When we only have small nuts, I’ve learned to remind myself that if I’m willing to gather, clean and roast beechnuts, I should choose my measure and enjoy…
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Anyone have any seed they could sell me to test how they will do before I spend money on named cultivars?
we used to have big beechnuts here when i was a kid. a bark blight came in in the early 90’s and wiped out all the mature nut producing trees. last time i ate some i was 18. 
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I planted a row of Winklers about 6 or 7 years ago, plus a couple others about 50’ away. I harvested five nuts last year, which lay neglected in a corner on the counter for nearly a year before I toasted them briefly in the hot air corn popper. They cracked in one piece and were very tasty, to my surprise. Now I can’t remember how to know when to pick them, what to look for. I noticed at least a couple nuts forming.
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once the husks have opened and browned , they are ripe here. a few weeks more and ill be harvesting my 3 bushes. branches are so full of nuts they are laying on the ground.
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Thanks. Mine are mostly out of sight, out of mind. I’ll have go check them out more closely.
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Was that before or after taking the picture riding your dinosaur to school?
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Seedlings will probably take much longer and produce nuts vs a layered or grafted cultivar with more consistent nut qualities. I planted a handful of cultivars spring of 2022 and they have catkins ready for next spring. I only watered them the first year and they are in mediocre soil right next to the sidewalk, most are over 6ft tall already.
When you say see how they do… do you mean how well they will grow? They seem to be trouble free so far for me, I just gave them some leaf litter mulch and grass clippings this spring.
Out of the cultivars I have The Beast has grown the most vigorously and seems the healthiest despite the heat and neglect.
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After taking the envolucre off 2 gallons of my American hazel the yield was 3 cups. I’m not sure what I will do with the small nuts. Any suggestions are welcome.
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Thanks
Let them dry out at room temp for 2-3 weeks first as those are still viable.
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Air dry for 2-4 weeks,
or 2-4 days at 95-105F,
or 115F for 12 hrs.
Then shell and roast at 180F for 12-15 min.
Since I had my dehydrator going for pears, I dehydrated these for 12 hrs, shelled, then roasted. Yum and crunchy!
The smaller size of your Americans would be great for
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Blend them into Hazel butter.
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No, but I watched several videos on it and most of them were using a processor. Pretty much the same for all nuts. Saw another one that showed how to thicken it, but I couldn’t find it quickly. I’m going to try walnut and hazel butter next year after I install some tree rat theft defenses.
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Thanks. Will try it!
I tried out hazel butter but my old food processor just wouldn’t blend it! So I added oil and water and got a hummus-like consistency…still really good. Now on to Nutella.
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what’s the difference in flavor from roasting to not roasting? never had roasted before.
from King Arthur Baking:
“A bit of heat applied for a small amount of time “blooms” raw nuts, releasing their aromatic volatile oils and “caramelizing” their surface.”
Most nuts have a stronger nut flavor when roasted.
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