This comprehensive book covers all aspects of growing, harvesting, processing and using nuts, based on forest gardening principles. Filled with gorgeous images of trees and nuts of different varieties, How to Grow Your Own Nuts is a treat for any gardener. Nuts covered include old favourites such as chestnuts, hazelnuts and walnuts, as well as less common varieties such as pine nuts, hickories, butternuts and monkey puzzle nuts. Whether you are planning to grow nuts at home or commercially, How to Grow Your Own Nuts is essential reading.
Introduction
Part One Cultivating and processing nuts
Chapter 1 Growing nut trees
Chapter 2 Maintenance and propagation of nut trees
Chapter 3 Harvesting and processing nuts
Part Two Nut trees A–Z
Almond (Prunus dulcis)
Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
Bladdernuts (Staphylea spp.)
Buartnut (Juglans × bixbyi)
Butternut (Juglans cinerea)
Chinkapin/Chinquapin (Castanea pumila)
Ginkgo/Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba)
Golden Chinkapins (Castenopsis spp.) (Chrysolepis spp.)
Hazelnut and Filbert (Corylus avellana, C. maxima)
Heartnut (Juglans ailantifolia var. cordiformis)
Hickories (Carya spp.)
Monkey puzzle (Araucaria araucana)
Oaks (Quercus spp.)
Pecan (Carya illinoensis)
Pines (Pinus spp.)
Sweet Chestnut (Castanea spp.)
Trazels (Corlus spp.)
Walnut (Juglans regia)
Yellowhorn
Glossary
Appendix 1: Nutritional content of nuts
Appendix 2: Common and Latin names
Resources
Photo credits
Index
"Martin Crawford is a one-man wonder! In this grand and beautiful book on nut culture he has assembled decades of practical insight to help gardeners and orchardists grow 'bread from trees'. From planting to harvesting, selection to storage, and pruning to pest control, you'll find the answers here. Complete with a thorough and lovingly illustrated guide to 19 species of nuts for the temperate world, this book sets a new standard for a vital but little-known field. If we must transform our agriculture to build soil and store carbon, then nut trees belong in all our futures."
– Peter Bane, author of The Permaculture Handbook
"How to Grow Your Own Nuts is the best guide I've seen to home and small-farm nut growing for the temperate climates, featuring species selection, cultivating, harvest, and processing. It includes many lesser-known species alongside standards like walnut, chestnut, and hazel. This is an essential guide to production of these perennial staple crops."
– Eric Toensmeier, permaculturist, author and Yale University lecturer
"A beautifully presented, clear, comprehensive bible from the man who knows more than anyone about growing nuts in the UK. Full of inspiration and information. It's a great book."
– Mark Diacono, gardener, food writer and broadcaster
"All who have room for a tree should grow nuts – serious nutrition with huge gastronomic potential. In yet another beautiful book, one of our most accomplished forest gardeners shows how."
– Colin Tudge, biologist, science writer and broadcaster, founder of The Campaign for Real Farming