In December of 1944, the Germans surrounded the Allied forces in what is called the Battle of the Bulge. They sent a demand for surrender. The allied commander, General Anthony McAuliffe, replied with one word. “Nuts”. I’m going to be talking about hickory nuts and like the allied army, these are hard nuts to crack. As always, you need to 100% correctly identify any plant you intend to eat. You are responsible for what you put in your body.
Hickory - Carya sp.
Although pecans and walnuts are in this family, I’m going to be concentrating on hickories. Hickories are hardwood trees that grow throughout the US. Excluding pecans, there are 9 species of hickories in TN but many more throughout the US. Because there are so many different kinds of hickory trees, I’ll just touch on the basics. A hickory tree can reach heights of 60-150 feet tall depending on species. The bark will be brown or gray and will either have ridges or will have long strips of bark that are flaky and look like they are peeling off the trunk.
One of the most well known of the peelers is shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) which has long strips of bark poking out everywhere like a twig got poked into a light socket and frizzed the bark. Unfortunately the picture I have doesn’t do this tree justice, but hopefully you can see how loosely attached the bark looks.
The leaves of hickories are compound (one stem with opposite leaflets plus a single leaflet at the tip), usually having 5-9 finely serrated leaflets, depending on the species. The leaves themselves are alternately arranged on the twigs.
The fruit (nuts) are nuts surrounded by a husk divided lengthways into 4 parts. The husks can be round, oval, or pear shaped but the nuts are usually roundish and come to a sharp point at the bottom. Looking at a hickory nut from the top down, 2 sides will often be rounded and 2 sides flatter in appearance. To extract the nuts from the shell, you can hit it with a hammer (preferably on the flatter side) to crack open the shell, then use a nutpick or similar tool to remove the meat. Some nuts are very difficult to remove from the shell. According to Sam Thayer in his book Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants (pg 70), you can make milk from them by pulverizing and boiling (the shells will stay at the bottom if you’re careful) and then ladling off the liquid with the suspended meat. I’ve never done this but it sounds tasty. Some hickories like shagbark or red hickory have sweeter nuts while bitternut is quite bitter.
I’ve tasted a few different kinds, and they were all delicious. A few things to know when harvesting the nuts. You have to get ahead of the squirrels. Last year I beat them to some extent and gathered a bagful of nuts, but this year I mostly found nuts with the shells chewed open and the nuts eaten. Also be aware that insect larvae can make a home in the nuts. A small hole or large discoloration in the shell is a good indication that that nut isn’t edible.
I have also cracked some open and the meat was shriveled and black, a big disappointment! Once harvested allow the nuts to dry for a week or two to completely dry before cracking, or store them for a while in a cool dry place until ready to use. It may seem like a lot of work for a little nutmeat, but because of the (comparably) high content of fat and oils, it’s an excellent source of energy in the winter months.
Happy nut hunting!
About Me:
John Miller loves the outdoors and enjoys learning about all the things the Creator has made. He enjoys hunting, fishing, backpacking, and finding new moths. While looking into prepping in 2008, he realized that developing skills such as knowing wild edibles and bushcraft skills were more important than storing food. Ever since then he has been learning and slowly working on the skills of these two disciplines. He currently lives in Cleveland, TN with his wife Rachel and six children.
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