazing gymnasts and vaulters. In our yard a small oak and a large walnut live next to each other. Every fall the walnut is loaded with nuts that tempt squirrels. We love watching them climb the oak to its tippy top and then make an amazing upward leap to a flimsy walnut twig above. Like human gymnasts and vaulters, squirrels have impeccable balance, flexibility, strength, determination, and courage.

 

Treetop leaps aren’t always successful. Twice we’ve seen squirrels slip off high oak branches and fall 30 or 40 feet to the lawn below. Both times the hapless animals spread eagle, landed with a thump, and scampered off apparently uninjured.  They are an amazing animal.

Late Summer Activity

As we write this in late summer walnuts and acorns are maturing. People may not like squirrels but these trees need them so much their annual nut crop is a bribe. Squirrels eagerly gather and eat many of the nuts but they scamper off and bury some, often a long way from the parent tree. Some nuts are never dug up and become a new tree generation. The exchange is a good deal for both trees and squirrels.

The rodents get nutritious food. Walnuts and acorns get free tree planting. Both win.

Hopefully, anyone reading this is enjoying squirrels that have grown fur on their once furless tails. Enjoy these amazing animals. To learn more about squirrels visit Animal Diversity.

Eatin’ Weeds

by | Aug 29, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging

Eatin’ Weeds

We don’t just pull weeds.  We eat them!

Every summer gardeners spend hours pulling, digging, and spraying weeds that pop up overnight and grow like – Weeds!  Marion’s family, especially grew up eatin’ weeds. Raised on a small, hardscrabble New Hampshire farm where the biggest crop was rocks, her family of seven supplemented produce with wild foods. Her dad, of the Depression era, knew the wild plants. So, she grew up eatin’ weeds and picking wild berries.

At the nature center in Kansas Rich was always looking for unique programs to present and wild edibles were a hit. Using the Euell Gibbons and Adrienne Crowhurst wild food guides, we learned which foods have the highest returns: easy to gather and process, moderately difficult yet rewarding, and survival-only foods.

We also realized that many are as tasty and nutritious as intentionally planted crops.

Dozens of weed species are edible, but we especially enjoy eating lambs quarter, purslane, and Asian dayflower that we haven’t planted but harvest from our garden. All were introduced from faraway continents and have gone wild. Each is easy to identify.

Lambs quarter

Lamb's Quarters grow along the edges of gardens.

Lamb’s Quarters readily grow in disturbed soil.

This Eurasian native plant has many names. It’s sometimes called lamb’s quarters, goosefoot, or pigweed and has the scientific name Chenopodium album.  Lambs quarter is a fast-growing annual weed that we first notice in early spring. We pick and eat it about the same time in April that we plant spinach and lettuce. We keep picking and eating the new shoots as the season advances.

Identification and Preparing

Lambs quarter is easy to identify. One characteristic we like is the leaf’s ability to shed water. Dunk a leaf in water and it looks silvery. Like most wild and garden greens, Lambs quarter is best when picked young and tender. We wash and steam it for a few minutes, much like we cook Swiss chard. Topped with melted butter, it’s delicious. Very young leaves can be rinsed and eaten raw in salad.

Asiatic Dayflower

Blue flower of Asiatic dayflower

Likes partial shade.

Since lambs quarter is wind pollinated its flowers aren’t showy. That’s not the case with Asiatic dayflower. Its sky-blue blooms last only a single day but add color to our garden. It prefers living in partial shade and thrives under our rain barrels and alongside raised beds in the garden. Botanists call it Commelina communis. 

 

Like lambs quarter, the young leaves and stems are delicious in a salad or can be lightly steamed.

Purslane

Succulent leaves of purslane

Cultivated world wide

Although Americans constantly pull weedy purslane from their gardens, it is actually a planted crop in India and the US Southwest. Native to the Mediterranean region, it was introduced around the world centuries ago. Purslane is a fleshy plant with the scientific name of Portulaca oleracea.

Purslane grows like crazy and loves hot soil and full sun. It’s somewhat mucilaginous and tends to be gritty. Well-washed young stems and leaves can be eaten raw or steamed. The plant is high in oxalates, so people with kidney problems may want to avoid eating it.

Foraging and Safety

In this era of high food prices families seek ways to trim the grocery bill. Gardening helps and a small flock of backyard chickens adds delicious eggs, but foraging wild foods is becoming increasingly popular.

There are cautions. Many plants have lookalikes that could be inedible or even toxic.

Fortunately, the Internet is loaded with reliable information that helps a novice identify edible plants and learn how to harvest and prepare them for the table. Plenty of printed books are available, but the very best way to learn is to find a skilled forager and tag along on a collecting spree.

Cardinal Rule and Cautions

A cardinal foraging rule is to identify any new plant by at least three sources before attempting to eat it. Don’t take our word for it. If you want to try the plants we mention above, double check identification and edibility on at least two websites, books, or with an expert person. 

Cautions. Most people may be able to enjoy eating a certain plant but you may be allergic to it. So, for the first meal or two eat a new food sparingly to make sure no unpleasant symptoms arise. Also, avoid picking plants that may have been sprayed or are alongside a road or near a factory where they might be contaminated by emissions. If you want to go on private property, always have landowner permission before collecting. In public parks make sure picking or gathering is permitted before picking.

Resources

Books:
Euell Gibbon’s classic Stalking the Wild Asparagus got us started on foraging decades ago.

A comprehensive modern book is Nicole Apelian’s Foragers Guide to Wild Foods.

Adrienne Crowhurst’s classics, The Weed Cookbook and The Flower Cookbook were staples in Marion’s family.

App:  An app that helps identify edible and nonedible plants is SEEK by iNaturalist.

Websites:  There are many. Often a good way to use a website is to first identify a plant and then GOOGLE it. Usually, that will lead to sites that further help identify the plant, give its history, and tell whether it is edible or toxic.

Fortunate Foraging Blackberries

by | Aug 8, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging

Man picking blackberries

Summer foraging

Rich enjoyed foraging blackberries on an August morning. We love harvesting and eating wild foods gathered on our property at Winding Pathways and in area parks. Every once in a while, our foraging forays yield a bonanza. That is what happened on Rich’s walk. Fortunate Foraging Blackberries

Just after rounding a bend on a Wanatee Park trail, he spotted a patch of wild blackberries. We love them, but they aren’t a reliable food source. To yield juicy fruit the thorny plants need regular rain. In most years the canes sprout springtime blooms that transform into tiny fruits. Then comes a dry spell and the promising fruit dries into inedible seeds.

It’s been years since we enjoyed abundant blackberries, but 2024’s frequent rain promised a heavy crop. That’s what Rich found on his morning walk. Canes were loaded with berries that came with picking bonuses. So many were ripe that picking was easy and the hordes of hungry mosquitoes that normally guard the fruit must have had the day off. Picking in an unusual August cool breeze was a pleasure.

Species of Blackberries

Wild blackberries of several species grow across much of the United States. Most ripen in mid-summer. They thrive in sunny clearings and often quickly colonize when trees blow down or are harvested. A 2020 derecho felled thousands of trees in our area, letting the sun reach soil that had been in the shade for decades. Black raspberries and blackberries began growing the next year, as if by magic, but summers were dry so they didn’t make a crop. Four years after the storm and eight inches of July rain produced an amazing crop.

Unlike many foraged foods that have toxic lookalikes, there are no harmful plants to confuse with blackberries. It is an ideal wild food for novice foragers to start with.

Eating Blackberries

We love eating fresh blackberries. Add a dribble of milk and maple syrup to a bowl and enjoy them. They’re delicious in oatmeal and freeze well. A friend makes the world’s tastiest blackberry pie that’s yummy when served with vanilla ice cream.

Rich encountered a man who’d picked at least two gallons of the small fruits.  “What do you do with them,” he asked, and the fellow picker responded:

“I put them in a big pot with some water and sugar and boil it until the berries soften. Then I run them through a cheesecloth filter to remove the seeds and skin. I let it cool down, invite friends over, and mix vodka into the berry juice.  It’s just delicious!” he enthused. 

Information on blackberries can be found online or in printed books, but a fun website is Spoon University. It’s loaded with foraging information from a young person’s perspective.

A Picking Tip

Blackberry canes are armored with fierce thorns. Hungry mosquitoes often pounce on human pickers. Wear long-sleeved pants and a sturdy shirt. Bring along insect repellent.

Have fun picking and eating a delicious wild bounty of the land.

Morel Surprise

by | May 9, 2024 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Foraging, Nature

Serendipity

Tan morel among autumn leaves and emerging spring plants

Morels appear like magic.

A surprise morel mushroom sighting was a serendipitous find for Marion. It happened on May Day 2024, in an area of Winding Pathways we’re rewilding. While seeking blooming bluebells and emerging May Apples she spotted the delicious fungus poking through last year’s oak leaves. We’ve since found more. With Cedar Rapids Houby Days just around the corner it looks like a good season for morels.

We own about two acres. Our house, garden, and lawn occupy about half our land. The rest we’re gradually rewilding to its native vegetation. Although we sometimes discover vegetative surprises in our unsprayed lawn, the most delightful new plants appear in our property’s “back 40”.

Nature’s Resiliency

Newly emerging species remind us of nature’s resiliency. A few years ago, a derecho’s 140-mile-an-hour wind knocked down many of our mature trees. Much of our land was shady, but the 40-minute storm transformed it into a sunny landscape. We’ve since noticed a dramatic decline in shade-loving ferns and an increase in sun-loving Wing stem. Other plants are fading and rising as the years go by.

We recently read that archeologists had found 4,000-year-old mullein seeds in an Egyptian tomb. When planted, they sprouted! Lots of native plants may not have the ability to stay viable that long, but they remain down in the soil, perhaps for decades, waiting for the right ecological conditions. Then they rise as if by magic. Other plants can spread their seed widely. Ones that end up in just the right place also sprout seemingly magically.

Pause for Thought

Ecological mysteries give us pause for thought and reasons to marvel at nature’s resiliency. We don’t know if our morels had been in the soil for years or if a spore had landed there more recently. Either way, this spring brought perfect conditions for their growth, and they appeared.

Enjoying Nature’s Abundance

We carefully picked our mushrooms, consulted with an experienced neighbor, and enjoyed them after preparing them and simmering in butter.

We’ll keep watching for others to appear.

Where Do Morels Grow?

Morels live across the country and usually appear in April or May. Hunting them is a popular activity. For information check these websites

Rewilding Winding Pathways

We’re gradually rewilding about an acre of Winding Pathways. Although many believe this simply means “letting nature take its course” we know that’s not feasible today because so many invasive species stress native plants. We manage nature lightly as we rewild our land. Here’s what we do.

  • Remove the worst invasive species including Japanese Barberry, Asian Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose, and Asian Bittersweet. As soon as we spot one, we unleash the lopping shears and chop it off as close to the ground as possible.
  • Replaced three areas of lawn with native prairie.
  • Carefully use prescribed burns to encourage natives and discourage invasives.

Natural or Native is Not Always Desirable

Two native species belong in our rewilding areas, but we discourage them because of the misery they can cause. We just keep them away from pathways. Here are the culprits:

Poison Ivy:   It’s an important and valuable native plant for wildlife. Poison Ivy’s early spring leaves are an almost iridescent red, and they glow bright red in autumn’s fading days. Birds and deer devour the berries. Cottontails love eating the foliage and stems. All good except the itching. Both Marion and Rich are allergic to it and don’t enjoy the awful rashes that result from close encounters. We stay away from poison ivy and don’t cut it but spot-spray those plants growing close to pathways.

Virginia Tickseed:   This interesting native doesn’t seem to be used much by wildlife, and it’s rather attractive. Come fall it produces zillions of small burs that are nearly impossible to remove from our clothes. We chop off any we find growing close to paths.

Finding morels was exciting. We’ll likely find plants new to us springing up in our wilder areas. Most won’t be edible like morels, but they are fascinating and are living examples of nature’s resiliency.

How Do Late Blooming Flowers Help Pollinators?

by | Sep 21, 2023 | (Sub)Urban Homesteading, Flowers/Grasses, Foraging, Nature

By September our thoughts and actions turn to autumn – fall sports, raking leaves, and cozy weekend campfires. For wildlife, especially pollinators late summer and early autumn are critical times to gather nourishment for migrations or hunkering down for winter’s scarcity.

On our daily walks, often in the early morning to avoid late-season heat, we notice and appreciate late bloomers and nut abundance.  Nectar is an important food supply for pollinators who busily forage among flowers. When the weather cools, pollinators are out later in the day as the sun warms the air. Remember, there is a “night shift” of pollinators, too, who need flowers to feed from.

Here are some late-blooming flowers we have seen on walks or that we nurture in our yard.