The Hazelnut

From La Belgique Horticole, 1850s.


Hazelnuts have been part of the human diet for 9,000 years. A large pit with thousands of hazelnut hulls was found in Scotland, radiocarbon dated to about 7,000 BCE. This was on the east coast of the small Hebridean island of Colonsay at Staosnaig. At that time, hazenuts were important in the diet, along with acorns and nettles (Archeology.about.com) Also "Based on the abundance of hazelnut shells found at Mesolithic sites in southern Scandinavia and Northern Germany it was proposed that these remains may testify to an important food supply rather than just the use as a supplement to animal protein."

After the last ice age, hazelnuts spread from Northern Turkey (Pontus to the Greeks) to other areas of Europe.

"The caduceus of Greek mythology and Hermes fame was made of hazel.... when Apollo was only a few hours old he escaped from his cradle and went out in search of adventure...stole two oxen from Apollo (the god of the sun) and hid them in a cave where he killed and eat them. When Apollo discovered what had happened, Hermes played to him on a lyre... Apollo was so charmed by his music he allowed him to go unpunished. In gratitude Hermes gave his lyre to Apollo, who in return gave him a magical Caduceus made of Hazel, said to bestowed wisdom, wealth and prosperity on its owner by turning everything it touched into gold."from Plant Folklore, on Helium.com.

The ancient Greeks referred to hazelnuts as "karyon Pontin" for their plentiful availability in the mountains of Pontus.

Romans are known to have cultivated Hazelnuts, including in Britain.

(By Redoute, botanical illustrator for Marie Antionette)


The world's top producer of Hazelnuts is Turkey. In the US, the top producer is Oregon, followed by Washington.

Beehives in hazelnut grove, Ordu Turkey.  I think Hazelnuts are wind pollinated, however, because they bloom in winter.

From wikipedia.

 In mythology, hazel wood is used for dowsing (finding water). Quoting from the blog Grannulus Grove, "The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration. The Gaelic word for nuts are 'cno' pronounced 'knaw' and the word for wisdom, 'cnocach'...if a Hazel tree was unjustly cut down then the punishment was death." Glad I didn't cut down the hazel trees in my Vancouver yard, opting instead to move them to Battleground. Whew. From the same source, "Hazel trees were so abundant in Scotland that it was named Caledonia which was derived from Cal-Dun, meaning 'Hill of Hazel. In Norse mythology, the Hazel was known as the Tree of Knowledge and was sacred to the god Thor."

Hazelnut trees live about 50 years, but regenerate from the roots. So the large bush that results may have trunk or root hundreds of years old.  This regenerative ability may be why the small trees that I moved seemed to split into 2 or 3 trees.

From The Guide to Nut Cookery, 1898, by Almeda Lambert. " varieties which have long, fringed husks extending beyond the nut, are filberts; ...those whose husks are shorter than the nut, are hazels...derived from the Anglo-Saxon word haesel meaning a hood or bonnet."

Hazel Nut trees are more compact than most nut trees.  They tend to be bushy, so can be used for a hedge row.  Ultimate size about 10ft tall, 10ft across.... Hazelnuts spread by underground runners that develop roots. These runners can be cut away from the main plant using a sharp digging spade and planted in a new location. Also here.

Moving Orchard Mason Bee Houses

Each year I add new houses for the Orchard Mason Bees.  They fill up almost all of the holes, so I know they are proliferating.  Now to take some to the Battleground place, where there will be lots of trees to pollinate.

One is home made. The other was bought. I should not have kept it so old, they say they should be replaced to reduce disease. Still, they did well and reproduced well last year.

Kitty cat is vaguely curious but only in that "I don't care" cat way.

Packed with bubble pack to avoid rough travel. I think it's OK this time of year. Earlier in the season bumping and shaking is bad for them. Will install them in a little while. I read, ease or southeast exposures are best. This winter I'll have to make some new bee houses. A bee house is a piece of untreated wood, big enough for 5/16th's inch holes, 6 inches deep. Although these are 4 inches deep. There are many different plans. The bees don't care about the details.

Moving a Volunteer Hazelnut Tree

I didn't plan on moving this tree. While cleaning out compost bins, I looked over to it and decided to. This is a volunteer hazel nut tree.  It's in a corner by the house, with a fence on the South side, the house on the West side, and not much sun on the East side. It's been cut down once or twice. Maybe more. Probably about 6 or 8 years old.

Before digging.  Hard to see if this is one or several, and hard to see where the stem meets the roots.  I made my best guess, and dug under the tree with the shovel.  It came up very easily.  The soil is soft here, having had many years of bark mulch.

I imagine these are "squirrel planted".  Our friendly Sciurus arborists have planted a lot of nuts around the yard.  In addition to scarfing up every nut from the trees.

Clearly 2 trees.  Possibly one multi-stem, or more than one growing together.  I think it's one multistem.

Added potting soil to keep roots moist for transport.

Divided almost by accident.  I moved the stems around to see where they were joined, and they just broke apart.  Now I have a larger one with a lot of roots, and a smaller one with a few roots.  Plus 2 other smaller ones, one from this bunch and the other clearly separate.  The small ones are back into the potting soil while I decide what to do with them.  Maybe, by growing more, and larger, nut trees, there will be one or two nuts left for me to taste.

Planted. Now I have a row of 4 Hazelnut trees. Two of bearing age, one one-foot-tall seedling, and this 6 foot tall sapling.  I planted it as straight as I could.  I'll keep the top for a while to tie to a post and straighten it a bit more, then prune next summer for scaffold branches similar to the others.  This sapling is about 7 foot tall.  It did not look that big in the corner, due to laying on its side.

I gave it a good sprinkling of Plant Success Mycorrhiza, which I have no proof is helpful but am doing anyway.  Planted in the native topsoil, and mulched with compost.  Settled in for the winter.

Amazing to be planting trees in mid December.

Time Machine. 2006

From December 2006, same dogs, 6 years younger.  Different fireplace.


Tomatoes Summer 2006.  I think this was one of my better crops.


This is the fig tree I just moved to Battleground.  Summer 2006.  According to my notes then, I started it from a cutting Dec 2003/Jan 2004.


May 2006.  Sunny Disposition bearded iris.  I've moved a start to Battleground.  This is a good performer, increases well, blooms well even with neglect and grass/palm competition.


I was also reading about old and ancient seeds.  That Judean Date Palm is still growing.  The tree is male, so the only way we'll get a taste of the ancient dates, will be for it to be crossed with modern date palms, then back cross with the parent for a 75% ancient palm.  Probably not in my lifetime.  According to this blog, Methusaleh bloomed in 2011, so I hope they used it to pollinate a related palm and potentially have fruit from those trees in 2022.

Setting up Bee Keeping

I've been reading up on beekeeping.  For years I've had bee boxes for Orchard Mason Bees.  Now I'm feeling like they are the gateway drug for Honey Bees.

Today we went to Portland, BeeThinking store.  Bought a Top Bar Hive.  Went to their beekeeping class a few weeks ago, and this seems like the best approach for me.  Easier to manage, less weight for the back to manage.  That coming from someone who lifts 200# fig trees.  This is from their website, beethinking.com

The hive kit fit nicely into the back of a Prius. Over the winter I'll be assembling it. Got the copper roof for rain protection and keep a bit cooler.
The bee that got Ferdinand the Bull into trouble. I have this image tattooed on my right calf. I share a few traits with Ferdinand.

I also placed an order for Italian Honey Bees for next Spring.


Woodcut of honeybee and red clover. I will order some red clover seed and inoculum so I will have more nectar sources nearby. Also those linden trees although they may not do much next Spring. Blackberries are endemic, including our property, and honeybees love blackberry flowers. The fruit trees are small, so may not be meaningful this year for the bees, but there are lots in the area.  I read that honey bees forage as far away as 3 miles.

And one in Portugal, made from cork. It will be fun to learn about another aspect of gardening and nature.

Victorian Beehive via Commons.wikimedia.org. There are many variations on beehives. Bees have been at it much longer than humans. Even though we have a certain image in mind when we think of beehives, they don't have to look like the usual boxes.

Skeps in UK.  Skeps are hand woven, basket-like beehives.

Ukranian beehive, also via wikimedia commons.

Skep, 1800s, Switzerland.

Cork beehive in Portugal, also via wikimedia commons.