Plants Feed the Animals

David Hill/ creative commons

Last week I featured a review of Plants Feed Me. This week I'm featuring food that feeds the local wildlife: acorns. Acorns have been falling in such abundance that it's hard to avoid getting pinged in the head. At first we thought it was the squirrels - furious with us banning them from the bird feeder, they were ambushing us with acorns. But no, it's just a good mast year.

Mast refers to the edible fruit of woody plants - in this case acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts. Squirrels aren't the only ones harvesting acorns; black bears, deer, raccoons, mice, bluejays, and turkeys eat them as well. The turkeys will walk up our driveway en masse, a pack of conventioneers with one thing in mind: eat the acorns!

Mary Holland writes about how birds and others eat the acorns in her wonderful field guide, Naturally Curious (review here). Deer, she says, crunch down on them with their molars and the shells left on the ground have a "distinctive mangled" look. Birds are somewhat neater, using their beaks to drill holes into the shell. A grackle secures the acorn and then uses its bill to bite down and cut the shell while turning it. In that fashion it splits the acorn in half, allowing the bird to eat the yummy nutmeat inside.

Turkeys, on the other hand, swallow acorns whole and their gizzard grinds them up later.

Squirrels and chipmunks tend to peel the shells into strips and leave middens - piles of acorn shells on logs or rocks. Mice are neater - opening acorns at the top and scooping out the insides.

So this week, when you're out walking beneath oaks, look for acorns - and signs of the animals who eat them. Drop by STEM Friday to check out books and resources other bloggers are sharing.

Wordless Wednesday

Plants Feed Me

Plants Feed Me
by Lizzy Rockwell
32 pages; ages 4-7
Holiday House, 2014

Theme: nonfiction, plants

Every gardening season is different, and this year things seem to be ripening later than last year. A couple weeks ago we had a bumper-crop of tomatoes and peppers, with melons and pumpkins coming in late.

So harvest season seems to be a good time to share a book about garden-fresh fruits and vegetables. Lizzy Rockwell begins with a picture of a child nose-deep in a slice of watermelon. "I am a plant eater," she writes. Then she takes us on a tour of the garden, showing the different parts of plants we eat: leaves, stems, roots, flowers, bulbs, tubers... and fruits.

Everyone knows that apples and blueberries are fruits. But tomatoes and pumpkins? Aren't they vegetables? Nope. If it's got a seed, it's a fruit. Speaking of which, we eat seeds, too: beans, rice, wheat, and nuts.

Beyond the book: are you a plant eater?

Go on a plant-part scavenger hunt. Check the fridge, pantry, and cupboards to find:

• a tuber that you eat
• a stem that you eat
• a root that you eat
• leaves that you eat
• a fruit that you eat
• a seed that you eat
• a bulb that you eat

Where does your food come from? What plants are used in making the cereal you eat? the bread and crackers? the soup? Try to identify as many plants as you can that are in your meals. If you need help, read the ingredients label on packages.

Visit a Farm. If you live near a farm, drop by for a visit. During the fall many farms have markets with pumpkins and cider. Some have corn mazes and pumpkin patch tours.

You can see out what other bloggers are reviewing over at the STEM Friday blog. Today's review is also part of PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.

On Monday, head over to the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find more book reviews. Review copy provided by publisher.