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Keeping Track of "Mast"

Making It Grow! Minute logo

Hello gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Every year, the natural resource management departments of most states conduct a mast survey. Mast is the fruit of trees in the forests that provides food for wildlife. Hard mast consists of acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts -- soft mast includes the berries of dogwoods, blueberries and grapes.  Acorns are the food most often thought of mast.

White oak acorns are sweet and mature in one year; red oak acorns are higher in bitter compounds called tannins and take two years to reach maturity. Acorn production tends to be wildly inconsistent as many factors influence it. Just like peaches, a freeze during flowering dramatically reduces the crop. Heavy rains and winds may harm the distribution of pollen. Stressful environmental conditions may cause trees to abort their immature fruits. So if you look at mast surveys covering a number of years, the quantity and quality vary greatly. 

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.