Hazelnut

Varieties we offer:

Akiva Hybrid Hazel - C. americana x avellana hybrid. These seedlings are the best hazel plants we currently have available for nut production. Seed is sourced from Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Farm. He notes, “Our hazels are hybrid crosses bred for increased nut production. Their genetic lines come from excellent hazel breeding programs in the upper midwest and in NYS. Every seedling is different. For the most part we are seeing compact shrubs covered with nuts at an early age. Fruiting usually starts by age 3-5.”

**NEW** BOB’s Champlain Valley Hybrid - C. americana x avellana hybrid. We are excited to release our first batch of seedling hazelnuts grown from seed collected from our very own plants here on the farm! Seed was collected in fall 2023 from our most precocious plants, some producing only 2 years after planting while receiving minimal care. Our collection consists of ~75 seedlings sourced from Akiva Silver, Buzz Ferver, Greg Miller, Ken Asmus and Grimo Nut Nursery as well as eight NITKA™️ cultivar plants sourced from Z’s Nutty Ridge. We are very encouraged by the early results from these well-pedigreed plants and can’t wait to see what this pollen cloud produces in future generations. The incredible high quality plant material we have been fortunate enough to source is the result of dedicated and under appreciated individuals (to whom we are very grateful!) who have worked against the grain to push hazelnuts toward commercial viability in the Northeastern US.

Buzz Hybrid Hazel - C. americana x avellana hybrid; Seed sourced from Buzz Ferver at Perfect Circle Farm. The parent plants are strongly influenced by Badgersett genetics.

Grimo Mix - - From Grimo Nut Nursery. A mix of seedlings from the parent plants Alex, Crimson and Wisconsin. If you are interested in a particular type, make a note in the comments at checkout. We’ll do our best to accommodate but no guarantees. (Please note: This is a seedling mix, these are not cultivars.)

Kilgore American Hazel - A selection from Greg Miller at Route 9 Cooperative. Kilgore is an American hazel family in Ohio selected for large nut size (9/16”-1/2”) and ability to colonize, thrive, and reliably produce nuts on reclaimed strip mine sites. Shrubs are average to large size for American hazel. Good for hazel improvement, native landscaping, wildlife food; average for human consumption.

More info on Hazelnut:

Hazelnuts are rugged and hardy shrubs that have the potential to serve as a low-input perennial source of nutritious human food, oil, and livestock feed. They are adaptable to a wide range of growing conditions and can start bearing nuts in as little as 3 years from planting.

The current challenge for growing hazelnuts in the Northeast is a lack of cold hardy and Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) resistant cultivars that produce nuts suitable for harvest and processing at scale. American Hazelnuts are cold hardy (Zones 3-4+) and blight resistant, but the nuts tend to be small with a poor kernel to shell ratio. European Hazelnuts are revered for their eating and processing qualities, but they are not cold tolerant (Zones 7+) and are blight susceptible.

There is exciting progress toward developing cold hardy, blight resistant hybrid cultivars that produce high quality nuts, such as NITKA developed by Dawn and Jeff Zarnowski at Z’s Nutty Ridge, but these cultivars are not yet widely available.

If nut production is your goal, consider planting cultivars (we hope to offer these soon!). For seedlings, consider American varieties selected for their nut attributes or American x European hybrid seedlings as these have the highest potential to produce desirable nuts. Due to the variation in hybrid seedlings, tight spacing (2-4 ft) is recommended to allow for thinning/roguing of underperforming plants. Hazelnut pollination requires two compatible plants. If you’re hoping for nuts, plant at least 3, more is better.