'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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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