How to Efficiently Harvest Shagbark Hickory Nuts in the Woods
The day I discovered our own little patch of established Food forest on our property is the day I learned everything I could about how to harvest the Shagbark Hickory nut.
Here is everything I’ve learned and what I personally do when harvesting Shagbark Hickory nuts as efficiently as possible -
Firstly, our Hickory grove is younger and is mostly located on an incline which makes clearing out the inedible weeds more of a chore than normal. It also makes for an interesting harvest. I can’t use tool for nut gathering easily on the uneven terrain especially when the multi-floral rose takes over in late summer [one day, I’ll rotate some goats through there to knock them back permanently].
So how to harvest the small green-brown nut when leaf litter and dead organic material litter the floor?
Before the nuts fall, I mark main “hot spots”, where the previous years nut hulls lay on the ground. Sometimes it’s right near the trunk and in small low spots that are scattered on the hillside. For other trees, the hulls lay perfectly underneath the branches with no movements. To make efficient time while harvesting, these “hot spots” are marked with a flag – so on days that I don’t have a lot of time to gather and harvest, I can quickly find these spots and gather what’s there already.
About two or three times a week, I take the time to fully search around each Hickory Tree to find any nuts that I’ve missed. This has been the easiest way to harvest these trees in an unmaintained and uncultivated forest setting.
Turning the Food Forest Hickory Grove into a Regenerative Practice -
In the coming years, this grove will become a cultivated part on our farm – from clearing out the underbrush to clearing canopy space for young hickory trees to compete – each harvest year will become easier and more efficient.
If your harvesting in areas that are clear or flat – look into purchasing nut gathering tools to save pressure on your back. I’m looking forward to when these tools can be used on our farm!
Read more about Shagbark Hickory Nuts in the Food Forest and check out the article, Discovering and Developing the Food Forest.