Vernal Equinox
Longer days are here, the year of the Pines, and some general nuttiness.
We all marvel at the Oak (Quercus spp.) mast when a particular fall produces so many acorns that twisting your ankle is a real thing. It’s also a for-sure thing that an increase in resources for chipmunks and squirrels, (and many other “critters”) with the acorn bonanza will mean all their offspring will be fed not just by their hidden caches, but by the numerous acorns that litter the woods and woodland edges. Fast forward three years into the future and all the predators of these small mammals, like hawks and owls experience an increase in their population due to the mighty “critter mast”!
But what about the Pines?
It was a bumper year for Pine cones in the Hudson Valley, and in the past two decades we cannot remember ever seeing so many all over the road, in the woods, in the grass, in the pathways…you get the idea.
One theory is that trees produce an abundance of seed to overwhelm “predators” (for Pine trees think squirrels, chipmunks, and birds) to ensure that some of the fallen seeds will have a chance to grow into trees.
Another theory about why some years some species of trees drop so much “seed” is that when trees are temporarily stressed due to environmental conditions they produce more seeds with the end goal of “self-preservation”. So that even if a few of these seeds manage to germinate and not become food the species has a chance of a future survival. Climatic stresses like the drought we experienced during the summer of 2022; or the massive amount of rain we had in the spring of 2021 are contributing factors.
White Pine (Pinus strobus) is the predominant Pine tree found in our neck of the woods and like a majority of other Pine species, it takes the female cones 2 years for the seeds to ripen. Over the past decade, there has been increased dieback on these trees, which may be contributing to the tree trying to send out its last hurrah with the increased cone drop.
Donald Culross Peattie wrote a phenomenal book called “A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America” in 1950. It’s a fun read, and an even better listen!
The first chapter is on White Pines and here is a small excerpt:
For three hundred years, till well after the turn of the present century, White Pine was unrivaled as a timber-producing tree. Perhaps no other tree in the world has had so momentous a career. Certainly no other has played so great a role in the life and history of the American people. Fleets were built to its great stands, and railroads bent to them…Though now it has fallen dramatically from its high estate to a modest place among the other conifers, its saga is a tale worth recalling.
Korean Stone Pine (Pinus koreana) is a close relative of the Eastern White Pine tree that is worthy of growing for its edible nuts. The main problem is that it is rarely available in the nursery trade, so if you were interested in creating a “green screen” with this nut tree you would have a hard time sourcing them. We hope to change that over time, which is why we devoted a whole chapter to Korean Pine in our book Cold-Hardy Fruits and Nuts.
European countries, all the Pignoli nuts you may have purchased at your local grocery
Most people have heard of pinenuts, but have they heard of Pignoli nuts? As it turns out they are the same! However unless you live in Italy or any of its surrounding countries, the pinenuts you buy in your local store, or eaten in your pesto, or on your holiday cookies are actually from the Korean Stone Pine tree.
Pines are all wind-pollinated and are not self-fertile so more than one tree is needed, which is a good thing since when these magnificent and stately trees are planted in full sun they make a great privacy screen! Literature about Korean Pines often says that when the trees reach a certain height they are considered mature enough to bear cones, something we have not seen at the arboretum. As it turned out the shortest of the three specimens the cultivar ‘Glauca’, bred for its beautiful bluish cast needles and not the neighboring two straight species, which produced the first female cones!
Pines are gymnosperms, which translates to “naked seeds”. For most Pine species, it takes at least two years from pollination until seed formation and ripeness to happen. Female cones (found toward the top of the canopy) become elongated when male cones (found along the lower part of the tree), begin to release pollen. The shape of the cones and the male pollen causes the air currents to go around the cones, eventually hitting any exposed egg cells/ovules on the female cones, and voila pollination occurs.
Eleven years after planting the trees, and two years of waiting for the pinenuts (really seeds) to form, this batch of cones produced only BLANKS!
All I could think of was next time!!
From Top Left: American Hazelnut catkins (male flowers) and a singular female flower, European catkins, strategies for protecting nuts from critters, Beaked Hazelnuts, and an assorted handful of nuts in the involucres (husks).
It was also a banner year at Hortus for Hazelnuts (Corylus spp.), or as some would say Filberts, though others may say Cobnuts. Whatever you are accustomed to calling them here’s a fun article on their history and nomenclature.
Hazelnuts (really all nuts trees) need abundant water during their last month of development to fill out the nutmeats, (the shells will already be fully formed). July & August had an okay amount of rain when the “meats” were being formed, but not all of the Hazels had well-developed nuts (if you know what I mean).
So with an abundance of perfectly fine, but ill-formed nuts, what’s a girl gonna do?
If you grow Hazelnuts, making milk is a wonderful way to use the less-than-perfect nuts. PLUS… because Hazelnuts are a low-maintenance edible crop we find you don’t have to spray them which allows you to include their thin shells for added flavor.
Hazelmilk Recipe
Remove any remaining involucres from the nuts.
Lightly crack (or not- we did this to separate any really good nutmeats out of the batch for straight-up eating) Hazelnuts and put in a large saucepan.
Cover the nuts with cold water and bring to a boil.
Simmer nut water for an hour.
In small batches add nuts with the water to a heavy-duty blender and grind down well.
Add back into the saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer nut milk for an hour.
Using a china cap or other fine sieve strain the milk into a large container.
The milk is delicious, hot or cold.
I can’t tell you how long it lasts because we went through it in just a few days.
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We believe this is a great crop to be growing, and despite Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) which American Hazelnuts are immune to, a lot of breeding has been going on to produce hybrids that will prove to be resistant to the blight. Read more about this in our book!
SAVE THE DATES! We have several events taking place at Hortus:
June 8th - Hudson Valley Grape Talk & Book Signing with J. Stephen Casscels
July 13th - The Annual “Art in the Garden Event”
July 21 - Poetry in the Garden Featuring Hortus Resident Writers: Smelt, Jueds & Holt -Browning
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When should we start pruning and fertilizing the fruit trees?
My outdoor Aloe has bloomed again. It seems like this one beautiful cone like yellow flower on a. 2 or 3 foot stem makes a showing every 2 years. The flower only lasts about 2 weeks and as soon as it is fully opened starts dropping its petals. Is that normal?