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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 — Beechmast means the beechnuts produced by beech trees, from one tree's fallen nuts to a stand's wider crop.

How to Predict a Mast Year: A Field Method — You can estimate a mast year by identifying the tree species, watching spring flowering and fruit set, scanning the same crowns in late summer, and…
What Is a Mast Year? Why Seed Crops Boom and Bust — Mast production is the amount of fruit or seed produced by a tree, stand, species, or population.
When Is Mast Season? Species and Regional Timing — For eastern North American trees, hard-mast season is mainly autumn, but timing depends on species and location.

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,…