Do hazelnuts grow in North Dakota? You may be surprised learn that hazelnuts are a native shrub that grows naturally in both North Dakota and Minnesota. They might even be growing near you.I read that hazelnuts were some of the first plants to colonize this area after the glaciers melted about 10,000 years ago. I […]
Fall 2019 and just finished another harvest. I’m often asked, “how do you know if they’re ripe and ready to be picked?” On some plants when the husk starts to change color to a darker tone it’s a good indication that they are close to being ready. Another indication is when the nut turns a […]
Squirrels have started removing the hazelnuts on 19th of July. This is the earliest that I’ve ever seen them go after immature hazelnuts. I have 5 live traps and 4 rat traps and started using my pepper spray. In less then a week I removed 11 squirrels. I’ve even seen the smaller red squirrels hanging […]
The new greenhouse😎 The greenhouse arrived in a truck and had to be unloaded by hand, because the load on the pallet was a little unstable. I’m anxious to start using the greenhouse to dry the hazelnuts this fall and to use it to start new seedlings in the spring. I might even be […]
Germinating hazelnuts The first step for growing new plants is evaluating each hazelnut seed for various characteristics such as good taste, thin shell, round shape, ease of cracking and separating the shells, and type of plant that produced the nut, such as non-suckering. After evaluating each one the superior hazelnut seed is then stratified (a […]
Storage and care of hazelnuts Hazelnuts have a high oil content, usually between 20% and 50% and when exposed to air (oxygen) they will become rancid in just a few weeks. They should be kept in a cool dry place and if shelled eaten as soon as possible or stored in the freezer. The first […]
Fall colors cut short To the left is last years fall colors of a hazelnut plant by our deck.2017 The picture to the right is the same hazelnut plant this fall after a frost.Not much color here.2018 Some of the hazels that did have a little fall color. This wild hazelnut which came from Roseau […]
The hazelnut harvest this year has been a little hectic with 50 more plants producing nuts. My grandson Blake and his buddy Bobby helping with harvest. This year each hazelnut plant produced about half as many nuts as last year. It must have been our unusual spring weather this year. These are some of the […]
Hazels are not as productive as last year but some plants have a decent amount of nuts developing. This is a new plant that just started producing nuts this year. I’m hoping the sticky red hairs on the husk will divert the squirrels. It might slow them down but it won’t stop them. This year’s spring had […]
Another busy year, 2018 The nuts here germinated in 3 days after being stratified for 3 months in the refrigerator.The stratification process involves soaking the seed to rehydrate and then placing in damp peat in plastic bags at 34º F to 40ºF for 1 to 4 months. When ready to start the germination process they […]