First harvest! ( photo / image / picture from gardenelf's Garden ) Three years ago I re-planted a small hazel bush/tree (it has a bit of an identity-crisis, doesn't quite know which of the two it wants to be yet ). This year it bore its first hazelnuts, a grand total of seven! Not many, but very tasty nonetheless. Can't wait till next year's harvest, the number of catkins forming at the moment is huge. If only half of them fertilise the tiny red blooms (and I mean tiny, if they weren't red you'd miss them altogether) that form in spring, I should be able to bake a hazelnut cake next autumn :-D
Way to go. I hope they are really productive for you next year. Are these the same or different than filberts? they don't look like the same ones we get in a mixed nut bag here. they are almost round. I can't say that I like the commercial variety that is available, but would like to try a garden variety.
Carolyn, You wondered about filberts being the same as these. To be honest, I'd never heard of filberts before, so I had a little peek on good old Google. It seems there are quite a few species of hazel, Corylus is the scientific name. Mine is a Corylus avellana, very common in the Netherlands. The one you mention is the Corylus Americana. I know that a lot of the hazelnuts used commercially here in Europe are from Turkey, no idea what species. As for the taste, mine are lovely and sweet. The commercial ones are often rather bland and sometimes bitter or rancid. (yuk!) The Corylus avellana grows best in rather moist soil, preferably in semi-shade. Too much sunshine scorches the leaves I found. It's not too fussy about the kind of soil it grows in. If you have a suitable spot in your garden (with plenty of space, as the Corylus can grow both tall and wide), why don't you give it a go! The nuts also keep quite long as long as they're still in their shell.
If I could get even seven nuts from my two hazels I'd be happy. I've had them for years and they bear plenty of catkins but that's it. Never mind they are a nice addition to the garden whether they fruit or not. :-D So glad you enjoyed your hazelnuts this year and I hope you get many more next time around.
Hazelnuts are among the first to disappear from the mixed nut dish around here. Good luck on next years crop. Jerry
Hazel nut is a tall bush or small tree. If you use the american standard of which is which. Less than 5" trunk at chest high, its a bush. 5" or greater (at chest hight) its a tree...
Contratulations on that first harvest. How fun. Will be looking forward to hearing about next year also.
Thanks all! Can't wait to share my next crop with you :-D (such a long wait, though....) Eileen, are your hazels in full shade? It seems that if a hazel doesn't get any sunshine at all and not enough light, it will only form the male catkins, no female flowers. Coppice, thanks for your info. As my hazel has one main trunk, and I prune the top every year, in a few years time this trunk will probably have reached tree status
Gardenelf they look yummy. I love nut meats. We also go nuts every Sept. but in a different way. We have a tall black walnut tree in our yard that sheds it's nuts this time of year. We don't collect them as they are very hard to get any usable meats out of them. Usually the squirrels in the area clean them up pretty good. But this year they are slacking off. So before I mow the grass I have to walk around and pick them up so I don't mow over them. They really do a good job of dulling the mower blades besides becoming unsafe projectiles. I would love to have hazel or an almond nut tree instead. But our cold winters won't allow that.
Tooty, I know just what you mean with those walnuts getting under the lawnmower, they can be rather lethal! In my boyfriend's garden I have to watch out for pebbles, they tend to spill over onto the lawn from time to time. Luckily I have a handmower, so the blades don't turn very fast As for growing a hazel where you are: I think you can. There are a number of nut-bearing hazels suitable for zone's 4 to 7. Am I correct in thinking you're zone is 4b? Some hazels can apparently take colder climates, but I get the impression they are sterile cultivars.
