Hazelnut harvest 2017
It looks like a good year for hazelnuts. I thought the plants might drop some of the nuts due to the dry condition this year, but they came out looking good.
This is a close-up of the hazelnuts in the bag. These aren't the largest nuts that are in the orchard, but this plant produces a large crop every year.
These are ripe hazelnuts ready to be picked, note the slight darkening of the husk. I also check to make sure the nut rolls out of its husk before picking.
On this plant the husk never changes color but the nut will just drop out of the husk when ripe. To harvest this hazelnut, I just shake plant and the nuts fall on a tarp. The plant is difficult to harvest because not all the nuts are ripe and will not drop at the same time.
This is some of the drying racks to dry down the husk before they are separated. The hazelnuts on this drying rack are from one plant.
In picture the husk is dried down enough to go through the separation process.
This is the final product bagged and tagged. The nuts are kept in these bags for about 3 weeks to dry them down for the taste test. If the nuts fail the taste and size test, that plant will be eliminated.
These are some of the various sizes that were picked this year.
Which one would you remove from the orchard?
Here I am in the hazelnut orchard with my new fruit picking bag that I received on by birthday. It's been really helpful, thanks Kelsey.👍
I still have lots of 2 and 3 year plants for sale.
If interested contact me at Riverbendhazelnuts@gmail.com or at 701-361-8581
Beetle Destruction
These next group of pictures was sent to me from my son's home in Lino Lakes MN showing the damage from Japanese beetles on hazelnuts.
The beetles look like they just eat the outer most leaves.
They tend to destroy just the leaves and leave the husk and nut. It'll make it easier to find and pick the nuts, but the kernel might not fill out. I will have to find out what shape the nut is in after it has been picked and dried down.
In this picture the husk and nut look in good shape.
The lower leaves and nuts look good.
If these plants are defoliated every year it may cause reduced nut production.
This is something I do not want to happen here in North Dakota!!
