Almonds

• Very difficult to grow outside suggested climate.

• Are grown in the central valley of California.

• Trees bear at 4 years.

• Trees have a life span of 50 years.

• Each tree yields between 10 and 20 pounds at maturity.

• Are harvested in late summer.

• Trees are “hearty” but crops are delicate and subject to late frosts.

• Trees grow 20-30 feet high.

• Eight different varieties with the most common being “non-pareil” and the best varieties being  “Texas” and “Mission.” The remaining varieties serve as pollinizers.

• The almond tree is a close relative of the peach tree. Unshelled almonds resemble a peach pit.

• Almonds are mentioned in the Bible. They have grown in the Holy Land and were used as currency during the time of the Maccabaeus.

• Used in candy, baked goods, consumer pack, ice cream and flavoring.

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Black Walnuts

• Trees can reach to a height of 100 feet in the west and 150 feet east of the Rockies.

• Take the summer heat well

• Grow wild along highways and in river bottoms.

• Grown in California, Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky

• Used in ice cream, baked goods, candy and consumer packaging

• Black walnut wood is considered among the finest for furniture and interior finishes.

• Exported to Japan and Taiwan

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Brazil Nuts

• Are imported out of the shell from Brazil. A smaller amount is imported from Venezuela.

• Trees grow to 150 feet and can be 6 feet in diameter. The branches usually start at 40 feet off the ground.

• Trees blossom like hydrangeas and take 9 years to bear fruit.

• Have the highest fat content, 66%

• Brazil nuts are a seed from a larger outer shell similar to a coconut, 12-25 fit perfectly – once the shell is opened they will not fit back in

• America imports ½ of the South America crop

• Trees are not cultivated – the nuts drop and take root similar to the black walnut

• Strong winds cause the nuts to fall at harvest time (they are not picked) Sometimes they fall so hard they have to be dug up.

• Brazil nuts are used in baking, candy and consumer pack

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Cashews

• Kidney shape nut – grows hanging beneath a bright orange pear shape fruit 3 times its size.

• Cashew Trees are a relative of poison Ivy.

• The nut is covered with an oily toxic substance which must be burned off before one can touch it. This makes picking a real challenge. Even the smoke from burning can cause ulceration and extreme pain to the eyes, nose and throat.

• The lethal oil is extracted and used for waterproofing, as an insecticide and for other industrial purposes.

• The nuts must be boiled or roasted and a second shell removed before they can be eaten.

• Cashews grow on medium size trees – they are native to Central and South America.

• It thrives in drier areas than most nuts and is related to the mango and pistachio.

• Cashews already out of the shell are imported from India, Mozambique and Tanzania.

• The U.S. imports the most nuts from these areas.

• Very few cashews are sold raw or boiled, most are roasted.

• They are very rich – 45% fat, 20% protein.

• The Portuguese explorers brought the cashew tree to India in the 16^th century.

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English Walnut (Persian)

•  Grown mostly in California and Oregon

• Trees grow to be about 60 feet and bear at 5-10 years old

• The typical yield at maturity is 1-2 bushels but a single tree is capable of 15 bushels

• Tend to bear well in alternate years

• Harvest season is from September to October

• Trees have a life span of 100 years

• A native of Iran

• The trees are sturdy but the blossoms are fragile

• It was considered to be a royal nut and often used at weddings as a symbol of fertility.

• In Christ’s time, it grew along the shores of the Sea of Galilee

• The walnut is shaped similar to a brain and the Greeks used to use it to treat mental illness and deformities.

• Walnut oil has been used for paint because it dried faster than any of the other media available  at that time.

• Used in candy, baked goods, ice cream and consumer pack

• The English Walnut tree is grafted from the Black Walnut tree

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Hazelnuts/Filberts

•  Small tree reaching a maximum height of twenty feet.

• American hazelnuts grow mainly in Washington and Oregon.

• The European hazelnut is more common, they are larger and more flavorful. England, Turkey and Spain are the leading producers

• The hazelnut was the most common nut tree in Britain – it was formally referred to as “The Nut.”

• They are very nutritious and excellent for baking.

• They were mixed with mead, honey and water as a remedy for persistent coughs, or mixed with pepper to clean the head.

• Fine drawing charcoal is made from the wood of the hazelnut tree.

• Hazelnut trees start bearing at 4-6 years old and reach their peak at 15 years of age. They can produce for 50 years.

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Macadamia

• Grown in Hawaii, Australia, Costa Rica, But does well in California along the southern coast (not in the desert)

• Effected by the drought

• Grows slowly - bears lightly

• Standard size - 60 feet in Hawaii, 25-30 feet in California

• Grows well in the lava rock in Hawaii

• 2 varieties - smooth and rough shell

• Self Pollinates

• Life span - 75-100 years

• Harvest when nuts drop - smooth, late autumn to May - rough, late autumn to February

• Each tree yields 150 pounds at maturity

• Native of Australia - known as "Queen's Land Nuts"

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 Peanuts

• Peanuts are believed to have originated in Sough America, although some believe Africa.

• They are also called groundnuts, earthnuts and goobers.

• Peanuts were a major source of sustenance on African slave ships.

• George Washington Carver once a slave himself, studied soil constituents. He recommended that peanuts be planted on 20 acres of some of the worst soil in Alabama – land that was yielding a loss due to lack of nutrients. The peanuts enriched the soil with nitrogen. The following years were alternated with planting peanuts and cotton.

• Peanuts are extremely nutritious – high in protein, containing much iron and vitamins.

• A pound of peanuts has the same or more nutrients as a pound of sirloin and twice the calories.

• Peanuts are one of the leading crops of the U.S. Producing over one billion pounds.

• The peanut has over 300 uses.

• The peanut has a function in all three stages: The plant is used a livestock feed, the shells for fuel, polishes for metal and can be used to enrich the soil.

• Peanuts grow in 2 ways, as bushes up to 2 feet or as a runner close to the ground.

• Peanuts grow best where the weather is warm for at least 5 months of the year.

• The best known varieties in the U.S. are the large “Virginia” used mostly for roasting and the small “Spanish” & “Valencia” used for peanut butter.

• Harvesting is usually done by machine.

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Pecans

• Pecan trees can reach from 90 to 180 feet high.

• They bear at 5-8 years old.

• They have a life span of about 75 years.

• They can have a trunk diameter of 8 feet.

• At maturity, trees bear 50-100 pounds each.

• Pecans originated in the southern states – Texas and across the Gulf States – Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee and the Carolinas.

• Pecans grow in California if given even irrigation.

• They were first cultivated in El Paso Texas.

• Are sometimes recommended in the treatment of arthritis.

• Pecan wood has been used for furniture and flooring.

• Pecans were eaten by the Mariames Indians and was their only source of food for two months of the year.

• Pecans were very valuable and used as trade for mats and hides by the early Spaniards.

• Pecans are used in baked goods, ice cream, consumer pack and candy.

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Pine Nuts

•  Technically called “pignole” (singular: pignolia)

• Have been harvested from pine trees in dry Southern European countries since prehistoric times.

• The most popular edible seeds of pine cones are from the Mediterranean Stone Pine. Stone Pine trees reach a height of 80 feet.

• The trees are umbrella shape and bear glossy brown round cones.

• Cones must be exposed to the sun to open so the seeds can be extracted. They must be shelled by hand.

• Pine Nuts are imported out of the shell from China and Japan.

• Nut producing pines grown in other regions such as Chile.

• The bear cones are as large as a man’s head and contain from 100-200 nuts.

• Pine Nuts have more protein than any other nut.

• In North America there are about 30 species of nut bearing pines growing from Quebec to Florida.

• In the United States the most common pine nut comes from the pinon.

• Pine nuts grow in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States.

• Pine Nuts are used for consumer pack, used in gourmet foods, salads and cereals.

• Euell Gibbons (1910-1977) familiarized us with the phrase “Did you ever eat a pine tree – many parts are edible.”

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Pistachios

• Are grown in the Central Valley of California.

• Trees grow to 30 feet and are broad and bushy.

• The trees reach maturity in 5-8 years and each tree yields 1-2 bushels.

• Pistachios are harvested in August and September.

• The trees have a life span of at least 30 years.

• Pistachio trees are drought resistant.

• Pistachio trees sometimes have more than one trunk. The nuts grow in clusters.

• They originated in Syria and have been grown in the Mediterranean Region for at least 5000 years.

• In Bible Times pistachios were used as gifts by Jacob’s sons when they returned to Egypt.

• Are used in ice cream, consumer pack, baked goods, sausages and rice mixtures.

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