There have been a few posts about crops that might make a bit of money on small acreage, and I think at least one fella mentioned pecans. I'm not really thinking of the money end of this, at least not yet, but while looking into pecan varieties that might work in my area of central Missouri, I ran into some info about heartnuts. Anyone got any heartnut trees? These are a "seed sport" of Japanese walnut. The nuts are heart-shaped and shell easily, giving mostly whole nutmeats (or so it is said). The Northern Nut Growers Association seems to think heartnuts might be a commercially viable crop. The nutmeat is supposed to be something like English walnut. There are also hybrids of heartnut and butternut, which taste more like butternut. The other good thing about them is that they can yield in as little as 3-4 years, as compared to about 7 for pecans, and they are also more cold hardy. An acre of heartnut trees might make a nice, low input way to get a few bucks off your land.
I will probably put in a few trees, if I can find a good source for grafted trees. Anyone priced nuts in the shell lately? Walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazelnuts are about $2.50/lb in the stores around here. I bet heart-shaped walnuts would get a premium at the farmer's market.
I wouldn't want to drizzle on your parade, Charles. As far as selling them, unless the "Heartnut Association" (or the like) promotes their product, people might be hesitant about buying something they've never heard of. But then again, you might get in on the ground floor of the next trend for health nuts (pun intended). Good luck. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
As I said, I'm not planning to make money on these, though I'd be willing to bet that they'd go quickly at the Farmer's Market. I mean, think about it.....nuts shaped like heart lockets that taste like English walnuts and are easy to shell. Where they are available, it is said that people buy all that are available for $3-$4/lb.
So far I have planted five pecans and have fed the local deer population with native hazelnut shrubs. The pecans are all protected with individual fence circles, and any heartnut trees, or other trees I plant will have to be fenced in the same manner. So, I'd really have to get serious about nut production if I wanted to try to plant commercial numbers of trees. I'm mainly hoping that when I retire in ten years I'll be able to gather enough nuts for my own considerable use.
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