Nut and Fruit Tree – Group Ordering – Spring 2021

Nut and Fruit Tree – Group Ordering

2021

Transition Bay St Margarets works to help our community build its resilience against global changes. Food and edible landscaping can be an important part of that resilience.

Transition Bay St Margarets wants to help you install more edible landscaping on your property. By offering bulk rates and delivery on fruit and nut trees, we aim to increase the food security and climate responsibility for folks in the Bay for many generations to come. Also, consider sponsoring a nut or fruit tree for your school, community center or public place (pending their agreement, of course).

ORDERING DEADLINE and DELIVERY:

Orders must be paid for by April 21.

ORDERING:

We will offer prices as soon as they become available to us. Please email your order. Tally the cost and add 15% HST. There will be a shipping surcharge that is to be determined.

PAYMENT:

We will inform you of prices as soon as they become available to us.

We must receive full payment by the deadline, to be determined, in order to include your order. Payment can be made by e-transfer to jenstotland@gmail.com

GUARANTEES:

From Charlie the Tree Guy: Charlie guarantees that trees are healthy and have a good root system when they are shipped. He says its hard to guarantee that people planting them do it right and look after them.

 

TREE CHOICES:

We are offering the following trees for bulk order and delivery from either Baldwin nursery, or Charlie the Tree Guy, Truro (charliethetreeguy.ca). For information on each tree, see the respective website of these growers.

Subject to availability there may be substitutions. If there are no substitutions available there will be a refund. Please specify in your order if this is acceptable.

Carpathian Persian (English) Walnut   Mature size: 100 feet

Fruitful Forest:   1′ – $18.00

Charlie the Tree Guy:   6″ – $5.00 ,  24″ – $15.00,  Bare root – $35.00

Baldwins:  $45.00 – $65.00

A large tree, hardy to the North and producing large-meat, thin-shelled walnuts. When nuts comes off the tree, they will have a husk that will turn black and fall off when the nut is ripe.

Hazelnut   Mature size: 8-12′

Charlie the Tree Guy:  2′ –  $20.00, 4′ – $65.00

Baldwin:  $45.00

For all you Nutella freaks, this is the nut! A small tree that will assume a shrubby shape if not pruned. Hazelnuts will put out their female flowers and male flowers at different times, so plant two for best fruiting success. A bristly cap (like on an acorn) envelopes the nut almost entirely. You will need 2 for greatest success.

American Chestnut    Mature size: 100′

Charlie the Tree Guy:  24″ – $25.00, 4′ – $45.00

A rare balanced source of fats, proteins and complex carbohydrates. This large indigenous tree used to be widespread. Efforts are now in place to cross breed blight-resistant American chestnuts.

Cherry   Mature size: 12-15′

Stella, Montmorrency, Mesabi (tart)   $65.00

A prolific tart cherry. Because they bloom later than sweet cherries, Montmorency are more dependable fruit producers in cooler climates. It is self fertile and requires no pollinator. The juicy, tart cherries ripen early, just two months after spring bloom.

Apple  Mature size: 15-20’  

Cortland, Honeycrisp, Gravenstein  $65.00

A McIntosh descendant, Cortland is a cross between the Ben Davis and McIntosh. Large globular shape with red-orange stripes. Mild, sweet taste and crisp texture. A great all purpose apple. Excellent for salads and fruit plates; resists browning. Good for pies and sauces. Freezes well.

Peach   Mature size: 20-25’

 Elberta, Red Haven

Charlie the Tree Guy:  $65.00

A hardy peach tree. This tree produces a heavy crop of fruit even after frigid winters. Fruit is medium-to-large with a sweet, peachy flavor. Features a flush of pink flowers in spring. Freestone. Ripens in July. Self-pollinating.

 

Planting

Dig a hole a little deeper than the pot or rootball and twice as wide. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole and roughen the sides so the roots can have nooks and crannies to grow into. A sheer side of the hole created by the blade of a shovel might be too smooth for roots to take hold. Fill the hole with water and allow that water to drain before planting.

Backfill with a mix of the original soil and well-aged compost or manure and two handfuls of bone meal.

If your tree is bareroot, make a pyramid of aged compost and fan the roots out around the pryamid, with the root crown at the top (the part where the stem broadens to become the roots).

Grimo Nuts writes:.”Try the tree in the hole to be sure there is ample room for the roots. Spread out the roots and broaden the hole as needed so the roots can extend outward and downward. Do not cut off or bend roots to accommodate the hole. “

The final position of the tree must be such that the final soil layer for the tree is the same as the soil layer in the pot. It is very detrimental to the tree to have any of the trunk buried, or any roots showing above ground. If you must plant off grade, it is better to have some underground parts exposed than above-ground parts buried.

After planting, water the tree in its new hole again.

Be sure to spread a full bag of mulch 4″ deep around the perimeter of the hole (but leaving a space between the mulch and the trunk of your new tree in order to not bury the trunk any deeper).

If you get a lot of wind, stake the tree.

After you plant

Keep grass and weeds 18″ away from your tree. Grimo nuts writes that “Competing weed and grass roots are almost toxic to a young struggling tree.

For the first two years, water deeply once a week unless there is a deep soaking rain.

Protect the stem of the tree from deer and rabbits as necessary. Young apple trees are also prone to deer browsing in late winter when buds swell. If there are deer in your area, it may be wise to erect 4 posts and chicken wire for the first few years to keep them at bay.

Recipes

Walnut Praline (for Carpathian, Heartnut, Buartnut walnuts and pecans) Natashaskitchen.com

• 1 cup walnut halves/pieces you can also use this recipe for candied pecans

• 1/4 cup white granulated sugar (not coarse sugar)

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

1. Heat a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat, add 1 cup walnuts, 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 Tbsp butter.

2. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently so your mixture doesn’t burn (especially towards the end). When the sugar mixture starts melting, stir constantly until all sugar is melted and nuts are coated.

3. Transfer immediately onto a sheet of parchment paper and separate the nuts right away. Using two spatulas will make this task go faster. You don’t want to give the nuts a chance to turn into a wad of inseparable delicious goodness unless you are the only person who will be enjoying the wad ;). Seriously, move quickly from the time the nuts are coated until they are separated out on the parchment paper.

4. Once the coating hardens (5-7 minutes), you can transfer them to a bowl and enjo

Hazelnut Chocolate Spread (Wellness Mama)

• 2 cups hazelnuts

• 1/3 cup or to taste sugar, or other preferred sweetener

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 1 TBSP coconut oil

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/8 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 12 to 15 minutes, until fragrant.

2. Carefully put the hot hazelnuts in a mason jar with the lid on and shake. The papery skins will fall right off. Remove the nuts that are now skinless and put them in a food processor or a high-powered blender, then re-shake the jar until the rest of the skins come off as well.

3. Grind the hazelnuts for about 5 minutes until they turn into a creamy hazelnut butter.

4. Add the sugar or other sweetener, cocoa powder, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt. Blend for another minute until all the ingredients are combined smooth.

5. Transfer to a pint mason jar. Store in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Microwave chestnuts

Use a knife to score an “X” on the pointy end of each chestnut. Then, place the nuts on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave at one minute intervals, until the outer shell starts to peel back slightly where you made your score (This usually takes 3-4 minutes, depending on your microwave)

Oven-roast chestnuts

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. To prepare your chestnuts, grasp them firmly between your thumb and index finger and carefully make a long slice across the rounded top of the chestnut with a sharp serrated bread knife. Careful, the shell is slippery. You should be able to slice it in one motion. If you have trouble cutting through, use gentle sawing motions, don’t force the blade down or you run the risk of cutting your hand.

1. Be sure to cut all the way through the shell.

2. Once all of your chestnuts have been cut, place them into a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer.

3. Once the water begins to simmer, remove the chestnuts from the water using a mesh strainer or slotted spoon and transfer them to a baking sheet.

4. Roast for 15 minutes, or until the shells begin to peel back where you cut into them.

5. Remove the chestnuts from the oven. Place them into a bowl and cover with a towel for 15 minutes. Allowing them to steam a bit will make them easier to peel.

6. Once the 15 minutes have passed, simply pull on the shell and slip the chestnut out. Some will be easier to peel than others. Both the outer shell and the tough brown skin around the chestnuts should be peeled off. If you run into any nuts that seem gooey or disintegrated inside, it means that they have spoiled. Chestnuts tend to have a short shelf life, spoiled nuts should be tossed.

Thank you for your interest!

Tantallon – Transition Bay St Margarets  info@transitionbay.ca

Halifax – jenstotland (at) gmail (dot) com