I just took out the last of my Oikos Ecos hazelnuts last summer due to blight (and my contorted hazel just got a heavy pruning this week because of blight showing up on it as well).
Besides, honestly the squirrels were getting 90% of the nuts well before they were worth picking…my car had at least half a pound of shell pieces once day when I went to run to the store… Darn tree rats were shreetching at me for having the nerve to disturb their snacking…
I will be spraying the contorted with an anti-fungal this spring and hope to save it (my Red Dragon contorted is still much smaller and does not seem to grow as vigorously…maybe once I move it…)
Bagersett farm in MN sells blight immune hazel cultivars for the north. I’m interested in a few myself. maybe we could split the cost of a order if you’re interested? I’m lucky with my hazels because they’re in the middle of my lawn and the wild beaked hazels on the edge of my property get hit by the squirrels instead. mine came from arbor day and so far no blight in them for last 6 yrs.
I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather let my cherry trees get the sun that the hazels were blocking and given that the squirrels were getting 90+% of the nuts and my contorted hazel is now threatened, I am fine without growing hazelnuts…
best of luck with yours…I’ll have to accept the ones at my local farmer’s market…
Jesse,
My wild hazelnuts are small but I’ve been getting a bunch this year. In past years the nuts were all hollow. This year the nuts all have meat in them and are very sweet.
Corylus americana? Are they all very similar or is there much variation between them, particularly in nut size from one bush to the next? And are yours ripening already? I don’t remember exactly, but it seems like mine don’t typically ripen until about October. They’re certainly not ready to harvest now.
I have three seedlings that all seem to do a very good job of pollinating each other (unless the wild beaked hazelnuts in the nearby woods are pollinating them.)
What a beautiful sight. I paint very articulate botanicals, they would make a magnificent painting. In the shell and leaves. Heaven. I brought back two pounds of hazelnut flour from Paris, just to make Linzer torte, with homemade raspberry jam!
Linder torte with Raspberry jam sounds heavenly!
I can’t wait to see @JesseS hazelnuts this year. My hazelnuts are just beginning to get started. Nuts take a long time to produce.
Those appear to be pretty big nuts. I was expecting them to be tiny. The three that I have came from the breeding program but looks to me like they could have just selected a few wild varieties with desirable traits. My bushes haven’t put on nuts yet so naturally I was looking over the bushes. I wasn’t sure when the catkins start showing up but yours are already present. I’m not seeing any catkins on my bushes so looks like I still have a while to wait.
Yes mine are loaded with catkins. There is not a branch without a bunch but the cold weather may still damage them. Most are very small. I’ve seen some hazelnuts and filberts that are huge.
@mrsg47
My mother has already spoken for my meager first harvest. It’s under a gallon this year. I promised them to her because of the stories she told me as a child of eating them on her way home from school. I planted them many years ago in hopes she would be able to eat them again in her lifetime.
Maybe @JesseS will have a bunch again. If you need a few nuts to paint please send me your address and I will send them to you. She won’t miss a few.
