This time last year, by chance, we happened across a stretch of hazel trees heavy with nuts and decided that each year we'd try and make an annual family trip to that particularly fruitful spot. We found plenty on the ground and just a few on the trees. When we got home the brown nuts that we collected from the ground were the best, with huge nuts inside when they were cracked open. Of the green nuts from the ground, these were mostly empty or mouldy. I think they'd fallen from the tree before they had ripened enough. And the last nut category ... those picked off the tree ... definitely just not ripe enough and mainly empty! From our basket full of bounty we were left with a small bowl full of nuts. They are delicious straight from the shell, or even better, pop them on a very hot dry pan for three minutes. Set the timer so you don't forget the pan!
Do you have squirrel trouble over there too? We never get any nuts!
Posted by: hedgewizard | September 19, 2007 at 11:57 PM
How funny
-it has been mad weather here in Denamrk lately- cold, rainy and windy so I have just spent all morning collecting hazelnuts - got a huge bowl ful ithe ground was just covered in nuts.
I´ve got 3 bushes- 1 old large regular bush just next to the hens and 2 smaller ones - I think they are called lambert or something like tha- I don´t think they taste as good as the smaller regular ones.
When we came here 7 years ago- there were really alot of worms in the nuts- but hardly any after the hens live around the bushes :-D
The sqirrel has disapperared after I got a dog....
Hope he/she found another bush :-D
So great hazelnut year but sad walnut year -
this rainy summer = nuts are not proper closed, so we´ll have to shell all of them and freeze ... it is such a bother compaired to keep them in the shells.
Another windy evening is coming so I guess I can pick up nuts all day tomorrow again
Posted by: Henriette | September 21, 2007 at 11:24 AM