Hazlenuts

[burnie]

The gales have blown some nuts off the hazels,will they ripen like tomatoes on the windowsill?Bit soft and tastless at the moment.

[rustylady]

You can try. They have two chances!!

[SarahStrawberry]

Hi Burnie

I would be keen to know how you get on. We have hazelnuts on our tree for the first time this year and they are still green. Today, they are being whipped around by the strong wind so there's a chance ours will be off as well. I don't think I'm that far away from you, I am just outside Dundee.

[burnie]

I've put a few in a trug in the porch,nice and warm and rodent free,they look to be browning nicely on the outside.

[Jeanied]

You can harvest hazelnuts in two stages - different kinds of nuts at both stages - green and brown.

[FB.]

Yes, the flavour of the nuts changes during storage, as the nuts dry out. At the moment, they will have a "fresh" or "green" taste to them, which reminds me of a cross between nuts and green salad.
Prolonged storage (dehydration) will give the nuts a more normal hazelnut flavour. Hazelnuts are often roasted.
Flavour, shape, size, ripening time and cropping varies with certain varieties - many wild hazels are random "one-off" seedlings and not recognised commercial varieties (e.g. Kent, Gunslebert).

If you find a nut with mould inside the shell, don't be tempted to eat any part of that nut, since some moulds that attack nuts can produce quite nasty, toxic or carcinogenic substances.

[WrexTheDragon]

I picked a load last week and within a few days in the house they have turned a nice shade of brown.

Taste very nice.

[gojiberry]

I find they don't store well and are best eaten within a few weeks. Have had loads of the hedges around the lottie perimeter. Surprising as I saw a grey squirrel about the other day. Hereford cob nut were on sale at a petrol station the other day and were £1.65 for about a dozen nuts.

Ian

[FB.]

I find they don't store well and are best eaten within a few weeks.

Interesting comment. What happens to your hazelnuts during storage?
I still have a few handfuls remaining from 2009's harvest and although 10-20% of the nuts have rotted or gone mouldy, the remaining 80-90% seem OK to me.
I have noticed in wet years (such as 2007-2008) that mouldy nuts can be quite common. Fortunately, I'm in a relatively dry part of the UK, so we don't get many really wet seasons.

[burnie]

Well they were a bit small and some shells were empty,but very tasty when ripe and brown.

[SarahStrawberry]

Well done you Burnie! Our dropped off and when i brought them inside and opened them they were brown and mushy and not very nice - there's always next year

[coreopsis]

I haven't started mine yet-look nice and brown

[pauco]

The gales have blown some nuts off the hazels,will they ripen like tomatoes on the windowsill?Bit soft and tastless at the moment.

Or you could leave them for the birds, Jays, and most of the Crow family will store them for when there is a sortage of food this winter.