How you guys prepare

I've done some in the past. Your wise to grab them as soon as you see the husk with brown edges. I've tried waiting longer and they just disappear. Many times there even gone before first frost
I laid mine out too so they could dry where critter could not get them. Then I put them in onion sack until dried some more. When they got dry enough I could shake the bag knock lot of the husk off. Then it's crack and pop the meat out. Did seem to have a lot of them with small worm holes or even worm in shell. No meat.. Most of the wild ones I picked are like that. A big meat would be about like a sweet pea. They were not big but where tasty. Lots of work for what you get. But so good when you do.

Mac

I missed a bunch already , probably was a week or 2 late

Yep don't seem to take much. My sister has them on her property. Watch them thinking about how nice how many there are. Then like over over night their gone. Gotta be birds, squirrels mice I don't know. But they go fast once hit certain point.
Nicest ones I ever got where on highway right way up by Hayward..

Mac

I just leave them for the deer, but that's cool you are tryng some

Lots of them in my area but like said they vanish overnight when the bears find them. The chipmunks love them.

Very cool

I haven't tried eating any yet

Very cool! I've never seen them in the husk, didn't imagine they looked like that. Show us some pics when they're dried out and you're cracking them!

I started planting hazelnut trees last year. So far, I have not had a whole lot of luck with them. I put in around 100 and have around 30 left.

I first bought 21 Cortland, American/European crosses from Znutty. They sent 21 in the Summer. I potted them and all lived, but 1. I then ordered 50 Lakeshores Abundant American/European crosses from them and 1 Truxton clone. 1pack of 26 looked fine and the other pack was small, dried out and weak. I planted them straight in the ground. I should have complained. Not a single tree in the weak pack made it.

Diane purchased 8 American hazelnut trees from TSC, in cardboard and plastic packs. Some were broken with no fine roots. 3 out of the 8 made it. I bought 3 other likely American hazelnuts at auction, which did fine.

Another Trapperman member traded me some wild dug, beaked hazelnuts, which except for one, did well.

Over the Winter, when there was snow on the ground, rabbits went down the rows of my hazelnut trees cutting many of them off. I shot 2 rabbits in the act, through my bathroom window. The trees that were better established survived, the others didn't.

I had catkins on a few trees and some tiny flowers, but the deer ate those trees down.

I ended up with around 30 of about 100 trees left.

I bought 17 more American hazelnut trees today. They are around 4 foot tall and are throwing shoots from the bottom. I got a good deal on them at $10.00 each. I've got hay down now, where I am going to hopefully plant them later this week.

I bought 3 cold hardy pecan trees today too.

If anyone has any viable hazelnut seeds, especially any of the American/European hybrids, I would be interested in purchasing some.

Keith

Mine look more like large bushes. They came with the property, I didn't plant them.

You probably have beaked hazelnuts, but could also have American hazelnuts. The papery husk on a beaked hazelnut bush is longer and entirely covers the nut. Beaked hazelnuts have smaller nuts than the American hazelnuts. The European and Turkish hazelnut trees have larger nuts, but can't grow in much of the US because of a blight. Some of the hybrid hazelnut trees have huge nuts, with thin shells, you can crack with your hands.

The main staple for the first Europeans to move to Europe towards the end of the Iceage was hazelnuts.

Keith

the campground that we stay at as hazelnuts but they are on a vine like bush , like we had outback of the house as kids