You can do so much with a hickory tree! The wood is really great for woodworking and excellent for burning (hickory wood burns the hottest of our native hardwoods!) Hickory trees are also a source of food! If you can get lucky and find the right tree, that is.
Yesterday, I thought I’d found the mother lode of all hickory nuts (the ground around the tree was absolutely littered with big nuts!) but when I opened some, they were duds! Inside, instead of nuts, there were little nut-shaped pieces of felt. Ack! I’m going to scout out some other trees today and see if I can’t get a hold of the real deal.
My food foraging walk wasn’t a total loss. I got better at identifying hickories from a distance! All that time I spent looking for hickory trees gave me a sort of “hickory tree eye”. I can spot one at a distance and when I get there, it’s easier to find the nuts hiding in the grass. Shagbark hickories have that nice shaggy bark, of course, but exactly at this time of year, they’ve also got the most wonderful golden yellow and brown foliage!
So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and find yourself a hickory tree! 😀 Even if you don’t find any good nuts, you should be able to find SOMETHING about the tree to inspire your crafting!!
Jump start your Hickory Crafting Imagination! Here are some examples of handmade crafts made from and inspired by hickory trees to help you along: