Nut

You've heard of that 'old chestnut' – perhaps we have defined it here: The Chestnut industry in New Zealand has been arduously nutted out many times over; but it always seems to relegate itself into the 'nearly made it' chest. This time - 2013 - there still remain international markets pleading for product. A leading tree propagator of great experience holds a bud grafting workshop featuring chestnuts. He has supplied thousands of trees over decades for this elusive industry - Where is this chestnut industry that has swallowed up so much effort? While we wait for answers from the many [...]

Written by Eric Cairnes, NZTCA - February 2000 So you've bought or are thinking of buying a rural block and perhaps earning some retirement income from growing something, preferably something you yourself like eating.  What about nuts? They are high value, store well, are eary to transport, lend themselves to niche marketing and can be managed on a fairly small scale. Remember the in shell nuts you indulged in over Christmas.  If you chose well, you found some excellent quality locally grown walnuts or hazels.  Most of us however, bought mixed packs of nuts imported from around the world.  They [...]

Introduction Pistachio (Pistachio vera) nuts are a crop of great antiquity. They probably originated in Iran, Turkestan and Afghanistan. The major producers of pistachio nuts are Iran, Turkey and California in the USA. Less important producers are Australia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Greece and Italy. Orchard cultivation in America and Australia has a short history. Of 40,000 acres planted in California, about 90% have been planted since 1970. Australian interest also began in the 1970's and they have made good progress especially on selecting cultivars suitable for Australian conditions. The pistachio is a small tree similar to the fig in its [...]

Classification : CARYA - Hickory - JUGLANDACEAE Pecan - Introduction Pecan is considered one of the most valuable nut species. The word 'pecan' means “a nut too hard to crack by hand”. Its scientific name, Carya illinoensis is from karyon (an ancient Greek name for nut) and a Latinised version of Illinois (meaning the nut that grew in the territory occupied by the Illinois Indian tribe). This member of the Hickory family originated in North America but Pecan trees have been growing in New Zealand for more than 100 years. The enthusiasm of Owen Long and others who worked with [...]

Classification - Proteaceae Introduction - Macadamia Although Macadamia are native to the eastern subtropical coastal rainforest of Australia (23 – 29 degrees South latitude) until recently the main commercial plantings were all in Hawaii. They were used there for reforestation projects but were not satisfactory for this use. Many trees were planted as ornamentals and these formed the nucleus for the early orchard plantings until in 1936 the University of Hawaii began a survey from which the five most promising selections were named in 1948. Overseas, major plantings exist in Australia, Hawaii, California, Florida, South Africa, Central America and Brazil [...]