Sydney Widell | Watershed Coordinator
The last warm days of fall are a perfect time to plant hazelnut seedlings, and CCCWC members have been working together to put nearly 300 in the ground over the last month.
Some of these seedlings will grow up to offer refuge to turkeys, jays, and other wildlife, and some will produce nuts for local markets. A few seedlings will even go on to inform future hazelnut establishment efforts by offering insights about optimal irrigation, pruning, and tree tubing, through a study the CCCWC is facilitating in collaboration with UW-Extension, thanks to support from a North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant.
(Left to right) Mary Jo Burke, Charley Burke, Stacie Trost-Smith, and Nate Smith pause after a planting party at the Smith Farm on Sept. 25.
Lots of hands made light work at the planting party Nate Smith and Stacie Trost-Smith hosted at their farm in Middle Coon Creek on September 25. Guests had a chance to get hands on hazelnut establishment experience, and learn about different options for tree tubing.
Tree tubes are critical for protecting young seedlings from the elements, weeds, and hungry rodents, but different types of tubes come with trade-offs related to light penetration, cost, and durability. With support from SARE, Stacie and Nate will be trialing different tree tubes to learn which options are best for Driftless hazelnut growers.
Odin the dog oversaw hazelnut planting at Nick and Ellen Voss’s home in Gays Mills earlier in the spring. Photo by Ellen Voss.
Nick and Ellen Voss expanded their hazelnut orchard this fall as well, with seedlings from Midwest Hazelnut. The CCCWC is offering a cost share of $10/hazelnut seedling to our members, thanks again to funding from SARE. Spring hazelnut orders will open in early 2027, and now is the perfect time to start planning yours!Nick and Ellen Voss expanded their hazelnut orchard this fall as well, with seedlings from Midwest Hazelnut. The CCCWC is offering a cost share of $10/hazelnut seedling to our members, thanks again to funding from SARE. Spring hazelnut orders will open in early 2027, and now is the perfect time to start planning yours!
Three generations of Weningers plant hazelnuts on their farm in the headwaters of the Coon Creek Watershed this October. Photo by Bree Breckel.
Our treasurer Eric Weninger and his wife Bree Breckel planted 90 hazelnuts on their farm in Cashton in mid-October, with help from their son Sylvan, and Eric’s father.
Eric, Bree, and Sylvan have historically cared for a steep maple woods, where they harvest and process maple sap as the founders of Embark Maple. As winters warm and the sap harvest becomes more irregular, they’ve looked to ways to adapt and diversify their farm.
Sunset over Rognstad Ridge after a long afternoon of hazelnut planting. Photo by Bree Breckel.
“A lot of what we’ve done is hard to see and measure,” Eric told our board earlier this month. “With milder winters, harvesting sap is getting more difficult with every year. In 1992, I planted thousands of trees with my dad and grandpa. On Monday, I planted hazelnuts with Sylvan and my dad. I don’t know what our farm is going to look like in Sylvan’s time. Maybe the hazelnuts will work out, maybe not. But if nothing else, the CCCWC has enabled this generational celebration of optimism for the future.”