Country diary: Run out of coffee? Reach for the acorns | Michael White

<p><strong>Cranbrook, Kent:</strong> We have no culture of consuming acorns in Britain, but they have a place in my kitchen, especially in a boom year such as this</p><p>I tire of hearing the term “abundance” in relation to autumn, and yet the word unavoidably reverberates as the season unfolds, until even I am tempted to use it. Wild food is everywhere, as is a frenzy of gathering and preservation, a ritualised nod to that which was once essential.</p><p>Not every year is the same, though. Several species don’t fruit every autumn, but instead coordinate with others of their kind on so called mast years to produce a bumper crop: a highly evolved tactic that serves to overwhelm the frenzied gatherers, both human and animal, so enough seed will survive to germination.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/nov/15/country-diary-run-out-of-coffee-reach-for-the-acorns">Continue reading...</a>