North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Martha Davis <martha_davis@earthlink.net>]

I suspect Hicans are rather like black walnuts.  There is variation in
extraction rate. Selection is currently taking place for ones that crack
out with free haves or quarters.  You should check out named varieties.
 The best resource is probably the Northern Nut Growers Association.

Martha Davis


Hey Folks,
> thinking about what nuts I can grow. Anyone have much experience with
> Hicans? To what extent are the edible? Lots of things get called edible
> that aren't  really in a practical sense. Wild hickories fit this latter
> category. The nuts are very tasty, but the extraction rate is pitiful as
> the nuts are wooden. The only practical way I have heard of eating them is
> to crush the nuts and boil them, and skim the oily residue.
> Can hicans be cracked and eaten, like pecans (walnuts, etc), or are they
> more like hickories?
>