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Glenridge Hazelnuts ‘the real deal’ in terms of Ontario production



In the world of Ontario hazelnuts, Glenridge Hazelnuts are the unquestioned real deal.

In a fledgling industry featuring many test and hobby plots and some farms with 10 or 20 acres of trees, the Sharp family operation stands alone with a 70-acre orchard backed up by a full range of harvesting, drying and processing equipment.

“We’re still learning, that’s for sure,” said Adam Sharp, reiterating his father Bill’s open-doors policy when it comes to provincial hazelnut development, illustrated with an Ontario Hazelnut Association (OHA) Farm Tour Saturday, September 28th at the family’s St. George-area properties.

Bill, Martha and their three children: Adam, his wife Chelsie and children Owen and Rorie; Stephanie, and James were all on hand to welcome industry guests for a comprehensive tour and equipment demonstration.

The Sharp family’s entry into hazelnut production was encouraged by seeking a niche crop for a rocky piece of property featuring particularly sharp knolls.

“We farm hills, but every time you pulled in there you knew you were going to break something,” said Adam.

Their interest was piqued and developed over years of research at OHA symposiums, along with the fact equipment used in their cash-cropping operation as well as farming experience in general could be sourced for hazelnuts.

“A lot of it crosses over.”

In addition, hazelnuts represented a low-labour option compared to, for example, fruit trees or ginseng.

“I don’t care what industry you are in, you struggle to find people,” said Adam.

During the busier times, planting, pruning and harvest, the family comes together to work collaboratively says Adam, but regular maintenance - drip irrigation and grass cutting - can be handled by ‘one or two guys’ during summer months. Hazelnut harvest also lines up with corn, the former finishing roughly by the end of October so the family can focus on the latter through November.

The Sharps began planting hazelnuts seriously in 2018, gradually moving forward to their current acreage. Of the 70, roughly half are approaching maturity in terms of production says Adam, with the remainder a combination of whips through trees approaching production age.

The orchard is split roughly between 35 acres of what James Sharp calls ‘Oregon varieties’, Jefferson, Yamhill, Gamma and Gene which were propagated there, and ‘Rutgers University varieties’, more eastern-based trees developed through a breeding program there, including Sommerset and Raritan.

Hazelnut orchards tend to have a combination of nut-production trees and pollinators - such as ‘The Beast’ from Rutgers, so named for how much pollen it produces. Nut size, shape and flavour are also considerations for picking varieties, as is Eastern Filbert Blight (EFB) resistance.

“That’s the big part too,” says James.

Compared to annuals like corn and soybeans, there is ‘quite a wait’ between planting trees and producing nuts. Adam says there was little apparent difference in the trees through their first two years, with a few clusters of nuts forming by year four. In year five, the family went out together and hand-harvested a few hundred pounds, getting to the point the year after where a mechanical harvester was required for around 8,500 pounds off 25-30 acres.

No matter what the crop, it’s rewarding to both have a decent growing season and harvest, said Adam, particularly so after an extended waiting period.

“That was quite exciting.”

If growing production is the biggest satisfaction, EFB, a disease which can devastate both individual trees and orchards, is the biggest challenge. Risk is mitigated through the introduction of new blight-resistant varieties along with a spraying schedule incorporating farming practices from the farms’ other crops.

Regular inspections have not discovered EFB in the Glenridge orchards says Adam, a status they are striving to keep at ‘quo.’

“I hope we can keep on top of it.”

The transition from getting trees in the ground and moving them forward to age of production was ‘exciting’, but also required a corresponding addition in harvesting and production equipment.

Their harvester was sourced from Italy, essentially a series of rotating rubber paddles which sweep nuts into a row where they are vacuumed into a hopper. There are many different models and approaches says Adam, but they all seem to feature some form of vacuum.

“There’s really only one way to get stuff off the ground.”

Given the indiscriminate nature of the suction, the second stage in harvest is cleaning, which removes the great majority of ‘bi-catch’ twigs and debris, as well application of a food-grade solution which ensures nuts will be safe for human consumption.

Initially, the Sharp family figured their nuts would be sold in the shell.

“We’re finding that is not the case,” said Adam, noting Ontario and Quebec buyers want them cracked. As a result, cleaned Glenridge nuts are then dried in-shell, before being sorted for size, a crucial stage given they must be as uniform as possible for the cracker to work effectively and efficiently. If there is too great a disparity in shell size, you’ll end up with the hazelnut equivalent of ‘mashed potatoes’ says Adam, rather than the desired full, intact nuts.

The cracker removes 98 per cent of the shells, meaning that last year, summer students employed in a variety of duties on the farms, also assisted in hand-sorting 22,000 pounds of cracked nuts. It is a vital step in ensuring Glenridge Hazelnuts are a premium product, however tedious and time-consuming.

“It was like watching paint dry,” said Adam.

As a result, the farm has invested in an optical sorter which will employ AI technology and infrared lights to remove any final bits of debris along with any sub-standard product.

Hazelnuts were always considered some form of ‘value add’ crop says Adam. Stephanie Sharp is in charge of Glenridge Hazelnuts product development, branding and marketing.

As Adam stated and she echoed, farmers tend to like to farm and ultimately, wholesale is seen as a significant part of their business. However, the Sharp family is also exploring the opportunity presented through creating, branding and marketing in-house products.

“That part is a learning curve for a lot of us,” Stephanie admitted.

Glendrige Hazelnuts began with plain roasted nuts, adding cinnamon-sugar, espresso and maple-flavoured options, along with high-quality milk or dark Belgian chocolate-covered nuts.

“It’s pretty fair to say hazelnuts and chocolate go together really well,” she said.

Stephanie also hopes to have all-natural hazelnut butter ready for sale by Christmas, 2024, an option she prefers to peanut, almond or cashew butters.

“I may be biased, but hazelnut better is by far my favourite.”

They are available for sale online through the website https://glenridgehazelnuts.com, at local farmer’s markets and the St. George Apple Fest, or other area on-farm retail outlets. Ultimately, Stephanie would like to see some form of on-farm market, in conjunction with farm tours and agri-tourism highlighting the value of producing and purchasing locally.

There are a lot of moving parts to that vision, however no form of farming is without challenge.

“But in a good way,” Stephanie emphasized. “It’s good to have a challenge.”

Her succinct summary could be applied to Ontario’s hazelnut industry, a work full of promise, but also arguably in progress, requiring contributions from all players, believes Adam.

“We’re here to share, to move the industry forward,” he concluded. “We’re still so small we do need each other and will need each other forever."

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