sutton023

Very quick post here, we're into urgent hand harvest TODAY; still some days before machine harvest will be sensible.  (See UPDATE below, also) Besides the hazel plants we sell, if you grow hazelnuts you got from Arbor Day, or "Wisconsin" - chances are over 90% you're actually growing Badgersett genetics; and there's something you need to know- today. Some Badgersett hazels - DO NOT TURN BROWN WHEN RIPE.  In particular, the G-029-N tissue culture clones will ripen when entirely white- then vanish as animals eat them while you wait.  We've found some seedlings in all breeding lines that share this characteristic, some of which obviously took their pollen from a G-029-N somewhere. These nuts are FULLY RIPE: Above is life size.  NOTE_ the husk are entirely green- the nuts are white (actually a very pale but genuine green color). Quarter for scale- NOTE - all the nuts easily come cleanly out of their husks, "abcision" is complete, the nuts are no longer t...

Managed to stop in on my way back from the New York Nut Growers summer meeting; and was truly delighted to find the substantial research and demonstration planting of Badgersett hazel germplasm just outside the Oberlin Lewis Center for Environmental Studies - more than thriving.  Please note- these plants were installed only 2.5 years ago ; all as standard tubelings, with about 8 clonal divisions for reference plants, including the G-029-N tissue culture clone. To my additional delight, they're running a chicken tractor in the hazels, with about 15 Lace Wyandottes providing a little nitrogen and soil service.  The folks here, left to right, are Griff Radulsksi, Sean Hayes (Lewis Center Manager), and John Bergen. These plants were tubelings- just 2 and a half years ago.  The tallest stems here have put on about 4 feet of new growth- so far- this year; Sean is 6 feet tall +.  Many of the tubelings are putting on catkins for next year, now; usually an indication t...

We have a whole lot of directions we work on with the hazels; including "big nuts", "really thin shells" and "great flavor" - oh, and "a crop , that ripens no matter what".  Here, for example is one of our research plants - fully ripe now, although so many hazels are ripening very late this year: It doesn't look that impressive- until you crack it- and it's pretty nearly  all kernel... Don't forget!  This Saturday is Field Day.  Tons to see, although most hazels are not ripe.  And; be aware, starting this year, we're having TWO Field Days; 3rd Sat in August for hazels, and now last Sat in Sept, for chestnuts and hickory/pecans.  Come to both is you can!

In mid June, Jonah Adels talked us into putting in a proposal for this year's MIT Climate CoLab competition. We're now semi-finalists, and need your votes to make it to the final presentation round at MIT this November, where the grand prize is $10,000. The judges like our proposal, which focuses on one of the many next steps for getting Woody Ag launched as an industry, and for getting even better plants into your fields. Just making it to the next stage would be a huge help for getting the word out, and gaining support for Woody Ag and Badgersett. We also feel that if we make it to the final round there's a good chance we'll win the grand prize, which would go a long way towards speeding up the expansion of our production demonstration and clonal propagation work! To make it past this stage, we need your help! Please do the following , at least up to step 3 : If you need convincing, go to  http://climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/18/planId/1303920  an...

Come join us on Saturday, August 17; there is much to see, as always. We've got three acres of hazel tubelings we just put in on the back hill in July, right next door to the field of hickory-pecans that's starting to come into actual production, currently being mowed by the sheep. Our hazels have another very serious crop set this year; it's running late from the cold and wet, but it's still on its way. Some of the highlights: The spring was very late, and continuing lack of heat in the summer is giving rise to a substantially later than usual ripeness profile for most of the hazels. You'll get to see nearly the whole crop on the bushes this time around! Big crop this year, even after last year's drought. The cool, wet year has also shifted which pests are most prominent. We've got a new field of tubelings just planted at the end of July. Come see what a freshly machine-planted field of hazels should look like! A focus on pre-harvest pest and field manageme...