Walking past the hazelnut bushes today, I noticed several husks on the ground, and some cracked open shells - evidence of small rodentian munching on the nuts. This means they're ripe and ready for picking. Giving the bush a test shake, a dozen or so more nuts fell to the ground. So I rounded up a helper and a basket, and we picked as many as we could before it began to rain. I'll put the husks into a paper sack to dry out for a few days, then pry the nuts from their leaves. After that, it's just a matter of cracking open a couple and snacking on them.
