Yellowbud Hickory Harvest

You may have never heard of Yellowbud Hickory even though it grows in the southern part of Sullivan County and along the Connecticut River. It is better known as Bitternut hickory. This is because the nuts are not pleasant to eat because of all the tannins in them making them bitter to the taste.

But this doesn't mean they aren't good for anything. The nuts have 75-80% fat in them. This makes for a great nut to press for oil. Northern Forest Foods and Yellowbud Farm from Massachusetts is collecting these nuts to press to make Yellowbud culinary oil. This is part of a grassroots movement to build regional food security.

Since mid-September we have been enlisting harvesters and setting them up with sites to harvest yellowbud hickory nuts. This has mostly been in Charlestown, NH, but we also have sites in Weathersfield, VT and in Cornish, NH. Harvesters are taking notes on when and how individual trees are dropping nuts, if there is competition from wildlife, and how this works with landscaping schedules. Harvesters are paid for each gallon of quality nuts they collect. They have collected over 75 gallons since mid-September.

If this works out, we plan to help enlist harvesters next year too. Let us know if you are interested and we'll keep you up to date.