By Shelby Brooks
A hazelnut grove in a Gembrook valley has been a decade in the making and is now tantalising locals’ taste buds with fresh produce, and entertaining them with llama pronking.
David Nickell of Burnarlook Llamas and Hazelnuts, planted the first paddock of hazelnut trees in a valley on his Gembrook property in 2008.
It took seven years for the trees to start giving any reward to David’s care and hard work – hazelnut plants take between seven and 10 years to start producing fruit.
“It’s a decade-long gamble,” he said.
“Once you do it you’re locked in.”
But David knew hazelnuts were the right crop to plant into Gembrook’s red soil.
“I wanted to do something that could look after itself, could use the produce for heaps of things, have the opportunity to sell to boutique markets and have people come and interact with them,” David said.
“Australians only eat one year or more old hazelnuts that are mostly imported. We don’t know what fresh hazelnuts taste like.”
The grove, which David estimates is home to about 1500 hazelnut plants, took three years to finalise.
The trees were grown from whips and have grown into their natural shape which is a multi-stem bush.
David said bigger commercial growers, particularly in America, are experimenting with growing hazelnuts as one trunk – the more classic tree shape.
“They grow a lot taller with a single trunk, so it’s easier to get machinery under it,” David explained.
“Here we’re going more for natural – as the tree normally grows.”
The hazelnut trees have been producing nuts for a couple of years now, but this year they’re producing proper volumes, David said.
“It’s good enough now to open up to people to come and pick.”
The agri-experience aspect of the business is something David said he was excited to offer people.
He wants locals to be able to experience picking their own hazelnuts, while enjoying the quirky characters of the llamas that also call Burnarlook home.
“Picking is super relaxing, there’s something about the trees that give off this vibe,” he said.
“It’s a form of meditation.”
David has had locals come through during the 2023 season to forage for their own hazelnuts to take home.
The ones left behind David dries out in the sun down to a storage weight and is able to keep for up to 18 months.
“We pick them up off the ground as quickly as you can so they don’t go mouldy,” David said.
“Raining nights and wet days are not good this time of year for us.”
David will crack the nuts to order, so customers get a nice fresh product.
He currently supplies some local restaurants and pubs.
“They are absolutely delighted to have fresh hazelnuts,” he said.
“They blend and incorporate them into desserts.”
Soon, the hazelnut trees will show their autumn colours in a brilliant display of reds, oranges and yellows.
“That’s what is brilliant about hazelnuts – it’s the true four seasons,” David said.
“They have a really distinct spring with new growth and bright green leaves, in winter their catkins have tiny little red flowers on the end of the for winter pollination. Deep summer, they have shady growth and nuts and autumn the leaves change colour.”
