All articles

Everything on The Acorn Ledger, organised by topic.

Tree Profiles

• Hard Mast vs Soft Mast: Build a Longer Food Calendar — Hard mast is nutlike tree and shrub fruit such as acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, and chestnuts; soft mast is fleshy fruit such as persimmon, cherry,.
• Oak, Hickory, and Beech Mast: A Field Comparison — Oak, hickory, and American beech all provide hard mast, but they differ in fruit, timing, site needs, and reliability.

Habitat Planting

• How to Plant Mast Trees for Wildlife Habitat — Plant mast trees for wildlife by inventorying existing habitat first, then choosing several locally native species matched to soil, drainage, light,.

Mast Science

• What Is a Mast Year? Why Seed Crops Boom and Bust — A mast year is a season when a population of trees produces an unusually large seed crop, often with many individuals fruiting in synchrony across an area.