Preserving Herbal Traditions: Gathering Acorns on Kea with Marcie Mayer
This visit was part of a project that was made possible by a grant from the Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities initiative of the Society for Classical Studies, New York University.
Marcie Mayer, founder of the Oakmeal Acorn Initiative on Kea island
Gathering acorns on the Greek island of Kea every October has been Marcie Mayer’s passion since 2009. From tree to treat, Marcie harvests, shells, dries, and grinds acorns to make an edible and nutritious flour. She also crafts acorn cookies and pasta, and has published an extensive cookbook with delicious recipes, called Eating Acorns: A Field Guide - Cookbook - Inspiration.
Unlike other nearby islands whose oak trees were chopped down for fuel and building supplies, Kea is home to an extensive ancient oak forest that spans the entirety of the island. These oak trees (Quercus aegilops) produce giant acorns that are high in fiber, protein, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and vitamin B6, and are naturally gluten-free. In the past, acorns had been a source of food, particularly during times of hardship, and had been harvested for its caps for use in dyeing leather. Before Marcie launched the Oakmeal Acorn Initiative, there had been a detrimental 49-year gap of acorn harvesting on the island. Her collaborative initiative has created sustainable economic opportunities for local farmers, whose collective work has exported more than 100,000 kilos of acorn caps to leather tanneries in Europe.
In ancient Greece, the valonia oak (Quercus ilex, Quercus ithaburensis macrolepis, Quercus aegilops) was considered sacred and represented the unrivaled strength of Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. The oak tree was considered a physical representation of Zeus and was consulted in various ways to communicate his prophecies.
Today, the oak tree represents a source of economic livelihood for Marcie and local farmers who collect acorns every autumn from public and private land throughout the island. I visited the island in early October and had the pleasure of participating in the entire process of the mighty acorn’s transformation. Harvesting the acorns from the tree involves a process called whacking, which requires using a long stick to whack the tree and shake the acorns off the branches (helmet required!). The leaves are then hand-separated from the acorn and the acorns are transported to the processing center at Red Tractor Farm in Korissia, the port town.
Back at the farm, the acorns are separated from their caps by hand and then processed in an acorn shelling machine to remove the outer shell.
Acorns getting de-shelled on the Greek island of Kea by acorn flour producer Marcie Mayer and a volunteer from England.
The entire process takes many weeks and many hands, including those of volunteers from many countries, some of whom return every year for the harvest experience. In the final stage of acorn processing, the acorns are dried in the sun for several weeks and then processed into the final product of edible acorn flour - and cookies!
It takes an extraordinary vision to transform a forgotten but abundant natural resource into a successful economic venture. Marcie’s impressive work can be tasted or experienced on the Greek Herbal Medicine Tour on Kea, where we will learn more about the mighty acorn and experience the herbal treasures of the island.
