the Renaissance Housewife
  • Home
  • Topics
    • Saving >
      • Kitchen >
        • Food >
          • Recipes
      • Bath & Laundry
      • Medicine Cabinet
      • Office
      • Electricity
      • Gardening
      • Foraging
      • Animals
      • Weekly F. A.'s
      • Printables & Downloads
    • Earning
    • Investing
  • Books
  • About
    • RH Recommends
    • Newsletter & Updates
    • Travel
    • Beta Readers
    • Legal Stuff

Harvesting Hickory Nuts

10/18/2015

1 Comment

 
Picture
'Tis the season for harvesting nuts! A few weeks ago I wrote a post about gathering and processing black walnuts. While those are my first choice of free Michigan nuts, another good nut for foraging is the hickory nut.

October is the month when you will find hickory nuts scattered along roadsides as you go for a daily walk or bike ride. It's easy to identify the shagbark hickory because of... well, it's shaggy bark. It always looks like it's peeling off.
Picture
Once you find a tree, you can probably find some nuts on the ground as well. It's easiest to find these where the grass is short- say alongside a corn field or close to the road. Some nuts will have the hull on, and some of the hulls will have fallen off. I try to get fresh-looking nuts with part of the hull on. Sometimes there are nuts left from the year before that have bugs in them. This will have a little pinhole somewhere on the nut. It will be disappointing if you bring home a load of empty nut shells.
Picture
Yield of one hickory nut.
Be sure to store the nuts someplace where mice cannot find them. Because yes, they chew through the shells. You can either store them in a mouse-proof container or hang them in an old nylon stocking.

Once you're ready (this could be anytime in the winter), the nutmeats can be extracted. I usually crack hickory nuts with a hammer on a hard surface- cement floor or cement block. Hickory nuts are much harder to crack than black walnuts, and there is less nutmeat to show for it. However, I very much prefer the taste of hickory to that of walnut. Plus, cracking nuts is fun for anyone old enough to use a hammer. It's cheap fun for kids. My sister and I spent hours out in my dad's shop cracking hickory nuts. Eating the yummy nutmeats was reward enough. :)

Have you ever had hickory nuts? What do you use them for?
1 Comment
Jennifer Smith
9/12/2020 11:55:40 pm

I find one way to weed out the "buggy" hickory nuts is to take your hulled nuts and dump them into a bucket of water. The buggy nuts will float, as there will be an air pocket caused by the larva consuming the nutmeat.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Bethany

    Housewife, happy wife, and mama to one. :)

    Picture

    Picture
    The Housewife's Guide to Frugal Food
    How to Eat for $10.00
    ​per Week

    Picture
    The Housewife's Guide to Menu Planning
    A Weekly Menu to Save
    Time & Money
    Picture
    The Housewife's Guide to
    Frugal Fruits and Vegetables

    No Garden? No Problem!

    Watch Meals From the Bunker:

    Picture

    Check out my Youtube Channel!

    RSS Feed


    Picture
    Baby Girl's Birth Story
    Picture
    8 Cheap Ways to Eat Healthy
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Christmas
    Cleaning
    Clothing
    Cooking
    Couponing
    Education
    Ego
    Electricity
    Farmers Market
    Finance
    Foraging
    Frugal
    Frugal Accomplishments
    Frugality
    Garage Sales
    Gardening
    Gifts
    Grocery Budget
    Grocery Shopping
    Herbs
    History
    Hobby Farm
    Home Based Business
    Home-based Business
    Home Decorating
    Housekeeping
    Industry
    Languages
    Laundry
    Marriage
    Meal Planning
    Medicine
    Minimalist
    Network Marketing
    Organization
    Plants
    Product Reviews
    Quotes
    Recipes
    ROI
    Rv
    Sewing
    Simplicity
    Spanish
    Spending Report
    Travel

    Archives

    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Full Disclosure & Disclaimer

    Picture
    Picture
    I get cash back for many online purchases including wedding gifts and Ebay stuff!

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from dasWebweib, amanessinger, thewritingreader, diakosmein