You might be walking past free food (my favourite kind) without even realizing it! Once I started learning how to recognize nut trees, I began noticing them everywhere especially when I went on walks around new places.

Here in the Okanagan, three common nut trees are hazelnuts, walnuts and chestnuts. Nut season is surprisingly easy to miss if you don’t know what the trees look like or what to watch for on the ground. But once you learn a few identifying features, harvesting them becomes one of the simplest ways to add another seasonal food to your pantry.

This guide covers how I recognize them, when to harvest, how to dry and store them, and some of my favourite ways to use them.

Foraging note: Always positively identify a tree before eating anything from it, and get permission before collecting on private property. Avoid gathering nuts from areas that may have been sprayed or contaminated by heavy roadside traffic.

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1. Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts are one of the first nuts I start watching for as summer begins moving into fall.

How to Recognize a Hazelnut Tree
Hazelnuts can grow as a large shrub or small multi-stemmed tree.

• Broad, rounded to oval leaves
• Noticeably serrated leaf edges
• Slightly heart-shaped leaf bases
• Multiple stems or a shrub-like growing habit
• Clusters of nuts surrounded by leafy green husks
• The developing nuts are one of the easiest identification clues. Instead of a bare brown nut hanging from the branch, hazelnuts grow inside a leafy husk that surrounds the shell.
• Depending on the type, the husk may be fairly short or extend farther around the nut.

When Are Hazelnuts Ready?
The biggest clue is the ground. Mature hazelnuts naturally fall from the tree, and British Columbia’s hazelnut production guide recommends harvesting them once mature nuts have dropped. If they’re ready, lightly shaking a branch can also encourage mature nuts to fall. Ideally, collect them before prolonged wet fall weather.

• Husks beginning to dry or brown
• Brown, fully developed shells
• Nuts loosening easily from their husks
• Mature nuts beginning to fall
• And yes, the squirrels usually know they’re ready before we do.

How I Harvest Them
For just a handful, a basket or harvest bag is all you need. If you’ve found a productive tree and there are nuts scattered everywhere underneath it, this is where a rolling nut gatherer can be surprisingly useful. This is one of those tools that isn’t essential, but makes collecting larger amounts from the ground much faster. Remove the leafy husks and sort through the nuts as you go. Discard anything obviously moldy, damaged or compromised.

Drying + Storing Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts need to be properly dried before pantry storage. Spread them in a shallow layer somewhere dry with good airflow. A mesh drying rack or screen works especially well because air can circulate underneath. Once dried, I prefer keeping hazelnuts in their shells until I need them.

Cold storage preserves the quality of hazelnuts, they keep better in the shell than shelled and recommends refrigeration or freezing for longer storage.

Ways to Use Hazelnuts

• Toasted as a snack
• In homemade granola
• In cookies and baking
• Chopped over oatmeal
• Added to salads
• Ground into hazelnut butter
• In homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread
• Chopped into trail mix
• Roasting also brings out their flavour beautifully.

2. Walnuts
Walnut trees are much larger and can be incredibly productive. Once you recognize the fruit, they’re hard to forget.

How to Recognize a Walnut Tree
Rather than looking for a familiar brown walnut shell on the tree, look for round green fruits. The walnut itself develops inside that thick green outer husk.

• A large spreading tree
• Long compound leaves made up of multiple leaflets
• Green round fruits hanging individually or in small groups
• Fallen green or darkening husks underneath the tree in fall
• When that green outer husk is removed, you’ll find the hard, textured walnut shell you’re used to seeing.

When Are Walnuts Ready?
Walnuts mature in fall and are generally harvested after the outer husk begins splitting and the nuts start falling naturally. Gather fallen mature walnuts frequently because nuts left sitting on wet ground can lose quality quickly.

• Green husks beginning to yellow or darken
• Husks splitting
• Nuts dropping naturally
• Husks separating easily from the shell

Harvesting Walnuts
Pick mature nuts from the ground regularly rather than leaving them sitting in wet grass. A nut gatherer can also be useful under a large walnut tree. Remove the outer husk before drying.

Drying Walnuts Properly
Don’t put freshly hulled walnuts straight into a sealed container.They still contain moisture and need airflow. Begin the drying process soon after harvest and emphasizes good airflow.

Spread them in a single layer on:

• Mesh drying trays
• Screens
• Ventilated crates
• Open drying racks

Once thoroughly dried, store them somewhere cool and dry or refrigerate/freeze them for longer keeping.

Cracking Walnuts
If you’re processing more than a few walnuts at a time, having a good nutcracker makes a huge difference. Look for one that holds the nut securely rather than simply crushing everything inside. A nut pick set is another inexpensive tool that’s genuinely useful for removing pieces of kernel from the shell.

Ways to Use Walnuts
Walnuts are one of the easiest nuts to work into everyday food. I also freeze shelled walnut kernels so they’re easy to grab throughout winter.Use them in:

• Banana bread
• Muffins
• Granola
• Oatmeal
• Salads
• Pesto
• Trail mix
• Cookies
• Homemade nut butter
• Savoury stuffing

3. Chestnuts
Chestnuts are probably the easiest of these three to recognize once they’re fruiting. The tree produces nuts inside extremely prickly burs that look almost like little green sea urchins.

How to Recognize a Chestnut Tree

• Long, narrow leaves
• Strongly toothed leaf edges
• Long leaves with very visible parallel side veins
• Large trees with spreading canopies
• Round, densely spiked green burs
• As fall progresses, those green burs begin turning brown and splitting open.
• Inside you’ll usually find shiny brown chestnuts.
• Those prickly husks are the giveaway.

When Are Chestnuts Ready?

The tree will tell you when they are ready! Mature chestnuts naturally fall when they’re ready, usually as the burs split open. Extension guidance recommends gathering mature chestnuts as they fall. Wear sturdy thorn resistant garden gloves when handling the burs.

Chestnuts Need Different Storage
This is important. Do not treat fresh chestnuts like walnuts or hazelnuts. Chestnuts contain much more moisture and starch and are considerably more perishable. They’re more similar to storing fresh produce than a typical dry nut. Fresh chestnuts should be cleaned and refrigerated soon after harvest to reduce mold and deterioration. For longer storage, they can also be frozen.

Preparing Chestnuts
Fresh chestnuts are delicious roasted. Before roasting, always cut through the outer shell so steam can escape during cooking.

A small chestnut knife makes this much easier. You can also find specialized chestnut tools that make a controlled cut through the shell.

Ways to Use Chestnuts
Chestnuts are completely different from walnuts and hazelnuts. Their texture becomes soft and almost potato-like when cooked. There is nothing quite like warm roasted chestnuts in fall.

• Roasted
• Boiled
• In stuffing
• In soups
• Puréed
• Added to seasonal side dishes
• In desserts
• Ground into chestnut flour once properly dried

My Basic Nut Foraging Kit
You really don’t need much equipment to start gathering nuts. My practical setup would be:

• Traditional Woven Harvest basket or a heavy duty harvest basket 
• Good pair of gloves
• Rolling nut gatherer for larger harvests – Helpful for quickly collecting hazelnuts and walnuts from beneath productive trees.
• Mesh drying racks – One of my favourite multipurpose homestead tools. I use this style of rack anywhere I need plenty of airflow around a harvest.
• Heavy-duty nutcracker
• Nut picks – Simple but incredibly useful for getting every last piece from a cracked walnut shell.
• Airtight containers or freezer bags
• Chestnut scoring knife if you’re collecting chestnuts

A Few Things I Check Before Bringing Nuts Home
Not every nut lying underneath a tree belongs in your pantry. I leave behind nuts that are:

• Moldy
• Badly cracked
• Soft or decomposing
• Heavily insect damaged
• Unusually lightweight or hollow
• Smelling rancid or off
• And I don’t gather from a tree unless I’m confident in its identification.
• With walnuts and hazelnuts, getting mature nuts off damp ground and drying them promptly helps maintain quality.

DIY Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only. Please use appropriate safety precautions and your own judgment when attempting any DIY project. Oceans Bliss is not responsible for any injury, damage, or loss resulting from the use of this information. The methods shared here reflect what I personally use in my own home.