Nuts

[MuddyWitch]

We were just chatting, hubby & I, & he asked which nuts apart from walnuts & hazel/fillberts would grow in Ireland?

I said ' I don't know,but I know a forum full of great folks who do'

MW

[MKG]

Chestnuts and beech mast spring immediately to mind.

Mike

[contadino]

Almonds - you just have to choose the strain correctly.

[old tree man]

i'm sure walnuts will also

[Millymollymandy]

Isn't that pretty much it really for northern Europe, let alone Ireland? Are there any other nuts we can grow cos I can't think of any!

[grahamhobbs]

Peanuts?

[Millymollymandy]

They're not a nut, they're a legume. (I was just recently watching an episode of The Big Food Fight and that's what they said - as it grows under ground!). They grow in Greece but maybe not Ireland.

[grahamhobbs]

I knowof people growing them in polytunnels in England - just for fun

[Odsox]

Yes, I grew some peanuts one year in the greenhouse border ... not a very spectacular venture.

Hazels grow here of course as they grow wild in hedges everywhere, also almonds do very well but need shelter from the wind especially in early spring.
I planted a sweet chestnut when I first moved here that grew quite well for about 2 years and then didn't come into leaf the next spring, just died over winter for some reason.
I didn't try again and I haven't seen any other chestnut trees around here either.
I also have a walnut tree that's growing in leaps and bounds, but again needs shelter.

Apart from those there's wheel nuts, wing nuts and nuts like me.

[MuddyWitch]

Thanks folks!

Odsox, you're the best nut in Ireland!

MW

[frozenthunderbolt]

Pine nuts should handle the cold being evergreens, otherwise hickory nuts might also do ok.

[Millymollymandy]

How does one harvest pine nuts though - I've often wondered about that? I have some pine trees but are the nuts that one can buy specific to one kind of pine or what?

[contadina]

How does one harvest pine nuts though - I've often wondered about that? I have some pine trees but are the nuts that one can buy specific to one kind of pine or what?

By hand and with great difficulty, which is why they are so expensive. You can check for pine nuts by heating cones until they crack and then shell the pine nut. Most pines have them but many are too small to considered worthwhile. Apparently the stone pine is the one most suitable in Europe.

[Millymollymandy]

Thanks Contadina. Sounds like hard work and I don't have that kind of pine either!

[Odsox]

Also, like peanuts, pine nuts are not nuts ... just pine seeds.