A Harvest for the Holidays - Hazelnuts

Do you love hazelnut nut-butter, like Nutella? Would you like to harvest and bake with nuts grown on your own property? Then consider adding hazelnuts to your landscape. Within 4-5 years, you’ll be harvesting nuts from your own plants.

History
American hazelnut, Corylus americana, is a thicket-forming shrub native to the borders of woods and stream banks from the eastern half of North America, all the way west to southeastern Nebraska. At one time hazelnuts, also known as filberts, were so numerous on the wooded bluffs of the Missouri and Platte rivers that families would go “nutting” each autumn. Few hazelnuts can be found growing wild in Nebraska today, but fortunately they make an attractive small tree or large shrub worthy of planting in a home orchard. 

Hazelnuts produce a sweet, tasty nut which can be used for baking, in salads or cooked with vegetables or meat - think hazelnut pesto or hummus. They are rich in protein, high in complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber, have good levels of iron, calcium, vitamins E and B, folate and arginine. Hazelnut oil is excellent for cooking, has a long shelf life and contains over 80% mono-unsaturated fats. 

Growing Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts grow as either a large shrub or small tree. Showy male flowers called catkins appear in early spring, followed by the less eye-catching female flowers. The oval to heart-shaped leaves are dark green in summer, changing to pale yellow in fall. Plants are moderate to fast growers.

Plants form colonies or thickets, spreading readily by rhizomes, so be sure to choose a site with enough room for them to grow naturally. A hazelnut is not a great choice for your front yard, but would be a great choice for a little-used space in the backyard or the “back 40” on an acreage or farm property. Or use hazelnuts for a multi-purpose hedge or screen.

Plants are very tolerant to a range of soil pH levels, although ideally they prefer moist, well-drained soil. In wild areas, hazelnuts are found growing as an understory plant on the edge of forest margins, along streams and roads. Established plants can tolerate periodic drought.

To establish a single-trunk tree, remove suckers at the base until the canopy begins to shade the trunk’s base. At that point, suckers will diminish and stop developing.

Cultivars
Hybrid hazelnuts are being developed that incorporate the high quality, larger nut size and thin shells of the European hazelnut, C. avellana, with the cold hardiness and disease resistance of the American hazelnut. Be careful when choosing cultivars - be sure those you chose are winter hardy in Nebraska (Zones 4, 5 & 6) and have a good level of resistance to European filbert blight (EFB).

• ‘Grand Traverse’ – a hybrid with 75% American hazelnut parentage and 25% Turkish hazelnut. Resistant (but not immune) to EFB. Requires a pollinator such as The Beast or two to three American hazelnut trees of no particular cultivar, often called species trees. Average harvest of 11 pounds of nuts per tree at maturity. Nuts mature in late September and plants are winter hardy to Zone 5.
• ‘Raritan’ – a pure European hazelnut cultivar. Plants are very vigorous, upright and highly resistant to EFB. A good pollinizer for both Grand Traverse and The Beast. Can be planted in Zone 5, but locate trees in areas protected from north and west winter winds to prevent desiccation. Nuts mature the first or second week of September.  
• ‘The Beast’ – this hybrid is 75% European hazelnut parentage and 25% American hazelnut. It is highly resistant to EFB. Approximately 20’ tall and 15’ wide after 10 years. Nuts mature the second to third week in September. Winter hardy to Zone 5. Developed at Oregon State University.

Great Plains Nursery,  is a local Nebraska hazelnut producer carrying the cultivars mentioned above.  Z’s Nutty Ridge, from New York state, is another nut grower carrying the cultivars mentioned above.

Harvesting Nuts
Gather nuts as they begin to fall from the plant. Branches can be shaken gently to encourage nuts to fall. The nuts must be dried before storage, either in the shell or shelled. Drying shelled nuts will take less time.

Begin drying within 24 hours of harvest. Ideal drying temperature is 95 – 105°F, temperatures over 110°F will result in lower nut quality. Air circulation around the nuts during drying is very important, so place nuts on a screen or other container that will allow excellent air movement. 

Hazelnuts will be firm after harvesting, become spongy during drying and become firm again as they approach dryness. The internal nut will also change color from white to cream. Hazelnuts may require 2-3 days or more to dry, depending on temperature. Nuts are dry when the natural division line between the nut halves breaks open. 

Store dried nuts in air-tight containers in a refrigerator or freezer. Roast the nuts before using to bring out their flavor.

Environmental Benefits
In addition to their tasty fruits, hazelnuts provide many environmental benefits.

• Hazelnuts are drought resistant and can be grown on sloping ground not ideal for a vegetable garden or row crops.
• Plants perform well in soil with marginal quality.
• Their nuts are a good food source for deer, wild turkey, woodpeckers, squirrels, pheasants, quail and grouse.
• Use them in woodland gardens, semi-shaded areas or for naturalizing.