Hazelnuts: harvest, processing, propagation...?

When I lived in northern Wisconsin hazelnuts grew wild. Small but so tastie. I harvested but didn't have to plant so I know nothing about it. When is the best time. We are still getting snow and freezing nights here.

Marty Mitchell wrote:

Isaac Hill wrote:Hazels are Monocious, there aren't 'male' and 'female' trees, they're wind pollinated so they should be grown close to each other (hazel hedges are great) and my favorite place to buy the plants is oikos tree crops (http://www.oikostreecrops.com/Nuts/Hazelnuts/), this year they had a lot of different varieties that they'd developed. The native ones have smaller nuts, and the european ones are less resistant to diseases, so hybrids of the two are preferable.

oikos is were i purchased my first seedlings, and also from coldstream farm.
Had a difficult location that was clay on one end and loam on the other, i used thick cardboard and fresh woodchips on top for mulch. Cut holes for seedlings and planted them. Also added forest soil with mycelium to the holes, the cardboard and wood chips were soon colinised and helped the seedlings thrive. There now 8' tall by 12' wide.
 The row is 75' long and produces a nice crop of nuts. I belive having several types helps yeilds.
 Squirrels have spread them to several locations in my yard and the fields around me.



Awesome website link! Thank you for sharing.