Last year I decided that I’d start some oak trees from acorns. I was inspired to do so based on a 7-inch oak seedling I planted at our river home in 2007. You may recall that it was the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. To commemorate that occasion, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Capitol in Richmond to address a joint session of the General Assembly. It was memorable. When the pomp and ceremony concluded, each member of the General Assembly was presented with some keepsakes, and among them was a Jamestown Oak seedling. I put it in my office window and completely forgot about it until two weeks later, when I returned to Richmond and found it nearly dried out. Assuming that it was dead, I nonetheless took it to the river and planted it in our yard. Some 17 years later, it is nearly 50 feet tall!
Last year as I stood admiring the towering oak that I had done my best to kill, I thought it might be fun to start a seedling. While maturing, this tree has yet to produce its own acorns, something that can take 15 to 30 years of growth. So, I gathered some from our home in Woodbridge, soaked them in water to see which ones do not float. (The ones that do are no good.) I then planted them in a container filled with potting soil and refrigerated them (called stratification) to mimic the cold season. After 30-60 days you can plant them in pots until the seedlings appear. I plan then to put them where they’ll get sunlight while watering them regularly, until the spring when I will transfer them to larger pots until they’re big enough to plant in the yard. You want to make sure they are sufficiently grown so that wildlife won’t gobble them up. Last year I put them out too early when they were just sprouting, and the squirrels greatly appreciated my generosity.
This week on my daily walks, I secured about 20 acorns and began stratifying them. At Thanksgiving I’ll pot them and hopefully get the seedlings to a planting stage. Wish me luck.
So, what have I learned from this? Growing oaks is not easy unless you take the time to gather the acorns, stratify and transplant them, and repel the critters who will use your efforts as a glorified buffet. Second, to do something right takes time and focus. Third, a small thing can yield a big thing. I learned that when I planted my nearly-dead seedling that is now a sturdy oak and will continue long after I’m gone.
It strikes me that this is true of many things. We raise our children from the seedlings they are until they are sturdy adults. We build careers by doing small things well, until we are given larger ones to do, having earned the trust of those who come to rely on us. And we save money over the years so that when we retire, we might live comfortably. Life is a process that begins small and enlarges as we mature. And hopefully we have mentors, teachers, and coaches who will chase the squirrels of life away until we can mature.
And this thought also crosses my mind. When we go to vote, relative to the millions of others who will do the same thing, it’s a small individual act. But as we exercise our right to vote, we nonetheless are planting a seedling for the future of our republic. And like planting an acorn, it takes great care. That means we educate ourselves on the issues before the nation. That does not mean voting for the person you like, but rather the person who has the best policies for our country to grow in a sturdy, oak-like fashion. And you won’t know what those policies are by waiting for them to be delivered to your doorstep. You have to take the time to read varying sources, especially those that are rooted in real economic analysis. Like the Wall Street Journal or on serious business shows that deal with economic issues. And when you do, you will see that we are facing a financial nightmare in the future unless we turn from the high inflation, anti-energy, massive borrowing, and high-tax policies that Joe Biden has foisted upon us and Kamala Harris will continue. It is indisputable in my mind that Donald Trump’s economic policies are necessary to save us from what will almost surely be a recession next year.
It’s time for people to engage in some fact-based information. When they do, they’ll see why we need conservative economic policies to fend off financial collapse. Your vote is the acorn that will yield a sturdy economy. It’s time to plant it.
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