I like the star shaped variety better than the long necked ones when it comes to picking them.
The ones that have long necks are full of sticky little bristles that cling to you like mad. I think next time I harvest the nuts, I will be wearing a good pair of gloves. The bristles aren't painful, but are super annoying just the same. I found a good way to remove the bristles from my skin was to rub the leaves from the bush, it seems to get most of them out. They are easier to avoid the bristles if you grab them by the neck to pick them off the plant. They don't come off the tree easily until they're brown. I don't think the green ones are ripe anyway.
The ones I refer to as "star shaped" have a kind of gooey/sticky coating on them when they aren't ripe. The pods are closed tightly around the nut too, they are completely encased. They appear to be ready to be picked once you can see the brown nuts inside. The pods curl back and remind me somewhat of leaves. They also turn brown like the other ones, but they can be picked once they curl off the nut.
I haven't yet figured out how to prepare them for eating, but I'm trying to look it up. I know that you have to do something to nuts prior to eating them, but what that is leaves me just a bit clueless. That's nothing new though, is it? I guess most people out there that talk about hazelnuts aren't interested in harvesting them or something.
Most of the information I have found are recipes that use them with chocolate or coffee.
Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message and a backlink. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Cindy
12 comments:
I wish I could help you with what to do with them but I am at a lose myself as I have never seen hazelnuts growing before. In fact I had no idea that is what they look like! I'll try to do a search for you though. Maybe together we can come up with what you do to them after harvesting. They do not look like anything I would have thought!
Here is a link that might be helpful. It talks about letting them dry before you eat them. Interesting as I never knew that!
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/html/fs/fs146/
OMG, I can't believe I'm commenting to a person that actually picks Hazelnuts. I love them. I guess they would be like Black Walnuts--you have to put them in a place that is dry & not cold. Let them lay there a couple months, turning or stirring once in a while.
I thought they grew on trees. Do you get very many? I really can't believe this. Picking Hazelnuts!!!!
I am so very glad I stopped by. I know nothing about these great nuts! Bushes! Your woods loves you!
gail
Cindy- Thanks for the link, I'll have to check it out. I had no idea what they were at first. I think it was Cindee who figured it out for me.
Lola- Want to come help me pick some? I've got lots of them. Funny you should mention walnuts, I was thinking about buying some walnut trees. Not that I have any room for them with all of the pine trees and stuff, but I sure would love to have some!
There are a gazillion of them growing around here. I'll have to take a picture of the bushes for you. The bee's nest is actually in an immature nut bush which is surrounded by berry bushes.
Gail- I love living here, it's great! I should look up more information so I actually sound like I know what I'm talking about. We have a couple of small oak trees here too. I'm looking forward to a harvest of acorns in a few years, but that will take quite some time. I hope I'm here long enough to enjoy it. We planted a couple of apple trees 2 years ago. This spring I also planted a couple of cherry trees. I also want to plant some blueberry bushes too. Geez, people are probably going to think I went off the deep end pretty soon!
Have you ever eaten Nutella? It is a HEAVENLY chocolate/hazelnut spread. I was first introduced to it in Germany but you can find it here too. So GOOD! If you find it, get it and you can really see the value of hazelnuts.
Sure would Cinj.lol They say you can't transplant a wild Black Walnut but I did in N.C. It takes yrs for them to be fruitful. I had a couple large trees there. If you notice a squirrel, it won't bother a bad nut. As hard as a Black Walnut is they could still eat into them. I use to stop on my way to work & pick up Chestnuts too. Sure did learn a lot while I was there.
Watch out for those bees/wasps. They mess me up too.
This is so interesting. I had no idea how hazelnuts grew. Hadn't ever even thought about it. We had a pecan and a walnut tree in our yard in California. Also an almond tree. But, I never even thought about where hazelnuts came from. Now I'm more informed. I'm just nuts about all kinds of nuts. That's one of the things I like best about fall.
Like some of the others have said, this is a new thing to see for me! My daughter's name is Evelyn and I remember the origin of her name has something to do with hazelnuts. Ironically, she is allergic to all tree nuts. But I love them!
Tina- I've heard of it, but I've never tried it yet. I hope I am able to make something yummy with them.
Lola- I just people that can't transplant them just don't know how to treat them since you were able to, huh?
I'm steering clear of the hive area, so far so good.
Charolette- Nice of you to drop by. I still plan on getting some pictures of those bushes, but it's not very good picture taking weather around here today.
jgh- I suppose they don't grow everywhere. I don't think I would have ever noticed the nuts if I weren't looking though, they blend into the woods pretty well.
This is so cool! I just planted a hazelnut this spring, so I'm looking forward to reading about your adventures with these. Heh, if you've gone off the deep end, then we're both there, cuz' I'm planting up my yard with everything that yields nuts or berries that I can think of! Good for wildlife, and (if I'm fast enough) me too!
Post a Comment