M Stephens wrote:
Unfortunately, the farming methods used out here in the NW have almost no resemblance to the environmentally friendly methods described in the video above. All of the orchards in our area are trained to grow like trees rather than bushes. The trees tend to form a relatively tight canopy perhaps 20 – 30 feet tall. Spacing of the trees ranges between 10 to 20 feet. The nuts are harvested by sweeping them off of the ground, which requires very flat, bare dirt below the trees. In order to maintain bare dirt, we regularly spray broadspectrum herbicides (roundup), we flail-mow, and we drag the orchard with box-spreaders to level the ground. Obviously, the bare-dirt method promotes wind & soil erosion. The trees are susceptible to Eastern Filbert blight and moths, so we aggressively prune and spray generous amounts of pesticides.
I'm also in the PNW, albeit quite north, in mid Vancouver Island. We too have just gotten Eastern Filbert Blight here and all of our older orchards are slowly on the decline. I just spoke to someone from Eastern Canada who suggested growing the hazelnuts as a shrub (instead of single stem), and then mowing them down to the ground every few years to get rid of any blighted plant materials. Has anyone ever tried this method?
Curious to see if the production of nuts can still be maintained.
Thanks!!
