About us

Ola

For most of my professional life, I have worked with illustration, animation, and education. But it wasn’t until I was confronted with life’s most fundamental needs for survival that my focus shifted toward something entirely different. During a prolonged legal process and the financial uncertainty that followed, I began to seriously explore what nature actually has to offer – especially in times of hardship.

It was during the extreme drought of 2018, when climate anxiety, legal struggles, and existential questions all converged, that I first began to look more closely at acorns. What I had been told since childhood never to put in my mouth soon became a source of food, meaning, and resilience. It has taken me years to understand acorns as food. They are neither fast food nor something you simply pick up from a store shelf – but they are a crop that is free, accessible, and deeply rooted in human cultural history.

I know how demanding it can be to change one’s way of living – I didn’t really have a choice. Cooking from scratch, preserving, baking bread, or working with wild ingredients requires time, energy, and familiarity – resources that many people today have too little of. Sustainability is often discussed as if everyone stood in the same place in life, with the same tools at hand. But reality is rarely like that. For me, it is not about romanticizing the wild, but about making it practical, tangible, and accessible.

Over the years, I have used acorns as a base in more than fifty different recipes – from noodles and burgers to drinks and baked goods. I have experimented with techniques, refined preparation methods, and explored both nutritional values and how acorns are affected by environmental pollutants. I have given lectures, held workshops and small annual acorn festivals, and built networks around knowledge-sharing and hands-on learning. Gradually, it has grown into something more than an interest: a vision.

I see acorns as a possible complement in the future food system – not as the next green trend, but as an ancient staple with untapped potential. They require no machinery, no irrigation, and no agricultural land. Acorns already grow all around us, on trees that store carbon, support biodiversity, and produce for decades. This is not about replacing agriculture, but about broadening the foundation of how we sustain ourselves. It requires neither major investments nor new technologies – only patience, curiosity, and a willingness to relearn what we once knew.

But for me, it is not only about the fruit itself – it is about the tree, time, and trust. The oak reminds us to think long-term, to build for generations rather than for the next quarter. Understanding the process – from inedible raw material to edible food – has become, for me, a way of reclaiming agency in a time when much else feels uncertain. It is there, in the meeting between the wild and the everyday, that my vision of a new food culture begins to take shape.

Through Under the Oaks, I want to contribute to an alternative conversation about the future of food – one where the wild, the slow, and the historically rooted are given space.

Malena

I am a gardener who quite literally found my way back to the oaks of my childhood. I grew up on a small-scale farm in southern Småland, where my grandmother’s cellar was filled with homemade preserves and pickled goods, and where the cycles of nature were always close at hand. From an early age, I developed an interest in wild plants, herbs, and how people throughout history have lived and sustained themselves. At the same time, a fascination with the strength and presence of the oak in the landscape began to grow.

I began my professional path in history and archaeology, with a particular focus on what are often referred to as hunter-gatherer societies. I have worked both as a field archaeologist and as an educator, including bringing Stone Age life to life through hands-on teaching. After several years in archaeology, I trained professionally as a gardener, and following my education I established an ecological growing business with both greenhouse and open-field cultivation. I sold my produce in my own farm shop, but also supplied various markets and shops across southern Skåne.

Later, I worked for several years in plant nurseries, which eventually led to burnout and required a long period of recovery. It was during that time that I had the space to reflect on my situation and the way I had been living. I began to return, more consciously, to what I had always carried with me: nature, knowledge of it, and a desire to live close to the wild. I deepened my work in forest gardening, permaculture, and local food security, and eventually found my way to Holma Folk High School – first as a student, and later as a teacher in forest gardening, permaculture, and the use of plants and other local resources.

I use acorns both in my cooking and in my educational work. I want to show how wild plants can be both part of everyday life and essential for survival.

In 2024, I started my own business, through which I give lectures, run workshops, prune fruit trees, and work with garden design inspired by forest garden principles and perennial diversity.

For me, acorns are not just about food. They are about finding our way back to a culture where we live in relationship with nature and our surroundings – a culture where food, history, plants, and people form a living whole. I believe in shared subsistence, circular systems, and community.

Our core values


Starting Point

We live in a time of profound change. Shifts in climate, geopolitical instability, and vulnerable global systems are already affecting our ability to sustain ourselves with food. At the same time, much of the practical knowledge that once made societies resilient has faded from use.

We believe this is not only a technical or political issue, but also a cultural and knowledge-based one. When knowledge disappears, our ability to act is reduced. And when our ability to act is reduced, vulnerability increases.

Knowledge with responsibility – preventing exploitation

We feel a responsibility for how knowledge is used once it begins to spread. Humans have a strong capacity – and at times a tendency – to exploit resources without fully considering the long-term effects on landscapes, ecosystems, and ultimately ourselves. As interest in new food resources grows, we see a clear risk that acorns too may come to be treated as something to maximize, rather than as a shared resource to be stewarded.

This is one of the reasons we want to be clear about our intention: to pass this knowledge on with respect, in line with the traditions in which it has been carried over time. In many contexts, acorns have been a free and place-based resource, and the knowledge surrounding their harvest and preparation has been practical, shared, and closely tied to a sense of responsibility toward place and other species – not driven by commercial aims.

We want our educational work to carry this context forward. Not only how to make acorns edible, but how to relate to the trees, to wildlife, and to the limits of the landscape. This is why we articulate a set of core values: to clarify what we hope people will carry with them as this knowledge continues to spread, and the direction we hope a future “acorn culture” might take.

Our conviction

The future

We believe that future food resilience needs to be built on:

  • local resources

  • long-term thinking

  • biodiversity

  • practical knowledge shared between people

Acorns are one example of such a resource. They grow without external inputs, are present across large parts of our landscape, and have sustained people through crises for tens of thousands of years. Reclaiming this knowledge is not about nostalgia – it is a way of strengthening the capacity of both individuals and local communities to act.



Knowledge as a shared resource

We believe that basic knowledge about:

  • how to gather acorns

  • how to store them

  • how to process them into food

is a shared resource, especially in a time when food systems are becoming increasingly uncertain. For this reason, we want to spread this knowledge as widely as possible – through open digital gatherings, in-person meetings, and educational contexts. Knowledge that strengthens people’s ability to sustain themselves should not be reserved for a few.

Building knowledge takes time

Knowledge takes time, experience, and effort to build and to pass on. In order to continue our work – with quality, presence, and long-term commitment – we also need to be able to sustain ourselves through, for example:

  • lectures

  • workshops

  • products

  • collaborations and sponsorship

For us, sharing knowledge openly and charging for deeper learning, practical engagement, and products is not a contradiction. It is a way of making the work sustainable over time.

Voluntary support and shared responsibility

On our website, Under the Oaks, we offer basic knowledge without requiring payment. At the same time, we welcome voluntary financial support from those who:

  • have the means

  • see value in what we do

  • want to help ensure that the work can continue

We see this as a shared responsibility, where each person contributes according to their ability.

Our role

We recognize that people adapt under different circumstances. Not everyone has the same time, health, financial situation, or freedom to act. For this reason, we believe in an approach where each person does what they can – according to their ability, at their own pace.

We do not see shaming as a constructive path forward. Our aim is not to convince everyone, nor to claim that this is the only right way. What we want to do is make knowledge and practical possibilities accessible – for those who want to learn, for those who need it, and for those who wish to prepare.

We are aware that few people will fully adopt these practices in the near term. But we believe that knowledge and preparedness in themselves have value, and may become crucial when conditions change, for example in times of crisis.

We do not see ourselves as experts with all the answers, but as:

  • holders of practical experience

  • mediators of knowledge that has been forgotten

  • a node where people, places, and resources can meet

Our goal is not to create dependency, but to strengthen people’s own capacity.



The ecological and biological context of the oak

The oak is more than a resource

For us, the oak is not merely a source of food for humans. It is a cornerstone of many ecosystems and sustains life far beyond our own use.

A single oak can, over its lifetime, provide shelter, food, and habitat for thousands of species – including insects, fungi, lichens, birds, and mammals. Acorns are an important food source for many animals, and the oak itself functions as a hub of biodiversity within the landscape. To work with acorns without understanding this context would be both short-sighted and irresponsible.

Sharing rather than taking

We begin from the understanding that humans are not the sole users of the landscape. Acorns are not “our” resource – they are a shared one.

This means that:

  • we never aim for total harvest

  • we always leave a significant portion for wildlife

  • we see harvesting as a dialogue with place, not an extraction

Knowing how much to take is just as important as knowing how to take it. Learning to live with acorns as food is therefore also about learning restraint, timing, and attentiveness.

Ecological responsibility in practice

In practice, this means that our work should always:

  • be guided by the carrying capacity of the place

  • take wildlife and biodiversity into account

  • communicate respect for the landscape, not exploitation

  • show that food preparedness can be strengthened without depleting nature

We see acorns as an opportunity to practice a different relationship with resources – one based on reciprocity rather than dominance.

The oak as a symbol of circular systems

For us, the oak is a living symbol of a circular system in which:

  • nothing exists in isolation

  • waste becomes nourishment

  • slowness is a strength

  • life is built layer by layer over time

It gives more than it takes. It supports many at once. It operates across generations. This is the logic we seek to reflect in our work.



The cultural dimension – knowledge carried through time

A human heritage

Knowledge of acorns as food is not new. It has been developed, refined, and sustained by people over a very long time, in many different parts of the world.

These are not isolated examples, but expressions of a global and deeply rooted human relationship with the oak.



Living with – not off – nature

What unites many of these traditions is not only that acorns were used as food, but how they were used. The knowledge was interwoven with:

  • respect for the limits of the landscape

  • an understanding of the needs of other species

  • long-term thinking across generations

  • practices and stories that protected the resources

Harvesting acorns was rarely a one-sided act. It was part of a reciprocal relationship between people, trees, animals, and place.

Our responsibility today

We approach this knowledge with humility. We do not claim ownership of it. We see ourselves as part of something larger than ourselves, carrying it forward for a time.

Working with acorns today therefore means:

  • caring for knowledge developed before us

  • passing it on without distortion or simplification

  • protecting the oak and its fruits from exploitation

  • conveying the context, not just the technique

Carrying forward – not replacing

We do not seek to replace modern systems, nor to romanticize the past. But we believe that much of the knowledge that has been pushed aside is highly relevant today. By reconnecting with earlier balances between people and nature, we can:

  • broaden our understanding of what food is

  • strengthen local and individual resilience

  • create a culture based on reciprocity rather than extraction

This is not a step backward. It is a way of taking responsibility forward.



Local preparedness rather than individual specialization

We believe that not everyone needs to carry all knowledge themselves. What matters is that knowledge exists locally, within the communities where oaks actually grow.

Preparedness is not about everyone becoming an expert. It is about ensuring that, within each local community, there are people who:
understand the landscape
know the trees
know how resources can be used when needed

In this context, acorns are not a centralized solution, but a place-based resource that requires local knowledge and local responsibility.


Five forms of knowledge that support preparedness

  1. Understanding the oak
    All preparedness begins with understanding. Working with acorns requires knowledge of the oak as a living organism, not as a producer of raw materials. The oak does not yield a harvest every year, and its rhythms are shaped by both internal cycles and external conditions. Being able to recognize strong acorn years, weak years, and resting years is essential in order not to place undue pressure on the trees or the ecosystem.

  2. Gathering and storing
    Gathering acorns is not about maximizing volume, but about choosing the right moment, harvesting carefully, avoiding contamination and damage, and leaving enough behind for wildlife. Storage is an equally important part of preparedness. When stored properly, acorns can remain a food resource for many years; when handled incorrectly, they are quickly lost. Simple, local storage solutions are therefore essential.

  3. Making acorns edible
    Acorns are not directly edible. Turning them into food requires practical knowledge of grinding, leaching, and drying. This is experience-based knowledge that cannot be replaced by theory alone. The methods should be accessible even with limited resources, without reliance on complex infrastructure.

  4. Cooking and eating
    The knowledge needs to live in the kitchen. Acorns as food are not primarily an emergency option, but something that can be prepared in many ways, integrated into everyday meals, and adapted to local traditions and needs. When the knowledge of preparation is alive, the threshold between “crisis food” and “food” disappears. Preparedness then becomes part of culture.

  5. Replanting and spreading the oak
    Preparedness is not only about making use of what exists, but also about ensuring that it can continue to exist. Replanting oaks is a long-term act that strengthens the landscape while building future capacity to act. New oaks contribute to biodiversity, more stable ecosystems, and a resource base that can support both people and other species across generations.


For us, this is a central principle of preparedness: not only to harvest, but also to give back – and to let the slow time of the oak become part of how we plan for the future.



Acorns as a local resource – not an exploitable crop

We see acorns as a resource that:

  • belongs to the place

  • is shared between species

  • requires restraint

They should not be exploited, centralized, or industrialized. Their strength lies in the local, the dispersed, and the slow. Preparedness built on acorns is therefore not about volume, but about relationship – to the trees, to the place, and to one another.

Closing – carrying it forward

The oak teaches us something fundamental. It grows slowly, operates in relationship, and gives over time. It does not carry for itself, but for many. This is the logic we seek to follow.

Our work is grounded in three interwoven perspectives:

  • ecological responsibility – understanding and respecting the systems we are part of

  • cultural continuity – stewarding knowledge carried across generations

  • ocal preparedness – ensuring that practical knowledge exists where the resources are

Together, they form an approach in which acorns are not a raw material, but a relationship.

We see our role as temporary but meaningful. We gather, test, share, and carry forward – aware that this knowledge neither begins nor ends with us.

This is not an attempt to create an alternative to everything else, but a way of expanding the space for action. To show that there are more ways of thinking about food, resources, and responsibility than the ones we have grown used to.

We share this knowledge because we believe it is needed. We take responsibility for doing so in a way that is sustainable – for the landscape, for other species, and for us as human beings.

To live with the oak is to understand that nothing stands alone. Not trees, not communities, not knowledge. It is in that spirit that we continue our work.