# The Acorn Ledger

> The Acorn Ledger is an independent guide to mast-producing trees and wildlife habitat. It explains irregular seed crops, compares hard and soft mast, and helps land stewards match diverse native plantings to real sites. It sells no seedlings and promises no instant acorn buffet.

The Acorn Ledger publishes original, long-form guides about mast trees & wildlife habitat. Every article opens with a concise direct answer, is structured with clear headings and FAQs, and reflects mainstream expert consensus.

## Tree Profiles

- [Hard Mast vs Soft Mast: Build a Longer Food Calendar](https://mast-producing-trees.org/hard-mast-vs-soft-mast/): 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](https://mast-producing-trees.org/oak-hickory-beech-mast/): 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](https://mast-producing-trees.org/plant-mast-trees-wildlife/): 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](https://mast-producing-trees.org/what-is-a-mast-year/): 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.

## Full text for LLMs

- [llms-full.txt](https://mast-producing-trees.org/llms-full.txt): every article as plain markdown in one file
- Each article is also available as markdown at https://mast-producing-trees.org/<slug>.md

## Site

- [About](https://mast-producing-trees.org/about/): editorial approach and standards
- [All articles](https://mast-producing-trees.org/all/)
- [Contact](https://mast-producing-trees.org/contact/)