The Mast Crop
photo by Dana Skirvin
~ by Jim Eagleman
Anticipating the harvest, gardeners can look to the bounty of crops and flowers they enjoy. Weeks have passed since planting and tending and while fresh produce was enjoyed all through summer, a cool fall will still reward with late crops of tomatoes, cukes, and sweet corn. Properly stored, potatoes will grace the winter menu.
Like gardens, the woodland harvest is in full swing. Collectively called the mast, hard and soft fruits and nuts of our Brown County woods will be gathered and consumed by the wildlife— deer, turkeys, squirrels, woodpeckers, and blue jays. Blue jays are actually credited for planting more trees than squirrels. Many rodents will use these crops throughout the coming winter. Overwintering wildlife use this resource to sustain themselves during the harsh weather. And fall production nearly guarantees new plants in spring will follow.
One fall day a botany professor had us gather maple seeds, called samaras, outside the classroom building. He was curious how many of the pairs of winged seeds we call“ helicopters” were viable. With push brooms and large garbage bags, we swept them up along street curbs and sidewalks, a single maple tree producing 12 full bags. It must have appeared strange to other students walking to class. We thought so, too, and for the next four
class meetings and in between lectures, we tediously inspected and counted seeds piled on tables.
The majority of the samaras had no seeds present, a small number had one seed, and only a few( 2 %) had two, the full component. Why, we discussed, was so much energy expended by the tree to produce a huge amount of seeds when only a few might propagate?
Responding to a good spring with ample rain, maple flowers flourished( the fruiting stage), and good growing conditions persisted through summer. We concluded it was a good lesson to see energy levels, response, and production in an otherwise overlooked and common example.
Acorns, hickory and beech nuts, witch hazel, and walnuts are referred to as hard mast. Persimmon, pawpaw, spicebush, sassafras, dogwood, all berries, apples, grapes, rose hips, and plums are soft mast. We can utilize many of these for our own consumption. Elder and gooseberries are made into pies and wine. A fall hickory nut cake is a true delight.
Scientists have looked at nutritional values of some fall fruits and found them high in lipids, the fat content responsible for powering long distance flights of migrating birds. Conversely, it is a high sugar content of summer berries utilized when birds are more sedentary, on the nest. It is interesting to see ripening times of these fruits, and how and when they are used in the avian world. This process has continued for eons of course, but now close examination results in better understanding for mankind living in a natural world.
A glance to Brown County fall colors, both overhead and at our feet( asters, goldenrods, ironweeds), will be what catches attention on hikes and drives, but it is the mast crop of each fall that assures us that our glorious autumns will continue. •
58 Our Brown County Sept./ Oct. 2016