Notes from Butternut Farm, summer of 2016
Martin Hodgson
This growing season presented its own set of challenges for us. The long hot and dry summer meant that irrigation was needed in some crops. There was also a late frost that eliminated the black walnut and hickory crop in our area. The spring started with a bang on March 8 when the ground thawed and the hazelnuts went into full pollinization for 10 days until things froze up for a while. Spring resumed again in early April, but by then the hazelnuts had had their fun. The hazelnut clusters finally started forming in late June and were filled out by late August. Nut drop started in mid-September. The yields were mixed with most being fairly low. Norfolk C-16 mother tree however yielded at least 12 Ib. Varmint pressure was quite high from squirrels, chipmunks, blue jays and crows.
The trees that were transferred by tree spade from 2008-10 are growing well and producing 3 to 5 times as many nuts as young, cloned trees that were planted at the same time. This proves in my mind that if you are thinning out a double density orchard you will be further ahead to move the thinned trees to a new location than just dig them out.
We.are continuing to work our way through Plant Breeders Rights for two hardy pollinators, Norfolk C-16 and Chelsea C-28. Trials at Simcoe have given very good results for yield. The catkins have proven to be very dependable even after the coldest winters. Compatibility tests are still underway but they have returned initial good results as well.
The hazelnut trials are continuing at the Simcoe Station and they are serving to identify what varieties of hazelnut trees perform well in our climate and which ones do not. It is apparent that the Oregon varieties generally have some difficulty with catkin survival. Dr. Toktam Taghavi of the U of G will be presenting the results of the yields of the various trees at the winter SONG meeting along with other bits of information as to winter hardiness and inter-compatibility between the different varieties under study.
There is a great deal of excitement in the hazelnut community ever since Ferrero announced at the last OHA Symposium in March 2016 that they wanted to see 23,000 acres of hazelnuts in the ground in Ontario in seven years. This could jump start the Ontario hazelnut industry, require about $6 million in trees and provide somewhere between $20-30 million in local nut sales. We just have to convince the farmers now to plant trees. Ferrero Canada Ltd. is ontinuing in their support of the Ontario Hazelnut Association with a renewal of the MOU and they have also hired Barb Yates, .Sc., P.Ag. as a Hazelnut Agronomist
The OHA worked to sponsor six growers to each plant 10 acres of hazelnut trees last spring. A report on the experiences ;hese new orchardist had will be presented in the 8th Annual Ontario Hazelnut Association Symposium on March 28th in Brantford.
At Butternut Farm we are continuing to try to find other possible candidates in the field for both Ferrero type round nuts and larger ones for the fresh in-shell market. We have a number of possible candidates for both categories under review.
This year we planted out 500 Jefferson and 100 Yamhill clones from Mori-Essex Nurseries. The 2-3 ft. high trees were n very good shape when we received them. They settled in well and we only lost 2 trees. One from unknown causes and one from tractor rash. This was the first time in many years that I had planted a large number of trees from a commercial orchard in a proper grid array. They were planted out in a double density layout with the rows 18 ft. apart and 9 ft. spacing between the trees (268 trees/A).
There is no real consensus as to the best way to plant hazelnut trees. Everyone seems to plant their trees their own way with varying results and different levels of effort. I have discussed this topic with Oregon hazelnut farmers and they lave no hard and fast rule either. Most do it by hand with shovels or augers. There does not appear to be a highly automated system out there. The use of GPS location devices mounted on various types of auger machines is becoming quite common as well.
We used our old drag plow planter that has set out over 7,000 trees in the last 25 years. This year I had added an rrigation hose reel and small shank attachment that allowed me to easily drag in the irrigation tubing simultaneously .vith the planting of the trees. This setup allows our team of five to place about 100 trees/hour with little effort. Two men .vere on the planter, one was feeding the planter with trees and two were leveling around the trees, placing bamboo takes, coconut disks and 18" high plastic tree collars on the trees. They also taped the trees to the stakes to prevent whip .amage in high winds. The drip line used was 5/8" dia. with !/2 GPH pressure compensated ports at 24" centers. Each ine has a shut off valve followed by a screened connector, just off of the header line, to catch any last debris or algae in lie line. (You usually need to clean these screens out periodically throughout the summer). have used my drag type plow set up to plant my hazelnuts with very good results over the years. It tends to get the trees 'ell down into the soil (8-12") and packs them firmly in place. The driver just has to follow the main line sighting stakes n a straight line with the tractor and hope the planters can align the cross rows properly.
Here is what I have found helps make the planting operation run smoothly. Plan ahead! Go into the project with a well laid out plan with all the rows and planting arrangements predetermined before you get into the field. Do any soil augmentation/drainage well in advance to planting, preferably at least a year in advance. Work up and level the new orchard area prior to starting anything. It is not advisable to plant into until led. weedy ground with a drag plow system. Stake out your rows with highly visible row end markers using 5-7 ft. high steel/wooden stakes. Go down the lines of the rows with a sub-soiler to break up any hardpan. (It is quite prevalent in sands). Then level the disturbed soil along the lines with discs and harrows. You want to be able to mow the orchard in both directions so set the orchard up in a grid pattern with the trees aligned in both directions.
You really do not want to set out flags for each tree. (268 per acre) So make a plan where the new orchard is surrounded with main row stakes on both ends and cross row stakes on one side at least (Once you have a few rows of trees in the cross rows, alignment tends to take care of itself using the just planted trees.) Ensure that your main row sighting stakes and cross row layout flags are easy to see and understand. Use clearly visible main row stakes with a widely spaced foresight and back sight arrangement (Like the sights on a gun). Make sure that you can see the stakes at the end of the row or have intermediate sights in the row. Make sure that the cross row foresight and back sight flags are separated far enough apart (and possibly of alternating different colours for each cross row) so that there is no confusion. (The cross rows are so closely spaced that it is easy to get things misaligned if they are not well separated.) It is no fun to replant trees by hand.
Organize and separate all the different tree varieties and clearly label them with easily identifiable, unique markings/ flagging tape. Ensure that the trees are kept under cover and out of the wind while they wait to be planted. Have several large 55 gal. soaking tubs/barrels for the trees so that the roots are saturated before planting. Plant the trees so that the former soil surface level on the tree is at or below the new top of soil level. Ft is better to plant deeper than too shallow.
When using a drag type planter the forward progress is usually done at nearly the slowest forward travel rate of the tractor. It is best if you have a 4WD unit to stop any tendency to stall out or slip sideways. Stop and check how things are going frequently as you start out. It is best to make any adjustments sooner than later. The planting depth and packer wheel position is usually adjustable. If at all possible right at the start, do a trial run in the middle space between a row using bamboo stakes instead of trees to check the operation of the system and to allow for adjustments to the planter. You can also check on your people's ability to line things up to the cross row stakes. (Some people have no concept as to how to do this). Remember that the trees you are planting could be around for 50 years or more and positioning errors tend to hang around and haunt you.
When using an auger ensure that it is larger in diameter than any of the pots or root balls. I like to run it in a couple of feet in sand to loosen things up then backfill with loosely compacted surface spoil to the right depth to plant the tree. This gives the young tree's new roots easy access to moisture at lower levels. Ensure though that you do not form a hole that rain will pond in heavier ground. If you are in heavier/clayey ground, use a spade to cut away the glazed sidewall of the hole to give a clean face for the roots to penetrate.
Once the trees are in place they need to be staked and tied off to prevent the wind from blowing them over, '.[his is_a must. (1 use a % x 6' stake) Level the ground around the tree and place a coconut mat of 8-12" dia. around the tree to uppress the weeds. I follow this with a solid plastic tree guard so that I can spray Roundup right along the rows and not worry about hitting or harming the tree. It is a must to keep the weeds away from the trees to ensure good growth by the limination of completion for water and nutrients. The planter will leave some ruts and disturbed ground. This can be leveled by hand or in part using a rototiller set so that t just scuffs the surface and does not get down into the buried irrigation line (like I did in two rows and had to make a special, front fork mounted tool [scavenged from the tree planter] to replace the irrigation line with a new one.)
I have generally used Roundup with great success on my tube sheltered trees in the past, however it can be short lived, especially in wet conditions. This year I used Chateau as a semi-permanent herbicide. It worked well for about 2 months hen the weeds took off again. This product would need to be applied at least twice a year and it is registered for 3 year old plantings. I saw no ill effect though on my newly planted trees, likely because of their deep planting and most mportantly, the plastic tube shelters. Chateau will burn down green soft tissue, somewhat like Roundup, so use it carefully.
Finally, in order to try to keep about 50% of my land in use, I inter-planted with soy beans between the newly planted 18 1 wide rows of trees. I placed 7 rows of beans at 15" spacing in the center of the rows of trees giving me about 4 ft. of pace on each side. This left a space just wide enough for a small rider mower to fit along each side of the tree rows, li is width of crop just fits into my 10 ft. head of my Gleaner combine. Careful spraying in a very low speed wind illowed me to take out the first flush of weeds in the beans in July. (I only planted them on June 22 due to a problem .vith being away in China for 3 weeks? Not good timing). It all worked out fairly well with a good crop of beans in October. I will be perfecting this inter-cropping thing a bit more in the next year or so using a modified 4 wheel semiautomatic tobacco harvester that will ride right over the intercrop and allow me to spray either the trees or the crop and at the least keep the sprays separated and confined.
Hazelnut Cultivars for Ontario and Characteristics
| Cultivar | EFB resistant | zone | Nut shape and size | Acceptability for Ferrero | Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gene | yes | 6, 7 | pointed,medium | no | all except Ferrero |
| Jefferson | moderate | 7 | round,large | yes | all |
| C-16 | yes | 6,7 | oval,medium | ? | all except Ferrero |
| C-28 | yes | 6,7 | oval,large | ? | all except Ferrero |
| Gamma | moderate | 6,7 | round,medium | yes | all |
| Yamhill | moderate | 7 | round,small | yes | all |
| Santiam | moderate | 6,7 | round,medium | yes | all |
| Lewis | moderate | 7 | round,small | yes | all |
| Tonda di Gifford | somewhat | 7 | round,medium | yes | all |
Nut Growing Experiences
John Adams
My 18 acre hobby farm 40m km south of Ottawa lies at the boundary between climatic zones 5a and 5b and is underlain by rubicon sand with a high water table. I was particularly interested in one of ECSONG's early objectives, which was to determine what species and varieties of nut trees would be suitable for the climate of Eastern Ontario. With advice from members and from readings including "Nut Growing Ontario Style" published by SONG and archived copies of the ECSONG newsletter, 1 decided that black walnuts, Korean nut pines and hazelnuts were the most likely candidates ?or success in my area. Using seed from local black walnut and Korean nut pines, supplemented by purchases of Korean nut pine seed from Grimo Nut Nursery, I established two nurseries on my property. My early concerns that the high water table, ranging seasonally from 0.5 to 2 metres below surface, was eased when I had my neighbor plough a cleared 3-acre area into 3 broad, low ridges approximately 3.5 feet above the general level of the field.
For a shelter for the nut pines, I built a 35' long by 4 foot wide open-topped glass greenhouse using recycled storm windows covered with fine mesh chicken wire to give some protection from rodents and the climate. 1 amended the soil with leaf mulch and added mycorrhizal material from the Oak Valley nut grove's white pine plantation. What 1 have earned about the nut pines is that they should not be transplanted until they are at least 4 years old. Transplants at this stage are much more vigorous than younger transplants. All nut pines are doing well in my sandy soil and have suffered no die-back during cold winters. The tallest are currently approximately 12 feet.
The majority of my black walnuts were planted as seed from locally sourced stock in an open nursery area on my property. These were transplanted as two to six-year-old seedlings. I have found that black walnut transplants take several years to recover and are significantly delayed in their development compared to trees planted as seed in their inal location. I now plant new trees as seed in their final locations. Walnut trees are growing vigorously with nut production starting at 11 years for some. Maximum height at 14 years is 25 feet with maximum DBH of 5 inches. began my hazelnuts plantation with Graham Winkler seedlings from the Oak Valley tree nursery in 2001. In 2002 these were supplemented with 6 Skinner seedlings purchased from Bernard Contré at Pepinière Lafeullée. Also added in the same year were seedlings of Heterophylla and three other hybrids developed by Bernard. All have survived and are large bushes ranging from 12 to 18 feet in height. Nut production is good but birds and squirrels harvest nearly the entire crop. I joined ECSONG in 2001 as a keen hobbyist. I hope to relate my experiences to potential hobbyists in a series of brief articles.
Over the years, this hobby has become a passion to me and I would recommend it to anyone with a small acreage. n future notes 1 hope to cover problems with and solutions to other issues and my experiences with other nut species.
Heartnut Trees Continuing To Do Well in Eastern Ontario
Gordon Wilkinson
This is an update on the heartnut trees I planted on my field east of Rockland near the Ottawa River in Eastern Ontario. My field, at 45.6 degrees latitude, is a very cold site for growing grafted and seedling heartnut trees. Winter temperatures in some years have fallen as low as -37.9C in some parts of the field. Temperatures last winter were far less severe than in previous winters, which may have contributed to the record harvest.
Production is expected to increase as these juvenile nut trees mature. Unfortunately, the summer drought reduced both nut size and height growth and seems to have adversely affected the quality of some kernels. Most of the heartnut trees grow on 8 to 10 inch mounds which can dry out very quickly during summer droughts. The grafted Imshu heartnut tree which bore nuts this year is planted on such a mound and became infested with walnut lace bugs in August. None of the other nut trees were affected by these insects. I attribute this infestation to the stress of bearing nuts under very dry conditions. Barring extremely low temperatures this winter or a late spring frost, production is expected to more than double next season as more trees reach bearing age. A very late spring frost, which can kill the flowers that produce the nuts, was the reason for such a poor harvest in 20 15.
I was recently informed of Glenn's passing. Glenn will be remembered for his intense interest in nut growing He was intent on developing a commercial black walnut industry in Ontario. He was a professional engineer and made several pieces of equipment to further this objective. He made a rolling mill cracker, a trailer mounted hulling machine and had plans to start a system of nut collecting. He tried to get more partners in this endeavour but until the end, unsuccessfully. He was inspiring in his dedication and effort. I will miss him. Ernie.
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that it brings you happiness and prosperity. The New Year dawns with an incumbent American President that has caused some concern and uncertainty to Canadians. We hope for the best. If the US economy rises in prosperity there is a feeling that Canada's will too.
We have the continued support of Ferrero Roche with assisting the newly established hazelnut growers and the Ontario Hazelnut Association. We wish the growers every success in spite of the harsh spring and summer conditions that made a very difficult start for the six newly established ten acre demonstration plantings across Southern Ontario. We thank Ferrero Roche for their generous support in these demonstration projects. There is great optimism for nut growing in Ontario and the rest of Eastern Canada.
The Grimo Nut Nursery has embarked on yet another project to develop a machine operated heartnut cracker. Because of the special positioning of the nut for cracking, the normal percussion crackers like the ones used in cracking black walnuts and hazelnuts will only shatter the kernel. Niagara College engineers and students are working on a cracker that not only positions the nut so that it is cracked on its edges, it also 'listens' to the cracking sound and stops in time to avoid crushing the kernel. The cracker should be ready to demonstrate for our fall meeting. I welcome any volunteers who would like to host the fall meeting to contact me.
The SONG website was created in 2000 with minor changes since then. I took it upon myself to update and revise almost every page. Please check it out at www.SONGonline.ca and let me know if there are shortcomings and suggest improvements. I can be reached at emie.grimo@yahoo.com during the winter season. I can also respond from the Nursery email at www.grimonut.com . Please be sure to refresh the page to renew the cache with a "control r".
Very few members have taken advantage of listing their products on our SONG 'Marketplace' page that is free for members to advertise, so I invite you to participate by advertising your products. Contact me and I will forward the changes to our webmaster.
Our winter meeting in March is also our annual meeting where we have all day speakers. We encourage you to attend. It is also the time when we elect our officers. If there are any who wish to be in office, please contact me. I also need to hear from the current officers. If I do not hear from you to the contrary, I will assume that you will stand again for another year.
Robert Hambleton Remembered
Sadly he passed at 95 years of age, December 22, 2016
I met Robert Hambleton in 1965 when I first became interested in nut growing. He was always welcoming. Whenever I visited, I enjoyed his orchard tour and soft spoken enthusiasm for what he grew. He was passionate about his walnut trees. We often spent hours discussing nutty subjects. Along with my mentor, Horace Troup, he was my greatest influence. We often reminisced about earlier nut growers like George Hebden Corsan and Reverend Paul Crath to name two of the pioneer Ontario nut growers. Robert bought his first walnut trees from Corsan.
Robert was a long time member of the Northern Nut Growers Association and it was through our common membership in that association that the Society of Ontario Nut Growers was formed. A meeting was held with Robert and R. Douglas Campbell and I at my home in Niagara Falls where we planned a meeting in 1972 of interested NNGA members to form an Ontario Association of nut growers. The October meeting was held at the Vineland Station Experimental Farm in October where 17 interested participants attended. Robert was elected as the Secretary/Treasurer as SONG was formed. After visiting nearby nut plantings, we were all invited to Robert's home for a tour and celebratory dinner.
Robert remained as treasurer after membership outgrew a one man job. He remained as Treasurer of SONG until the mid-1990's when he retired from the treasurer's job but not from nut growing interest. On his farm he conducted numerous trials, test and experiments. He carefully kept records on his trees to identify promising selections. He named one black walnut, two or more Persian walnuts, and a wild red fleshed apple. When he could no longer work the farm, he downsized his operation to 4 acres and then finally he and his wife moved to Pleasant Manor old age home where he spent his last days.
His dedication and service to nut growing will long be remembered.
He was predeceased by his wife, Kay. He is survived by 3 daughters Elizabeth, Margaret,
Lillian and son William and four grandchildren plus one great grandson.
Ernie Grimo
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