Monday, September 10, 2007

Nature's Bounty


The local produce has been amazing this year. I don't think I can ever remember a year when peaches, pears, corn, cantaloups, etc. have been so juicy and sweet. I've also been spoiled to by the weath of great local produce stands where I can buy things that were still on the vine or tree an hour before I bought them.
So, it should come as no surprise that the wild "produce" is also pretty spectacular this year. Today's photo shows a hickory nut and its outer shell. I gathered several pounds of these nuts in less than half an hour this weekend. The nuts came from just two trees, and the majority of my find came from a single tree. I'm planning to gather more before the squirrels get to them.
Here on the mountain, I live in the midst of what is mostly an oak and hickory forest. It's not nust the hickory trees that are producing lots of very large nuts. The acorns this year are highly impressive and very large too. Just to give you an example: my nearest neighbor has one of those aluminum carports that's positioned about 75 yards from my cabin. When one of those acorns falls on the carport, it sounds like a shot. It sets the dogs to barking. One night the sound woke me up from a sound sleep. I can't imagine what it sounds like from inside their house.
Hickory nuts have an amazing flavor and aroma--just like butterscotch. My mother told me this weekend that my grandmother used to put hickory nuts in her butterscotch cookies, and I'm tempted to try that. Cracking open the hickory nuts isn't difficult, but picking the nuts out of the shell is. I have to use one of those nut pickers to pry out the nut. I never get pieces that are very large, and sometimes I think the work likely uses more calories than I get from the nuts, but the flavor is worth it. Besides, I have all winter to work on them.

3 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

I don't think I've ever eaten a Hickory Nut. They sound mighty tasty though.

I like your picture of the canoes/boats by the lake.

Carolyn H said...

Cicero,

Hickory nuts are worth the trouble of picking the nut pieces out. just don't expect to be able to do it quickly.

I'm using that canoe picture as my computer background this week. I like it too. Thanks!

Carolyn H.

Anonymous said...

Have a hickory tree down the street fronm me but all I ever see is chew up shells. So far I really haven't see any acorn yet. The only think I can think of, is that I got the two year acorns around me.

What I have abundance around here right now, is tent catapillers. Some the tree are just fill with the nest. One tree is pretty much cover.

Make sure you stop by my blog. I have a deer picture you just got to see.