Most people walking the outdoor track at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle in Columbus ignore the acorns crunching beneath their shoes.

Billy and Darla Harris stop to gather them.

On a crisp, clear afternoon with temperatures hovering in the low 50s, the Arkansas couple worked their way around the hospital’s walking track, loading tall white sacks with acorns beneath towering oak trees and stacking them into a wagon. The bags – each weighing close to 45 pounds – were hauled one by one toward a gray Toyota Tundra parked across the road, stacked so high the bed seemed nearly full.

“We’ve picked up since about 10:30 (a.m.),” Darla said.

Billy nodded. “Five, six hours.”

To passersby, the work may look unusual – a couple methodically collecting acorns, bag after bag – but for the Harrises, it’s just another day. They’ve been collecting acorns for about 25 years.

Once they get the acorns home, they bag and sell the best ones to nurseries and even on government contracts to support reforestation efforts.

“(Billy) started because of my dad,” Darla said. “My dad did it for years and then he started helping. … Then they started doing it together, then my dad passed away, and I’m helping now.”

Her father died in December 2022, and Darla said she’s grown used to her role in the harvesting.

“He blows the leaves away and does the heavy lifting. … I roll the acorns up with our picker upper,” she said.

‘Wherever the acorns are’

The Harrises are based in north Arkansas but travel widely during the acorn season, following oak trees wherever they are planted.
“All over – well, around,” Darla said when asked how far their travels take them. “We go to Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi … wherever the acorns are.”

Different oak species mature and drop acorns at different times, making careful identification essential – a skill Billy has honed over decades. As the couple walked the track, he pointed out subtle differences in bark color, leaf shape and spacing that distinguish one oak from another.

“I can spot them,” he said.

“He can spot them from far off,” Darla agreed.

Their stop in Columbus wasn’t planned.

“We just drive,” Billy said. “I don’t even know where I’m going. I just take off.”

After passing through Starkville and Tuscaloosa earlier in the week – and returning once the rain cleared – they noticed the concentration of oak trees along the hospital’s track and decided to stop. But before collecting anything, they asked permission.

“Oh, yeah, that’s the biggest thing,” Billy said. “I don’t ever get an acorn without permission.”

Most property owners are happy to say yes.

“They think we’re idiots,” Billy laughed. “When you knock on people’s doors … and ask them if you can have their acorns in their yard, they’re just giving you looks like … ‘What?’”

As the Harrises worked in Columbus, walkers stopped to watch and ask questions. One gentleman walking toward the nearby playground with his grandson eyed the picker upper they used and asked, “What are y’all planning on doing with all those acorns?”

Billy simply replied, “Grow trees.”

Growing tomorrow’s forests

The work is both physically demanding and deeply methodical. Because the trees along the track were spread far apart and the truck could not be driven close, progress was much slower than usual.

“Usually we’re a little faster than this, but we had to park over there,” Billy said, pointing across the road to their truck. “It’s getting late in the season and we’re needing these and they’re here, so we’re getting them.”

By day’s end, the couple estimated they had collected about 1,200 pounds of acorns. To keep the varieties separate, each bag is labeled with color-coded zip ties. Once home, the processing begins almost immediately.

“When you clean these up, you blow out all the sticks, leaves and dirt. … Then you put them in water, and the ones that float, you throw away,” Billy explained.

The process doesn’t stop there.

“Then you sort through the ones that sink … take out any with wormholes, squirrel chew, cracks,” he said. “Once you’ve done that, you’ve got what you call nursery grade seed. It’s ready to be planted.”

To meet state and federal standards, the Harrises must maintain an 80% yield of viable seed. The acorns collected in Columbus will be planted in large nursery fields before being transplanted into forests – some in less than a year.

Most will go toward restoring land after wildfires, erosion or flooding.

“They’ll use these to replant after controlled burns,” Darla said. “And a lot of this bottomland that floods year after year, they’ll (plant) these hardwoods to help control (the flooding).”

For Billy, the work never loses its sense of wonder.

“Most people do not realize that you get a tree from an acorn,” he said. “Inside that acorn is the whole tree … the leaves, the trunk, the roots. … That’s the most amazing thing. This 50-foot oak behind us was (an acorn).”

The hunt continues

Though the couple agreed that the stop in Columbus was well worth their time, there are still more acorns to collect before it’s all over. With a full truck, they plan to return in a few days to get the remainder of the acorns at Baptist’s walking track.

“The stop was worth the time and the weather was great,” Darla said. “We only got half of the acorns out here … we’ll definitely be back before the season ends to get the rest, but we’re looking forward to February.”

“Thank you, Jesus.” Billy agreed. “It’s fishing time soon.”