The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery

Author:Carla Emery [Emery, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 978-1-57061-841-3
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Published: 2012-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

Pollinating. Barcelona is a good pollinator for Daviana. Filbert trees have unusual blooming patterns. The trees do not have a natural dormant period. They can be loosely classified into early bloomers, mid-bloomers, and late bloomers. Early bloomers start about November and continue into January and February. Mid-bloomers bloom mostly in the winter months. Late bloomers start later and continue until March. To make it even more murky, sexes may bloom at different times. The males of some varieties bloom first; within other varieties, the females bloom first. You’re fortunate if you can get them both to bloom at once, which is what you need for fertile seeds.

Pruning. Easterners usually let filberts grow as a large bush (limited to 5 or 6 stems so the center doesn’t get too dense), but on the West Coast, they are often pruned to a single main stem to make them look like small trees. Prune mature plants in a way that lets more light into the center of the tree. Prune only during winter.

Cooking with Filberts. Filberts may be toasted, ground, and so forth. For baking they are usually left unblanched, for the pinkish skin adds much to their flavor and food value.

Removing the Skins. Spread the nuts on a cookie sheet or in a shallow baking pan. Bake at 300°F for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After they have cooled enough to handle you can rub the skins off with your fingers. If you plan to chop filberts, toast them after chopping. Store toasted nuts in an airtight container. Filberts make a great nut flour.

Harvesting. Filberts that are pollinated in January or February will grow in spring and drop in September and early October. The female flower has already been growing a year and a half when the filbert nut, which has been attached to it almost 8 months, finally drops. Pick up the nuts as soon as possible to prevent mold and to reduce loss to birds and squirrels. Give them the water test—floaters are not good. Dry them by spreading them out in a dry room and stirring them occasionally. Store in the shells in a place where mice and rats won’t be tempted.

HAZELNUTS: These trees differ from filberts in that their smaller size allows you to plant them only 10 feet apart. The nutmeats are good-tasting but tend to be smaller than those of the filbert. Winkler is a good variety. Hazelnuts make a nice raw nut butter. You can mix it with vegetable or fruit juices to make a salad dressing.

HEARTNUTS: See “Walnuts.”

HICKORIES: Hickories (Carya) grow wild in the central and eastern United States. They naturally grow into straight, very tall trees (maybe 50 feet) and are sold for their unusually strong wood, used to make tool handles. Hickory wood is also a prized firewood, and the bark is excellent for smoking meat. It takes a hickory tree an average 5 years to start bearing nuts. When mature, they’ll produce 4 or 5 bushels per year. They can be stored in the shell for months in a cool dry place.

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