This November’s Members meeting was all about Cobnuts, Gillian Jones, Chair of the Kent cobnut association and grower of Cobnuts, gave a very interesting and thought provoking talk to a big turnout group of members. A cobnut is a cultivated variety of hazelnut, just as a Cox is a cultivated variety of apple. Mankind has enjoyed wild hazelnuts from time immemorial, and cultivated hazelnuts, sometimes known as filberts, have been grown in gardens and orchards since at least the 16th century. Children played an early version of ‘conkers’ with hazelnuts; the game was called cobnut or cobblenut, and the winning nut “the cob”. Cobnut trees can be grown as far north as Scotland, but they crop more regularly further south. They can readily be grown in gardens, but if you have grey squirrels they may eat them before they are ripe. Gillian talked about:

  • The history of Cobnut production
  • Varieties of Cobnuts
  • Cultivation
  • Wildflower diversity in a Cobnut ‘Plat’
  • Planting and soils
  • Production machines
  • Pests
  • Picking Cobnuts
  • Maintaining a ‘Plat’
  • Cobnut products
  • and much much more

The group discussion and comments made it even more beneficial to the attending members and we had a chance to try out the different flavors and see some of the products produced. The general feeling was that growing Cobnuts is good for the environment, biodiversity and economy.

For more information please visit: The Kentish Cobnut Association

More meetings and events can be found HERE

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