Hardy Nut Trees
True food security (a hot topic these days) is difficult to achieve with a veggie garden: if you do manage it, it's a lot of work. Even the most devoted gardener is at the whim of weather, pests, and disease, all of which combine to make one's food supply a risky proposition. Add the need for protein in the diet, and it becomes that much harder.
Nut trees require little effort, are less bothered by seasonal fluctuations, and get progressively better every year. Nuts are an excellent perennial food source: nutritious, prolific, and easy to store. Some nuts, such as the hickory, contain a near ideal balance of nutrients: the indigenous people of the eastern woodlands (current day U.S.) survived whole winters on stores of hickory nuts-5 or 6 trees could feed a family for a season.
So, we'll just come out and say it: true food security is based on nuts. Every serious food garden/orchard should have a few.
Nuts are like slow livestock: most require some space, yield nut meat, and produce a sweet milk. They are food security for the lazy, food security for the smart. As timber, nut trees yield choice hardwoods, and most are beautiful as landscape specimens.
Most of the species we offer grow extremely well here on the coast: some, such as the persian walnut and heartnut are amongst our fastest growing trees--after all, once upon a time, the local ecology included walnuts! If you take the long view, one could even consider the walnut a native tree, alongside Gingko.
We grow a huge variety of hardy nut trees, and are always trialling more in our nut forest/orchard. All trees are seedling stock, grown from select seed sourced from particularly fruitful local varieties, or outstanding named varieties from other parts of Canada. Seedling variation will occur, and a seedling tree may or may not have the outstanding characteristics of the parent tree(s). In most cases, however, one gets a perfectly adequate harvest; occasionally, a superior seedling emerges, and one gets a tree better than the parent. It's a decision one has to make when planting nut trees: buy expensive, grafted trees which have guaranteed, reliable crops or plant cheaper seedlings, and risk getting fewer nuts of lesser quality. In cases of very poor seedling performance with regards to cropping, one can always graft a scion from a superior tree onto the seedling rootstock. A good discussion of the topic can be found at: http://www.songonline.ca/library/articles/seedlings_grafted.htm
Nut trees require little effort, are less bothered by seasonal fluctuations, and get progressively better every year. Nuts are an excellent perennial food source: nutritious, prolific, and easy to store. Some nuts, such as the hickory, contain a near ideal balance of nutrients: the indigenous people of the eastern woodlands (current day U.S.) survived whole winters on stores of hickory nuts-5 or 6 trees could feed a family for a season.
So, we'll just come out and say it: true food security is based on nuts. Every serious food garden/orchard should have a few.
Nuts are like slow livestock: most require some space, yield nut meat, and produce a sweet milk. They are food security for the lazy, food security for the smart. As timber, nut trees yield choice hardwoods, and most are beautiful as landscape specimens.
Most of the species we offer grow extremely well here on the coast: some, such as the persian walnut and heartnut are amongst our fastest growing trees--after all, once upon a time, the local ecology included walnuts! If you take the long view, one could even consider the walnut a native tree, alongside Gingko.
We grow a huge variety of hardy nut trees, and are always trialling more in our nut forest/orchard. All trees are seedling stock, grown from select seed sourced from particularly fruitful local varieties, or outstanding named varieties from other parts of Canada. Seedling variation will occur, and a seedling tree may or may not have the outstanding characteristics of the parent tree(s). In most cases, however, one gets a perfectly adequate harvest; occasionally, a superior seedling emerges, and one gets a tree better than the parent. It's a decision one has to make when planting nut trees: buy expensive, grafted trees which have guaranteed, reliable crops or plant cheaper seedlings, and risk getting fewer nuts of lesser quality. In cases of very poor seedling performance with regards to cropping, one can always graft a scion from a superior tree onto the seedling rootstock. A good discussion of the topic can be found at: http://www.songonline.ca/library/articles/seedlings_grafted.htm
Persian Walnut (aka English walnut, Carpathian walnut)
Juglans regia
A common and reliable tree locally, very fast growing in good soil with adequate moisture (trees in our grove have grown to 6' trees in 3 years). A large tree at maturity (up to 65' tall and wide), but the fact that it is self-fertile helps space-wise. Nuts are large and tasty; an abundant producer in our climate. Timber is much prized by woodworkers for it's hardness and the diverse patterns found in the grain
1 gallon seedling $15
1 gallon seedling $15
Black Walnut (juglans nigra)
Much prized for it's timber and sweet nuts, this North American native nut tree grows 75-100' tall and nearly as wide. Twice the protein of the Persian walnut, but a much harder shell to crack. Indigenous peoples boiled the sap to make a syrup. Self-fertile, but larger crops will occur with two seedlings. Begins producing in 5-7 years, but can take up to 20 years to produce full commercial crops.
1 gallon seedlings $15
1 gallon seedlings $15
Dooley 69-E Hybrid Seedling (persian x black walnut)
Cross between a persian and a black walnut, this one is especially valued for its very thin shell, unusual for a walnut, so thin that you can crack them open with one hand. If you are only going to plant one walnut, this one would be a good choice.
1 gallon seedling $15
1 gallon seedling $15
Heartnut (Juglans ailantifolia var. cordiformis)
1 gallon seedling $15
A sport of the Japanese Walnut with heart shaped nuts. Beautiful, fairly fast growing tree with very tropical looking foliage. Partially self-fertile, plant two or more for a larger harvest. Grown from select parent trees, although variation is apparently greater amongst heartnuts.
A sport of the Japanese Walnut with heart shaped nuts. Beautiful, fairly fast growing tree with very tropical looking foliage. Partially self-fertile, plant two or more for a larger harvest. Grown from select parent trees, although variation is apparently greater amongst heartnuts.
Pecan (Hardy Northern types)
1 gallon seedling $15
Hickory (shellbark and shagbark)
1 gallon seedling $15
Hazelnut (species and purple leafed variety)
1 gallon $15--(note: purple leafed variety is sold out until Spring 2016. Still have regular hazels in stock)
Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium)
1 gallon seedling $15