Anyone w/ experience harvesting almonds from the tree?

Hello!
I was hoping to get advice on how to properly get the almonds out of the fruit (and when to do it for that matter.) Anyone know?
TIA
Elizabeth

40 years ago when I was a lot younger we harvested almonds commercially. All you need if you only have a few trees is a long wooden or fiberglass pole to knock them to the ground. Almond knockers, a 3 foot strong wooden handle with a large rubber piece on the end can also be used. When you use that be sure to hit the limbs squarely so you don't knock off the bark. Have fun, Kern

Thank you Kern! Did you ever get the almond out of the fruit too, by chance? I didn't know if there were a more successful way of going about it.
I know I am pushing my luck here !
Elizabeth

The almonds are ready to harvest when the hull splits and starts to shrink from the nut shell. I usually took a few off the tree and shook it hull and all. The nut should be separated enough to rattle a bit.

You didn't mention whether you had more than one tree or what variety, but unless you have an All-In-One almond, you will need a pollinizer.
I had an All-In-One. The nuts are sweet, not bitter and best of all the tree is naturally small. Judicious pruning kept it within easy reach with a short wooden pole. The unshell almonds are easy to remove. Place a thumb on either side of the split, cradling the hull in a tent made with your other fingers and pull outward on the hull halves. The unshelled almond will fall out. Spread the unshelled almonds out in a warm dry place to dry. If you have a dehydrator, you can use it.

You will just have to use finger power to open up the shells. Depending on variety they open easily enough. We have thousands of acres of almonds in this area of Ca. Many places are getting into flavoring almonds in many ways now. To me, the only way to eat almonds is as nature made them. Kern

Thank you BettyDee
Yeah, nothing beats a natural almond, Kern!
My tree is a Hall's Hardy Almond. I am assuming there are almonds in there---there's alot of fruit hanging on it and it's only been in the ground at my house a year!
I love it as an ornamental tree too---very pretty in the spring.
E

Elizabeth
What zone are you in.I would love to grow an almond tree but don't know if it would do well here at the beach.It really don't care about the nuts but the almond tree is one of the prettiest trees I have ever grown in other places.Where did you buy it?I have an apricot tree that does not have good fruit but is so lovely when in bloom in February.
Nancy

Hey Nancy
I bought it from Gueney's believe it or not! It has grown VERY quickly and seems to be healthy.
I am in zone 7--upper NW corner of SC. Good luck if you get one.
E

Nancy, if you want only one tree, get All-in-One. It is white cloud when in bloom. It's naturely smaller. As with all almonds, it flowers early so they may be nipped by frost. I used to have one called Garden Prince. A semi-dwarf pink blooming variety.

ElizabethF and Betty dee
Thanks for the info.I will get get one as soon as planting is possible.

We have been in the North West part of the state and it is really beautiful.My husbands company is based in Greenville.He works from home and only goes up once in a while.

I have a three year old almond tree variety 'Robjn' which is self-fertile and has softer shelled nuts which are easy to crack. Last year it had over 40 nuts after I had thinned them out drastically. I wanted it to grow rather than put all it's strength into producing fruit. This year though it has only set about 10 nuts as we had some very late frosts here in England. Still, the pink blossom looked lovely. I don't suppose this variety is available in the USA.

Leave the nuts until they come off the tree easily, and let them dry. The skin usually splits when they are ready and the nut comes out quite easily.

Thank you, Patbarr!
Elizabeth

Patbarr,
Robjn sounds like a lovely tree when in bloom. I have never seen it here in the States. It's been a long time since I've seen Garden Prince which is too bad because I had to leave it behind when we moved to Texas. We sold our house in California last year. The new owners have cut down all the fruit trees I had planted and put down rock. Twenty-two years of effort gone.
Veronica

Veronica,
I am soooo sorry!! What a bummer! ~ Suzi ♥

Hi everyone. I'm new to DG and loving it. I would love to have an almond tree, but am not sure how it would do here in Okla. I think we are in zone 6b. Do you know of any that grow well here? We get our last frost around middle or last of March (usually). I wonder if a frost at that time would bite the blooms. We have lots of native pecan trees in this area and they do quite well most years.

If anyone knows of a variety that does well around the Tulsa area I'd like to know............and where to get it.

Thanks much.................................PeggieK

Welcome to DGs, Peggie.
That means that any fruit tree would have to survive average winter temperatures of 0º to -5ºF. Almond trees are true Mediterranean requiring mild winters. Many almond tree will survive temperatures into the single digits. Hall's Hardy is supposed to be hardy to Zone 5, but the nut has a slight bitter taste. Almonds are one of the first trees to bloom, often as early as February. The flowers are killed by temperatures below 28ºF. Young fruit at 31ºF. So chances of having flowers and fruit are pretty slim.

How early an almond blooms depends on when it has accumulated the number of chill hours that variety needs. Almonds usually need between 300 to 500 chill hours. Here in our part of central Texas we get between 650 to 700 chill hours. That means the almond tree would break dormancy and begin blooming well before our last frost date, usually the first week of March. Even here in Zone 8b, while I may see flowers once in a while, I would not get fruit.

Thanks Bettydee, that's probably why I have never talked to anyone around these parts that has an almond tree. It would be quite an unusual thing to have one. I'm glad you clarified it for me, because I kept seeing them in some of the catalogs and they said they were good up to zone 5. Must have been the Hall's Hardy. I wouldn't want it if the fruit was not good though. PeggieK