Harvest

OK. I am finally updating. I meant to update during harvest, but things just got busy.

We had a very good crop this year! Lots of nuts from lots of trees. I think the hot pepper spray is working its magic on the squirrels.

On the last post I talked about how to tell if the nuts are ready to be picked. Here is an example showing pushing on them with your thumb and seeing if they roll out. (I can't get the pictures side-by-side, if you know how, let me know)

 These nuts are ready to be picked!

We harvested hazelnuts until about mid-September. There is such a wide range of genetic diversity for the different hybrids that they all ripen at different times. If we just had one or two of all the same kind then we would only have to harvest them for a week and then we would be done! 

Dan did most of the hazelnut picking, with me coming out to help on a couple weekends. I estimate that he had over 200 (small paper) bags, each from a different tree. 

Here are some pictures of the hazelnut picking process.

Dan pulling the branches of the hazelnut down to a reachable height.

Searching the branches for nuts. You have to look really carefully at each branch because they will really blend in.

Found one!

A couple of bags full of nice looking hazelnuts

 Here is the fancy hazelnut picking cart with all the essentials: Bags, notebooks, label supplies, water for the pickers...

Dan showing off one of the hazelnuts he's working on picking.

The next post I'll talk about the best part of the hazelnut growing process... the taste-testing!

...and so the battle begins!

The hazelnuts are just starting to ripen!

Now we just need to collect them before the squirrels can get to them. We started spraying them last week with our hot pepper spray, (see August 17, 2012 post for recipe), which seems to help deter the squirrels from completely wiping out he hazelnut crop. My dad has also been live-trapping the squirrels and moving them (hopefully) far enough away so they don't come back. Going over a couple rivers helps as well.

Above is just a few of the various different hazelnuts we have. They come in all shapes and sizes as you can see by the husks, and they will ripen at different times as well (from now until mid-September, depending on the variety). The middle picture shows them just starting to ripen. You can see them turning a tannish brown color. However, color is not usually the best way to tell if they are ripe. You can see if they are ripe by putting your thumb on the end of the hazelnut and pushing sideways. If they are ripe they will come right out. If not, they will stay attached to the back of the husk. We usually test a few hazelnuts from all over the bush and if they all come out then we can collect the whole plant.

Dan starting collecting hazelnuts this weekend, and I will be going out to help sometime this week, so more pictures of the hazelnut collecting process will be posted shortly.

Just for fun, can you spot where the hazelnuts are on this plant?? They blend right in!

Here is just a few of them circled!! It takes a lot of moving of the branches to spot all of them.

Just for comparison, here is what they hazelnuts looked like on June 16. They start out so tiny!

Fall Color and Fun Stuff

I'd thought I would update with some fall color pictures. The fall color seems to vary with the variety/species. The american hazelnuts (native) Corylus americana, have a nice red color. The european hazelnuts, Corylus avellana, have a yellow fall color. For the hybrids, you can see which has more genes from the american or european from the fall color.
(I could not get this pictures to go side by side, so I made them all large and center)

Some nice red fall color

Small hazelnut plant by my parents' deck.

You can see the variety of colors from green to yellow to orange of the hybrids

Hazelnuts on both sides

Hazelnuts with black chokecherry in between (the trees)

This is a ripe hazelnut bunch. The shape and size of the husk really varies with each hybrid. These look leafy and are slightly open. The more open they are (showing the nut inside) the easier they are to get out of the husk. 

The new fence my dad put up this year to keep the deer out! The owl will (hopefully) scare squirrels away.

You can see the big different from the previous hazelnut bunch. These are smoother and look juicer (it'll get juice on your hands that usually is irritating to the skin). These are harder to get out of the husk.

Can you spot the hazelnuts on this branch? They are very hard to see!

This is Dan Johnson (my dad), founder of Riverbend Hazelnuts, modeling the fancy chair he made out of hazelnut branches!

You can see hazelnut plants are very multi-purpose. You can cut them down to the ground for wood, and they will sprout new branches right from the ground.

Yes, that is a hazelnut in the background with the wonderful red fall color.

Hazelnut Walk-n-Talk Field Day - October 6 - Lake City, MN

I'm finally getting around to updating the blog about the field day in October! It was very informative and good to meet all the other people interested in growing hazelnuts! My parents (Dan and Nancy) and I probably came the farthest!
The field day was at Norm Erickson's Hazelnut Valley Farm, where he had quite a set-up. He had an underground cold storage area, a greenhouse which contained a sorter, a  cracker, and "cleaner" for the hazelnuts, and many acres of hazelnut plants. We listened to some presentations on marketing the nuts, a pruning discussion by Lois Braun from University of Minnesota, and a hazelnut enterprise financial model. The afternoon brought processing demonstrations and an orchard tour.

Bags of hazelnuts drying outside.

 

 Catkins!

 That's Norm in the white and brown hat and tan jacket.

 Dan and Nancy discussing hazelnuts.

 Layering technique was shown (propagation technique).

 Lois Braun talking about the layering technique.

 Hazelnuts ready for processing. (I think ours are bigger) :-)

Hazelnuts with farm in the background.

They inoculated the plants with EFB (Eastern Filbert Blight), and I found some branches with disease on it. I was told later by some experienced professionals, that this probably wasn't a good idea. It would have been better to test them elsewhere after good plants were selected from the orchard.

I have taken movies of the various equipment that Norm has developed.

Upcoming Hazelnut Field Day in Lake City, MN

Norm Erickson Farm - 1186 W. Lakewood Avenue - Lake City, MN
Join the Minnesota Hazelnut Foundation, Rural Advantage, and University of Minnesota for a Hazelnut Walk-n-Talk field day on Saturday, October 6, 2012, from 10am to 4pm just outside of Lake City, Minnesota at Norm Erickson's Hazelnut Valley Farm.

Hazelnuts are a multi-functional crop that can provide food, feed, fuel, fiber, and ecological function to the landscape. Hazelnut bushes are perennial, multi-stemmed, and can produce large amounts of nuts that are high in oil.

Agenda:
10:00am Welcome and Introductions
10:15am Marketing Nuts
10:45am Pruning Discussion
11:15am Hazelnut Enterprise Financial Model
12:00pm Potluck Lunch (bring a dish to pass)
1:00pm Hazelnuts 101
2:00pm Orchard Tour or Processing Demonstrations
3:00pm Orchard Tour or Processing Demonstrations
4:00pm Adjourn

No pre-registration is required. Bring a dish to pass for the potluck lunch. The walk-n-talk field day will be held outdoors, rain or shine. Dress accordingly.

Contacts for this event:
Jeff Jensen, Minnesota Hazelnut Foundation, 515-320-2635

DIRECTIONS
From Rochester via MN Hwy 63: As entering Lake City, look for St. John's Cemetery. After the cemetery, turn right on South Cross Street and travel roughly 0.5 mile until arrive at t-intersection with West Lakewood Avenue / County Road 9. Turn right and travel roughly 0.5 mile. The hazel field will be on the right side after the elementary school and ball diamonds.

From Winona via MN Hwy 61: As entering Lake City, look for the marina. Turn left onto West Lakewood Avenue / County Road 9. Travel about 1.0 mile. The hazel field will be on the right side after the elementary school and ball diamonds.

Hazelnut Field Day

My parents attended a field day hosted by the University of Minnesota on propagating hazelnuts on July 26. They were quoted in the following article!
US: The rise of Minnesota hazelnuts
It was very interesting to learn how they are propagating hazelnuts. They have been successfully propagating by layering and also soft-wood cuttings (which was previously very unsuccessful). Here are a couple pictures from the event. 

Hazelnut harvest underway

The hazelnuts are starting to ripen. Well, what is left of them are ripening anyways. The squirrels have really gone crazy for them this year. We think due to lack of other natural food, such as acorns and ash seeds, the squirrels started going after the hazelnuts even before they were ripe. My dad says he has live-trapped 26 squirrels so far in the past few weeks, including two more flying squirrels.

aww!! In the second picture you can somewhat see it's arm flaps. Those guys were also relocated to the same area with some nice big trees. 

This weekend we will continue to collect hazelnuts when they become ripe. Since there is such a wide variety of plants, they will normally ripen between the end of August to the end of September. This year they ripened about two weeks earlier. My dad is continuing to spray the hazelnuts with hot pepper spray, which really does seem to help. Hopefully there will be some good hazelnuts left to collect. The squirrels seems to know which ones taste the best and go for those first. 

Also, see the right side for an introduction written by founder of Riverbend Hazelnuts- Dan Johnson (aka - my dad).

Here is the recipe for the hot pepper spray. I think it works to keep rabbits and deer from nibbling on your plants too. 

Hot Pepper Spray

(WEAR GLOVES! Goggles aren't a bad idea either)

Red Cayenne, Jalapeno, or habanero fresh peppers (cayenne for stronger mix)

Put 3 Peppers in a food processor with enough water to make a liquid. 

Strain through cheese cloth into a quart jar

Add 2 tablespoons Olive/Vegetable oil

Squirt of Elmer's glue

2 drops liquid dish-soap

Use 1 part of mixture to 10 parts water

Shake well

Spray on plant with spray bottle.

(Don't make it any strong then 30%)

Be careful not to get this in your eyes.