The Acorn story, part 1

Quercus robur – almost not connected to My Dump at all, but I’m sure it grows some small oaks nearby….

2014-08-01

It all began yesterday, the last day of July 2014, with a museum visit (The Dump as Art). I didn’t know what to expect but found myself looking at an unsorted mess of glasses, flasks and all sorts of glass containers. Each and every one of them had an acorn or a chestnut on top, and many of them was proudly sprouting green leafs.

It was about life and death and of ethics and morality in scientific research. You could adopt one of the acorns to keep and take care of, but they were all taken.

So now I’m waiting for the autumn to kick in so I can collect my own acorns and place them in little glass containers and watch them reach for the water – start to grow – start a life.

2014-10-05

After the museum experience I started to look after oak leavings on windy days. This lovely green leaf and acorns was collected in August. The acorns where bright green and had a swollen appearance, full of life indeed.

Oak is rather common in parks in Göteborg, so I have many places to collect acorns. Regarding the rest of Sweden the oak grows in approximately a third of the country, below Limes Norrlandicus, a biogeographical border that’s goes through Sweden.

In the middle of September the acorn started to look more mature and got a more long-spun figure. I adore the little ones that never made it to a full acorn but still hang on to its elder brother or sister. They just have to be depicted!

And a week or so later it was time to collect, the acorns started to fall to the ground with or without their caskets. When you start to really look under an oak you will see there is a lot of acorns from this season and seasons before. And there are lots and lots of caskets lying around. They seem to withstand weather and winter well.

I put the acorns in water to kickstart the producing of the sprout, and today was the happy day. Some of my acorns have started to sprout! You can see one at the far right hand side of the saucer.

 

The white thing at the left hand side was a tiny larva which apparently had lived inside one of the acorns. Really cute but I had to say goodbye to it. My apartment is not a good living space for it. 

I have googled which insects’ larva live inside an acorn, I think it’s a Curculio glandium. 

 Now I’ll watch my little acorns produce rootlets. I have to get nice glass containers to put them in. Do they want to be placed in the windows facing west or in the one facing north? So many decisions …

I’ll be back with reports about the progress from an acorn on a saucer to a small tree in a pot-