How to Shake Nut Trees
The benefits of cultivating a backyard orchard are many. The bounties of fresh almonds, pistachios, walnuts, chestnuts and pecans are the most obvious temptations. The aesthetic landscape offered up by a home orchard, the intrinsic rewards of working outdoors and an ability to share your harvest with others are less thought of but nonetheless alluring charms. As backyard enthusiasts have discovered, the challenges of harvesting nuts at home are often quite different from those faced by commercial farmers. Although the process of shaking a nut tree without a professional machine may seem daunting, there are simple methods home gardeners can successfully utilize for a rich harvest every year. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Helmet or hat
- Protective eye gear
- Gloves
- PVC pole
- Tarp
- Pneumatic shaker (optional)
Instructions
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Study the variety of tree you are growing to determine the appropriate season for harvest. Every variety is different. Talk to a nursery professional to fully understand the specific harvesting requirements of your tree variety. Proceeding incorrectly could potentially damage the tree and sabotage next year's harvest.
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Verify that your tree allows for shaking when harvesting. Some trees, like chestnut trees, would be damaged from shaking and should be allowed to shed nuts naturally. Other trees, like almonds, pistachios, walnuts and pecans, benefit from a shake-and-catch harvest strategy.
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Lay a tarp or harvest netting around the base of the tree large enough to catch all of the nuts.
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Wear a helmet or a protective hat when shaking nut trees. Wear protective eye gear always and gloves at your discretion. Nuts tend to fall straight down and will be pelting you throughout the shaking process.
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Shake each limb for 15 seconds with your hands if possible. For higher branches use a long piece of PVC pipe. While standing beneath the tree, push the end of the PVC pipe firmly against tree limbs and shake.
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Beware of power lines and never use aluminum or metal poles for shaking. Contact with a power lines can cause severe injury or death.
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Consider using pneumatic hand-held shakers, which attach to a standard compressor for very big jobs. This takes most of the elbow grease out of the shaking process. Once attached to the compressor, expose the shaker to the limbs and let the pneumatic mechanism do the rest. Be careful not to damage the tree limbs when operating mechanical shakers.
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Wait at least one week between shakings. You may have to shake your tree several times throughout the harvest season.
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