Posted on 2 Comments

2021 will be a stellar year for hickory nuts!

2021 will be a stellar year for hickory nuts! Well, as many of you know, 2020 season was abysmal, but let’s not dwell in the past. This season is going to make up for it! As usual, I’ve been watching the hickory trees this summer. Now it’s the first day of September. I’ve been tracking over 400 trees for five years. Many of the trees that have never produced a nut are laden this year. Not only that, the trees have a LOT of nuts on them.

This season everything has been coming in early: beans, tomatoes, berries, etc. The hickory trees are following suit; it seems that the trees are going to drop their nuts a few weeks early this year too. That’s my guess. That means they may be ready as soon as mid-October.

If you haven’t already, sign up for my alert to be notified as soon as they are ready to ship. Like I said, 2021 will be a stellar year for hickory nuts!

Plus, this is my first year to purchase hickory nuts. My goal is to make hickory nuts the next great nut! The next step is to figure out how to get them out of the shell with a machine.

Posted on 4 Comments

2020 Hickory Nut Season

The 2020 hickory nut season was abysmal. I checked over 400 trees throughout Adams County, Pennsylvania. I didn’t even get 1/2 pound.

2020's tiny hickory nut harvest
My entire hickory nut harvest for 2020. You can see the darker, rotten nuts on the left. Probably many of the others are rotten.

Right when they were ready to drop I started checking the trees. I can get a sense for how many nuts there are going to be. I started to get concerned. I barely saw any!

There were a few trees that made nuts this year, but the squirrels ate them all up in the tree before they had a chance to drop.

You can see from the picture how small this year’s harvest was. I cracked a few after this picture was taken. the dark ones on the left are rotten and so were many of them. I bet I got ten nuts this year.

Hickory trees produce in pulses. Usually every two or three years is a big year. That’s called a mast year. The trees seem to get synced up by proximity. So all of the trees in a particular area will all have a mast year in the same year. I have mapped almost 500 tress. I’ve found that in any given year, I can cycle through the different trees and there are always some that have a good year. It ends up being a pretty good average of 100 lbs or so.

But this year there were basically NO hickory nuts. This year it seems that the issue was bigger than the mast years not syncing up. It was widespread. It seems to be across much of the mid-Atlantic. I got reports from many people saying that they had a very bad year too.

I’m not sure what caused this. My two main theories are 1) There was a freeze while the catkins (like the trees’ flowers) were out or 2) the trees didn’t produce any nuts because of the drought.

I had even recorded a video talking about how bad of a season it was and that I wouldn’t be selling any nuts this year. Thankfully I didn’t send it.

I received an email from a gentleman in northern PA. He said he had almost 200 pounds of shagbark hickory nuts that all came from one [very happy] tree! He told me he cleans his yard with a snow shovel!

Well, since I couldn’t stomach having a completely dead year, I bought his hickory nuts from him. I want as many of you as possible to have hickory nuts.

hickory nut processing. hickory nuts in bags

Overall, I’m very pleased with his hickory nuts. They taste delicious. The vast majority are good viable nuts! They are a little bit on the smaller side, but nothing unreasonable. Normally I have nuts from hundreds of trees and they get mixed together, so you might have different sizes, different shell thicknesses, and different tastes. This year they are pretty consistent because they all came from one tree.

Posted on 2 Comments

How to Crack and Eat Hickory Nuts

So you got a sack of hickory nuts, or you’re thinking about purchasing some to try. Now you’re wondering, “how do I get that goodness in me!? How do I crack these hickory nuts?”
 
One of the reasons you don’t see hickory nuts grown commercially is because they can be tricky to get out of the shell. They aren’t like a pistachio. You can’t just snap the shell in half. I do admit they take patience, but I think it’s totally worth it! Wait until those nuts hit your taste buds.
 
Plus, part of the charm is sitting around eating nuts with your family or watching a movie. No reason to be in such a hurry.
 
There are, however, a few things you can do to optimize your time.
 
Now, we should make a distinction between “crack” and “shell.” Cracking hickory nuts is exactly what it sounds like. The nuts are still in pieces of the shell, but you can pick them out.
 
Shelling hickory nuts is where the nut is completely removed from the shell and the pieces are usually perfect halves of hickory nuts.
 
We also need to make a distinction between Shagbark and Shellbark hickory nuts. These are the kinds of hickory nuts that I sell. Getting to the nut meat inside is a bit different between the two. I’ll explain that now.
 

Shagbark Hickory Nuts

Cracking Shagbark Hickory Nuts

Shagbark nuts aren’t hard to crack. You can use a common hand cracker like this one.  I’m about to upload my review of this cracker, but for now you’ll have to trust me. After you crack the nut you will use your pick to work out the nut meat from the shell. Keep those shells totally separate. I had a friend that broke a tooth when a piece of shell drove itself like a wedge between her teeth. After a while you get a discerning eye.
 
This method is the best when you’re lounging around with your family during an autumn evening. No reason to rush that hickory nut greatness.
 
I can run these through my heavy duty,
 
Shelling Shagbark Hickory Nuts
Maybe you want to make a pie or cookie and you need to remove the shells. So far the best method I’ve found for shelling shagbark nuts is to use the Texan York Nut Sheller. Basically you cut the ends off. Then you cut the top off. Then you can simply cut down the middle and you usually have two perfect hickory nut halves. I’m going to make a review about it soon, but for now you can find a few videos about it on YouTube.

 
 
 
 

Shellbark Hickory Nuts

Cracking Shellbark Hickory Nuts

Shellbark hickory nuts are harder to crack than Shagbark. A basic cracker isn’t going to cut it. For those you will probably want anything that can crack a black walnut. They are pretty hard.
 
Of course I can run them through my heavy duty cracker for you. I can crack a pound of either kind in no more than two minutes.
 
Now if you’re looking to cleanly shell them (shagbark) for a pie. I think the texan nut sheller is the best thing going! At some point soon I hope to do a review of that too.
 
Someday I may invent a machine to do it at scale.:)
 
I hope you try some. I’m not exaggerating when i say that they are the best tasting nut there is.
 
Sorry for the delay. For some reason responses from the contact form don’t forward to my real email.
 
-Ryan
pile of cracked hickory nuts
Cracked Hickory Nuts

Posted on Leave a comment

2019 Hickory Nut Season is Well Underway

I’m super stoked! I’ve already managed to squirrel away a nice sized cache of Hickory nuts. The Shagbarks are producing like crazy. The the Shellbarks not so much usually hold their nuts for a while. I found an extremely productive pignut. Which is a new one for me. I didn’t measure this for exact amounts, but it seems like the trees are happy this year. I’ve tried the nuts from four or five trees already and they are extraordinarily delicious. I’ve gotten permission to harvest on three new properties already.

They are not quite ready to ship. The nuts have to be float tested and sorted into grade A. Then they need to be dried for a few weeks. I expect they’ll be ready to ship by late October.

Right now I’m still in full-on harvest mode. I’ve got to beat the squirrels and chipmunks!

Bucket quarter full of 2019 pignut Hickory harvest
2019 pignut Hickory harvest

One full bucket and a quarter bucket of shagbarks 2019 Hickory Nut harvest--shagbarks and pignuts in the back
2019 Hickory Nut harvest–shagbarks and pignuts in the back

What I believe to be pignut bark
Pignut?

Posted on Leave a comment

Thanks for a stellar hickory nut season!

Thanks for a great 2018 season. Here are a few of the highlights: 

  • I sold 31 orders for a total of 63 pounds. 
  • I shipped to 20 different states
  • 1st repeat customer 
  • 1st 3X customer
  • 5 lb ordered from Philly Wild Harvesting Meetup
  • I paid off all of our harvesting and processing tools
  • I cleared out 2017 and 2018 stock! Thanks for helping us sell out.
  • I discovered a happy grove of the ellusive Shellbark trees. 
  • I mapped 300+ hickory trees in 2018
  • I received permission from 5 or 6 new property owners to harvest on their property

Lord willing, I’ll be back in the fall of 2019 to delight your taste buds with the incredible hickory nut!

Posted on Leave a comment

The Nuts are Coming in Now!

Well, it’s finally shagbark hickory nut season! I’m like a squirrel. I love them so much! I want everyone to try them. That’s why I sell shagbark hickory nuts. Not only are they edible, but they taste amazing! And they are good for you.

I’ve been making my usual circuit around Adams County, PA. This year I’ve been applying my notes from the years past in order to maximize my harvest.

In 2017 I learned that the window of viability is pretty narrow. If they are on the ground for too long (10 days or so) then they become exponentially more rotten. In 2017 we went on vacation right in the middle of the season.

In 2018 I have the luxury of applying more time to harvesting. I’m making it more of a priority. I’m trying to make hay while the sun is shining. I think I have another five to seven days before the nuts are too far gone. Most of them have dropped, but a few trees are still hanging on.

I’ve clocked about fifteen towards harvesting so far. I have right around fifty pounds. Here are a few random shots of my experience so far.

Posted on 2 Comments

2018’s Hickory Nuts are Almost Ready

The hickory nuts are just about ready to fall for 2018. The squirrels are up there eating them, so I know they’re about to fall! It will be a few more days until they are ready to fall. If the squirrels don’t eat them all.

1
00:00:00,170 –> 00:00:07,400
yo this is Ryan I am taking a little

2
00:00:04,799 –> 00:00:09,830
stroll in the woods near my house I’m

3
00:00:07,400 –> 00:00:12,960
doing the first check for hickory nuts

4
00:00:09,830 –> 00:00:14,610
super excited I will say this year I

5
00:00:12,960 –> 00:00:16,949
haven’t really been looking at the trees

6
00:00:14,610 –> 00:00:19,289
a lot of times I’ll walk around and

7
00:00:16,949 –> 00:00:23,840
check out the trees and this year this

8
00:00:19,289 –> 00:00:26,250
summer I didn’t so I’m pretty excited to

9
00:00:23,840 –> 00:00:27,960
thought I heard one falling pretty

10
00:00:26,250 –> 00:00:28,500
excited to come out here and just see

11
00:00:27,960 –> 00:00:35,430
how they’re doing

12
00:00:28,500 –> 00:00:38,219
okay so there’s a shag bark you can see

13
00:00:35,430 –> 00:00:42,110
this one happens to be so shaggy

14
00:00:38,219 –> 00:00:42,110
it’s literally peeling off

15
00:00:45,520 –> 00:00:55,150
I will sustainably harvest some of this

16
00:00:50,350 –> 00:00:56,800
bark off of a shagbark hickory I don’t

17
00:00:55,150 –> 00:00:58,780
over harvest but I know where there’s

18
00:00:56,800 –> 00:01:02,530
enough trees that I can pull a little

19
00:00:58,780 –> 00:01:07,060
bit off of each tree so if you want some

20
00:01:02,530 –> 00:01:09,220
hickory shagbark hickory bark smoke and

21
00:01:07,060 –> 00:01:17,110
I’m not talking about getting high I’m

22
00:01:09,220 –> 00:01:19,690
talking about smoking your meats man all

23
00:01:17,110 –> 00:01:22,140
right man look I’m investigating look

24
00:01:19,690 –> 00:01:22,140
what we got

25
00:01:26,040 –> 00:01:32,430
signs of debris I’ll tell you exactly

26
00:01:29,940 –> 00:01:35,880
what that is that’s a squirrel

27
00:01:32,430 –> 00:01:37,610
stealing my hickory nuts I’m just

28
00:01:35,880 –> 00:01:40,470
kidding the hickory nuts are there sue

29
00:01:37,610 –> 00:01:43,890
I’ll share I’ll be happy to share these

30
00:01:40,470 –> 00:01:50,250
with the squirrels now when they start

31
00:01:43,890 –> 00:01:51,540
hitting the ground denim not as happy so

32
00:01:50,250 –> 00:01:54,360
when you see this kind of debris laying

33
00:01:51,540 –> 00:01:56,310
around that’s really green and broken

34
00:01:54,360 –> 00:01:59,760
that means essentially that the nuts

35
00:01:56,310 –> 00:02:01,710
inside there are good enough to eat

36
00:01:59,760 –> 00:02:04,560
they’re probably they probably have a

37
00:02:01,710 –> 00:02:08,190
lot of tannins and they’re really hard

38
00:02:04,560 –> 00:02:11,730
to get to unless you’ve got big squirrel

39
00:02:08,190 –> 00:02:13,980
teeth and you know you are a squirrel I

40
00:02:11,730 –> 00:02:18,090
found that it’s really not worth the

41
00:02:13,980 –> 00:02:19,620
effort to get to those green nuts so

42
00:02:18,090 –> 00:02:26,010
what you see now is just the shells

43
00:02:19,620 –> 00:02:27,870
basically I mean there I heard one and

44
00:02:26,010 –> 00:02:29,250
when they do fall the squirrels are

45
00:02:27,870 –> 00:02:34,670
roaming the ground looking for those

46
00:02:29,250 –> 00:02:34,670
green ones and and prying them open and

47
00:02:36,920 –> 00:02:42,630
here’s one they’re busy over here the

48
00:02:40,410 –> 00:02:45,390
squirrels so you see what I mean

49
00:02:42,630 –> 00:02:47,090
you can’t really get to that you can’t

50
00:02:45,390 –> 00:02:52,260
get to it

51
00:02:47,090 –> 00:02:55,290
in a couple weeks when they start

52
00:02:52,260 –> 00:02:57,750
hitting the ground they’ll essentially

53
00:02:55,290 –> 00:02:59,160
just they’ll be so dry that they

54
00:02:57,750 –> 00:03:03,420
essentially just hit the ground

55
00:02:59,160 –> 00:03:04,920
crack open sometimes they’re so dry that

56
00:03:03,420 –> 00:03:07,980
they actually just break while they’re

57
00:03:04,920 –> 00:03:09,420
falling there and then you go around

58
00:03:07,980 –> 00:03:11,400
with your nut wizard and you just pick

59
00:03:09,420 –> 00:03:15,330
them up I’ll show you that when they

60
00:03:11,400 –> 00:03:21,810
start falling but today these hickory

61
00:03:15,330 –> 00:03:24,930
trees are not giving me edible food this

62
00:03:21,810 –> 00:03:27,840
is just not worth the time but the good

63
00:03:24,930 –> 00:03:29,340
news is that it seems like there’s gonna

64
00:03:27,840 –> 00:03:31,580
be a lot of eat green nuts up in the

65
00:03:29,340 –> 00:03:31,580
tree

66
00:03:34,660 –> 00:03:40,520
so I’ll come back and check on these in

67
00:03:37,700 –> 00:03:42,319
a couple weeks so for now what I’m going

68
00:03:40,520 –> 00:03:44,740
to do is spend my time mapping these

69
00:03:42,319 –> 00:03:44,740
trees

70
00:03:45,910 –> 00:03:54,530
I’m gonna try to build comprehensive map

71
00:03:49,460 –> 00:03:59,800
of shagbark hickory nuts in Adams County

72
00:03:54,530 –> 00:03:59,800
Pennsylvania that’s my goal

73
00:04:02,230 –> 00:04:07,810
I’m gonna do it mostly for myself but

74
00:04:05,590 –> 00:04:10,269
I’m just curious to see what kind of

75
00:04:07,810 –> 00:04:13,510
trees are out here where they are see

76
00:04:10,269 –> 00:04:15,640
them on a map and then I can when

77
00:04:13,510 –> 00:04:24,460
they’re numbered that I can keep a log

78
00:04:15,640 –> 00:04:26,889
of which ones produce in which years the

79
00:04:24,460 –> 00:04:28,930
yeah I’d be I happen to be blessed to

80
00:04:26,889 –> 00:04:31,150
live in a nice little stand of them I

81
00:04:28,930 –> 00:04:35,110
think whoever owned this property a long

82
00:04:31,150 –> 00:04:38,880
time ago purposely put them here I know

83
00:04:35,110 –> 00:04:42,729
that hickories like limestone and

84
00:04:38,880 –> 00:04:55,419
there’s quite a bit of our soils very

85
00:04:42,729 –> 00:04:59,940
alkaline here a couple nice Oaks – that

86
00:04:55,419 –> 00:04:59,940
is a timber quality right there I

87
00:05:01,139 –> 00:05:07,599
wouldn’t cut them down they’re beautiful

88
00:05:05,370 –> 00:05:11,380
but I don’t have a say this isn’t my

89
00:05:07,599 –> 00:05:13,800
property so I can’t say what’s gonna

90
00:05:11,380 –> 00:05:13,800
happen

91
00:05:15,390 –> 00:05:21,540
but I hope they’re never developed

92
00:05:19,310 –> 00:05:33,000
they’re putting houses in across the

93
00:05:21,540 –> 00:05:37,850
street over there and if they cut down

94
00:05:33,000 –> 00:05:37,850
these hickory trees I will weep and weep

95
00:05:41,529 –> 00:05:45,159
actually what I would do is probably

96
00:05:43,209 –> 00:05:48,479
scrounge all my asses together and just

97
00:05:45,159 –> 00:05:54,429
try to buy it try to buy the property

98
00:05:48,479 –> 00:05:56,919
put it into conservation I hear a rumor

99
00:05:54,429 –> 00:06:05,079
that these shagbark hickory you can

100
00:05:56,919 –> 00:06:07,929
actually put them into conservation I’m

101
00:06:05,079 –> 00:06:13,709
not saying that I’m after the money but

102
00:06:07,929 –> 00:06:16,659
I know that these can be protected

103
00:06:13,709 –> 00:06:17,949
there’s a I forget the species of the

104
00:06:16,659 –> 00:06:21,849
bat but I know that there is a

105
00:06:17,949 –> 00:06:27,519
relatively endangered bat that will

106
00:06:21,849 –> 00:06:30,629
actually make its home inside the bark

107
00:06:27,519 –> 00:06:30,629
up under the bark and

108
00:06:35,770 –> 00:06:45,280
I like that idea like that idea

109
00:06:42,569 –> 00:06:49,960
protecting the bats they live in the

110
00:06:45,280 –> 00:06:53,849
trees I don’t know what it is I just

111
00:06:49,960 –> 00:06:56,139
have an affinity for the hickory tree I

112
00:06:53,849 –> 00:07:00,400
don’t know why I have such an affinity

113
00:06:56,139 –> 00:07:04,629
but I never really thought of myself as

114
00:07:00,400 –> 00:07:07,750
a tree hugger but I guess I am okay well

115
00:07:04,629 –> 00:07:10,180
the good news is that there’s nuts up

116
00:07:07,750 –> 00:07:11,830
there in the trees the bad news is

117
00:07:10,180 –> 00:07:14,500
they’re not quite ready they’re gonna

118
00:07:11,830 –> 00:07:17,620
need another my guess is probably

119
00:07:14,500 –> 00:07:22,389
another week to ten days before they

120
00:07:17,620 –> 00:07:25,150
start being worth my time to come out

121
00:07:22,389 –> 00:07:26,830
here and harvest there’s no reason to

122
00:07:25,150 –> 00:07:29,139
try to take those holes off when you can

123
00:07:26,830 –> 00:07:32,110
just get your nut wizard and pick them

124
00:07:29,139 –> 00:07:33,460
up so I’ll be back out here check on

125
00:07:32,110 –> 00:07:38,009
these trees in another week or so

126
00:07:33,460 –> 00:07:38,009
and I’ll get some more footage peace

Posted on Leave a comment

You Bought Some Hickory Nuts. Now What?

You just got some hickory nuts. Good for you! Your mouth is about to explode with the delicious nutty flavor. In my humble opinion there is no better nut!

I want you to get maximum enjoyment out of these nuts. Here are a few tips.

How to Get that Goodness in You

ekco nut cracker

It’s an age old problem: cracking nuts and getting that delicious, wholesome nut meat in your body! Back in the stone ages

they used stones to crack nuts. Just hit the nut with a stone. I image they used something like a porcupine quill or stick to dig the meat out.

Thankfully, today we have nut crackers and nut picks.

Hickory nuts aren’t especially hard, so a regular old, hand-held nut cracker is just fine. If you’re sitting around watching a movie or hanging out with friends then that is the best way. Just crack and eat.

If you are doing a lot of nut cracking then you  might want to get something more heavy-duty like this nut cracker.

How to Prepare Hickory Nuts

Raw

Raw is the most simple. This is how I eat them. Just get your nut cracker and pick and start eating! You can bake with them or eat them straight.

Roasted

Roasted are the next simple and they take the taste to new levels! Simply spread out the nuts on a cookie sheet. The don’t have to be shelled. Put them in the oven at 300° for 60-90 minutes. If they are shelled then you can sprinkle a little tiny bit of veggie oil and salt.

Once they are roasted then you can bake with them or eat them straight.

Pies

Use hickory nuts in place of pecans in pecan pie! So good

Milk

 

You can make a hickory nut milk. I mix it into smoothies and ice cream, but you can drink it straight. It is so good for you and tastes amazing.

Hickory Nut Milk

How to Store Hickory Nuts

Hickory nuts last quite a long time. Especially when they are whole. There are a few things you can do to make them last even longer though!

How to Store Hickory Nuts

Cracked

If your hickory nuts are already cracked then they may not last as long, but they will still last for a long time. If they are cracked then we recommend you put them in a zip lock back or vacuum sealer and put them in the freezer. if you don’t do that then keep them in a zip lock bag at least.

Whole

You could just put them on the counter and come back and eat them a year or more later and they would taste just as amazing. Likewise if you put them in a zip lock bag or vacuum seal and put them in the freezer they will last you years.

A Few Quick Points

  • Be careful of the shells! They can drive in between your teeth like a wedge and split a tooth. I had this happen to a friend. Just take a little extra time to make sure you got every little piece of shell out before you pop back a handful