hickory nuts
Please see bottom of page for many more amazing sights!
On Sunday, my sister Tessa, my little neice Joy, & I went for a walk…
Joy was pushing about a large green hickory nut, when a retired gentleman stopped to chat with us…he told us that the shagbark hickory nut is actually very good to eat!
First, we came upon a different hickory tree, which we thought was the pignut hickory, with a smooth bark…these nuts are not as tasty…so we kept rolling along…(later, we found out that it could have been a young shagbark tree with its bark still smooth…)
Finally, we came upon the giant shagbark hickory, which was a very large tree with a distinctly shaggy bark, & piles & piles of hickory nuts underneath…
Some of the nuts still had the green husk as above…
And many had been feasted on by the squirrels…
But there were still many, many nuts where the green husk had dried up & split into quarters, releasing the inner nut…
Or so I thought… I tried to take a taste of the nut, not realizing that this was actaully the nutshell, & the true nut was still further inside…oops!
My ever kind sister Tessa tried to hold back her laughter…but, I did hear some funny kind of snorting sound coming from her. Baby Joy just hiccuped politely & looked up at the sky…
Well, when we got back home, we found an old nutcracker, and were able to crack the shell…inside was a little nut, similar to a tiny walnut! The taste to me was similar to that of a walnut mixed with a pecan!
The gentleman had also told us these hickory nuts had been a staple for many Native North American people, who mashed the nuts and then boiled them with water, & used the “nut flour” to make breads & many other recipes…
Today, people use hickory nuts in baking, similar to walnuts or pecans…the hickories are actually in the pecan family!
Well, I hope you can try some shagbark hickory nuts someday!
Just be very sure to release the true, innermost nut first!
love,
Clay Ball
