The green peels start to turn brown, shrink and split. If you're wondering when to pick macadamia nuts, you have to wait until they're ripe. Nuts ripen at different times depending on where you are and what type of tree you have. Even on a macadamia tree, the nuts don't all ripen in the same week or even the same month.
Read on to learn more about harvesting macadamia nuts. The ripening of macadamia nuts varies by variety, location and season. In New Zealand, this generally means that maturation occurs from May to October. Even on a single tree, individual macadamia nuts can ripen for several months.
Macadamias will fall to the ground when they are ripe, so the best time to harvest the nuts is as soon as they fall. This should be between March and August, and most will fall in May and June. Locate the branches of the macadamia nut tree that contain ripe nuts. Ripe nuts can be identified by their open, split or cracked shell.
Walnuts are usually ready to be harvested during the month of June. Most of those that fall from the tree are fully mature. Ripe nuts have a green shell or a greenish-brown shell that starts to open. The shell inside the shell is brown at maturity.
In the United States, macadamia nuts have been produced in Hawaii for more than 100 years. Trees can grow up to six feet per year and are not normally harvested until they reach 12 to 18 inches wide. When you start harvesting any tree, it's important to know if you're harvesting ripe or immature nuts so you can get at least two crops out of a year's harvest. Macadamias are native to northern New South Wales and southeastern Queensland, so they will produce good nuts when planted in a climate zone similar to those areas.
Because macadamia trees were initially grown commercially in Hawaii, it is also known as the Hawaiian nut. When planted in colder areas, macadamias may act as ornamental plants that provide shade, but they may not produce flowers or fruit well. The nuts are housed in hard shells that must be broken after harvest to reveal the tender, brown nut they contain. They are often planted for their shady canopy, beautiful pale flowers, and of course, their delicious butter-flavored nuts.
The green shell that covers the nut of the tree, but turns brown and splits on the ground, should be removed at harvest time, but it can also be used as mulch or compost. Because shaking trees to remove nuts can also cause immature nuts to fall, it's best to pick up fallen nuts. Macadamia nuts grow on trees that can reach an astonishing height of 40 feet and are harvested through the use of long poles. Rake until most of the nuts fall, which occurs regularly from fall to early spring on some tree varieties.
From cooking, health and well-being to people, gift ideas and the country of macadamia, there's a lot to discover about this extraordinary Australian nut. The shell and shell of macadamia nuts are green and must be removed before reaching the most recognized white edible seed. If the nuts haven't fallen naturally in spring, you can manually remove them from the tree and they'll still be ripe and tasty.
