The hazelnut harvest started on August 11 this year. It is a week earlier than usual. As you can see in these pictures, each hazelnut bunch looks different because of the wide variation of plants we have.
This plant tends to have mostly singles with just a few double husks.
Notice how open the husk is on this plant.
This plant tends to have mostly singles with just a few double husks.
These are wild hazelnuts picked this year from Little Yellow Stone park south of Valley City.
Notice the big juicy husk and the nut has very thick shell.
These are also wild hazelnuts from south of Leonard along the Sheyenne River.
The husk here isn't as big, but the nuts have very thick shells.
The hybrid hazelnuts that you see here are growing on our research plot in Horace.
These have a leafy husk, and the nuts are easily removed from the husk. The nuts are larger with a thin shell.
The hazelnuts here have just been picked from 3 different plants. Notice the big variations in the type of husks.
The hazelnuts here are ready to be picked, can you find all the nuts in this picture?
These hazelnuts are in the process of drying down so the husk can be removed.
This is the plant identification and size of the nut.
I use my drill with paint mixer with 2 added weights to release the nut from the dry husk.
This is the drill in action, but the cover is usually shut so that I don't get pummeled from the flying nuts.
I then use an aspiration system to separate the husks from the nuts. The only problem I had was plugging the system up with husks if it was fed too fast. "What a pain to unplug all those tubes!"
I've filled this tub a couple times with husks.
These are the finished cleaned nuts packed neatly in their bags with the labels.
Just a few bags to go.
Only 3 more hazelnut plants to go and this year's harvest is complete. My fingers are really tired and sore!
