The float test consists of allowing the acorns to soak in water for a few hours. The acorns that float to the top are discarded as they are usually hollow due to bugs, being dried out by weather, or other factors. The acorns that remain on the bottom of the buckets are taken out of the water, allowed to dry and stored in a cold climate until they can be planted.
Robyn Moon, the program coordinator, spent several weeks this year planting nearly 4,000 acorns with the Agriculture and Horticulture classes at Cabrillo, Carpinteria, Lompoc and Santa Ynez High Schools. Those schools have done an outstanding job all year of caring for the seedlings and now they are ready to find new homes.
The seedlings are in small crates of 40 trees each. If you are interested in taking advantage of this great program please contact the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau at 688-7479 or oaktreesbc@hwy246.net.
The Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau, affiliated with the California and American Farm Bureau Federations, is a membership organization whose goal is to protect and promote agriculture in Santa Barbara County. The Farm Bureau currently represents over 1,200 member families in Santa Barbara County, 75,000 in California and 6.5 million nationwide.