Late Summer Belongs to the Hazel

By mid-August, the hedgerows have gone quiet. The elderflowers are long finished, the blackberries are swelling, and something less obvious is happening deep in the hazel scrub: this year's nuts are beginning to brown at the base. For a forager, that small change is the starting gun.

Hazelnuts are one of the most rewarding wild foods in Britain, and one of the most contested. You are not the only creature watching that bush. Squirrels, jays, wood mice, dormice and nuthatches all check the crop daily, and they check it earlier than most people realise. The difference between a full basket and an empty one is usually a question of timing, preparation and knowing exactly what a ripe cob looks like.

Reading the Hazel Bush

Hazel (Corylus avellana) is a shrub rather than a tree, though it can reach eight metres if left uncopped. Look for rounded, roughly heart-shaped leaves with a pointed tip and a strongly toothed edge, soft and slightly hairy to the touch. The stems are smooth and grey-brown, and after a good crop you will often see the pale, papery husks still clinging to the twigs.

The nuts grow in clusters of one to four, each sitting inside a leafy green husk that wraps around it like a short skirt. Getting to know that husk is the whole trick, because it tells you everything about ripeness.

• The husk starts green and tight, then yellows, then turns brown and begins to gape open at the top.
• A fully ripe nut loosens inside the husk and falls out on its own.
• Cobnuts are the cultivated relatives of wild hazelnuts; wild nuts are smaller, rounder and thicker-shelled, but the identification is the same.

Hazel is common in hedgerows, coppiced woodland, scrub and railway embankments across most of lowland Britain. It is one of the classic hedgerow species, so if you find a good hedge on a lane or a footpath, remember it.

How to Tell a Ripe Hazelnut

Most people pick hazelnuts far too early, when the husk is still green and the shell is a pale, milky white. Those nuts are watery, bitter and disappointing. Instead, look for the following:

• A brown base. Turn the nut over. Where it attached to the husk there should be a clear brown or tan patch, often a small ring. A pale, cream base means it is not ready.
• A firm, brown shell. The shell should be a warm mid-brown, not green, and hard enough that you cannot dent it with a thumbnail.
• Weight in the hand. A ripe nut feels heavy and solid. Shake it — if it rattles, the kernel has dried and shrunk, and it is often a dud.
• A milky, sweet kernel. Crack one open. In August the kernel is white, moist and mildly sweet. Later in the season it firms up and tastes more like the hazelnuts you buy in a shop.

Timing varies with latitude. In the south of England you can find ripe nuts from the middle of August; in northern England and Scotland, expect late August into September. Traditional cobnut growers worked to the old date of 20 August, and it is a surprisingly reliable guide.

Beat the Squirrels: When and How to Gather

Squirrels cut nuts early and often, and the evidence is fairly obvious once you know it — half-chewed husks on the ground, green nuts with neat bite marks, and a scattering of shells under the tree. The best strategy is to start checking a week before you think you need to.

In practice, the most productive method is simple: look down, not up.

• Get under the bush and part the leaf litter at the base. Fallen nuts are almost always the ripest, and they come free of the husk.
• Rake gently through dead leaves with a stick. Nuts hide remarkably well among hazel's own fallen foliage.
• Pick a few from the bush too, but only those that release with the lightest tug. If you have to pull hard, leave it.
• Bring a basket or cloth bag rather than a plastic bag; airflow matters.

Take no more than a third of what you find, and leave plenty for the wildlife that depends on the crop. If you want to be tidy about it, gather only from bushes beside public footpaths and lanes, respect nature reserves and Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and never strip a bush or break branches to reach nuts. Pick for your own kitchen, not for a market stall.

Sorting, Drying and Storing Your Crop

Back home, sort the nuts immediately. Reject any with a small round hole, which is the neat exit route of a nut weevil — the kernel inside will be gone. Also discard anything soft, mouldy or rattling.

A useful trick for checking your haul is to drop the nuts into a bowl of cold water. Sound, full nuts sink; empty or shrivelled ones float. Skim off the floaters and dry the rest thoroughly in a cloth.

For fresh eating, you can shell and use them within a week. For storage, spread the nuts in a single layer on trays in a dry, airy room and leave them for two to four weeks, turning them every few days. The kernels will shrink and turn crunchy. Once dry, they keep in jars in a cool, dark cupboard for several months, or in the freezer for a year.

Ways to Use Your Harvest

Fresh cobnuts in late summer are a genuine seasonal treat — milky, faintly sweet and excellent eaten straight from the shell with a bit of salt. Once dried, hazelnuts are far more versatile.

• Roast shelled kernels at around 160°C for twelve to fifteen minutes, then rub off the papery skins in a tea towel while they are still warm.
• Crush roasted nuts with butter and a little thyme and spoon over greens, cabbage or roast squash.
• Make a simple cobnut stuffing with breadcrumbs, onion, sage and plenty of chopped nuts.
• Whizz roasted kernels into hazelnut butter, or grind them finely for a praline, cake or biscuit.

Whether you eat them fresh or dried, you will be tasting something that has been part of British hedgerow life for thousands of years. Just be quick about it — the squirrels keep a better diary than most of us.