At the end of August the trees were laden. The first volunteers arrived, ready for work and the picking began. It would continue for the next four weeks whenever a workforce could be gathered.
Those first few weeks of August brought beautiful weather and at weekends friends and family turned out to lend a hand. The nuts were spread out in the sun to aid drying
An exciting cricket match on the radio added to the enjoyment and lunch al fresco was good fun and delicious.
The cobnuts were looking good and the regular stall was set up outside the Ightham Mote Visitor Centre
As time passed it became apparent that more help was needed and pickers were engaged by means of an agency. They worked hard and with good will, gathering in most of the nuts before rain set in towards the end of the month.
It seemed a shame to have to leave the top corner unpicked; the grey squirrels would be the winners there.
But before the rains came and while the hot weather lasted the nuts were spread out to dry in the lovely old farmyard of Ightham Mote, by kind permission, for which we were most grateful.
Now it was time to get supplies bagged and boxed for those more-deserving red squirrels in Northern Ireland.
And then time to get cracking and baking cobnut muesli and biscotti to sell on the stand at the Mote Apple and Orchard Day Fair.
Other varieties beside Kent Cob had done well on the plat this year; Cosford is a shorter nut with a more open husk,
whilst White Filbert is a small variety, entirely enclosed by its long pointed husk.
Both these varieties would have been planted in small numbers as pollinators for the main crop of Kent Cobs.
Early in the New Year a fantastic team of National Trust volunteers came and spent a day trimming and in some cases coppicing some overgrown wild hazel pollinators. They worked incredibly hard and told us they had enjoyed their day. Certainly the amount they achieved was greatly appreciated. They would be welcome back any time!
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In my last blog I wrote about the discovery in the Linnean Society of cobnuts from the earliest years of the 19th century and a correspondence between the grower, Mr Aylmer Bourke Lambert from his manor house in Wiltshire to the founder of the Linnean Society, Dr James Smith of Norwich: Mr Lambert being also a botanist of note in his day. He began his letter by thanking Sir James on behalf of himself and 'Mrs L' for the fine turkey, which they had served at a dinner party and much enjoyed (I was interested to learn that Norfolk was already famous for turkeys in 1805). He went on to write about the 'curious tale' of these nuts, sample young trees having been sent to Sir Joseph Banks 'at his particular request'.
Meg and I were intrigued and, having located the village and its manor house on Google Maps I wrote on the off-chance to 'the Owner'. A reply came back and on an excruciatingly wet day in October - and I think it has been raining ever since - we drove to the village, to be shown round the lovely garden by the gardener and to view, yes, indeed, those nut trees. At least we dare to hope that the trees we saw are indeed those planted in 1780. They had clearly been coppiced many times, judging from the width of the base, and most recently just two years ago, so they will not be bearing nuts for another year or two.
After visiting the garden and seeing from the outside the imposing Jacobean manor house, we went next door to the church which lies right up against the property. Inside is the tombstone of Aylmer Bourke Lambert, the writer of that letter, and the many other members of his family who lived and were laid to rest in the church over two centuries.
But back to the cobnut plat for a final word and image:-
Look closely to see the little red stars, signals for the coming season's crop. After the record-breaking harvest of last year we might lower our expectations, but there are plenty of red flowers and the wind has certainly been blowing the pollen about.
So, as usual, we wait to see.
