When considering availability, there’s a tendency to put Oregon filberts, or hazelnuts, into the ”year-round” category. Which is generally correct, thanks to controlled-atmosphere storage, excellent distribution networks and the nuts’ natural keeping qualities. But last fall I was reminded of just how seasonal they truly are when I needed some and couldn’t find them. Even one of the city’s major supermarkets told me that their supplies were depleted and to come back in mid-October.

The upside was that I got a fresh product once they finally came to town. Well, they’ve come to town again, because early autumn is when the hazelnuts begin to drop from their trees, signaling to growers that it’s time to ready-up the harvesting equipment.

It then becomes a waiting game, because timing is everything. The most efficient harvest would be one in which all of the nuts have fallen before harvesting begins. But if the weather turns so bad that it’s impossible to move the equipment through the orchard, then the crop would be lost.

So most growers keep a wary eye cast toward October skies while paying full attention to orchard conditions. Once the majority of the crop is down, then phase one begins, which is to assemble the carpet of nuts into tidy, long rows with the help of a cute little motorized sweeping machine called a Flory Sweeper.

It can take as many as four passes down each row to line up the nuts. Then along comes a tractor with the harvester in tow. The machine will suck up everything in its path, spewing dirt and debris out the bottom while the nuts are carried up a metal conveyor belt where they topple out into the hopper.

By the way, if you’ve been thinking, ”Well, hazelnuts are fine and dandy, but what about filberts?” you’ve pondered to the right food writer. When I started writing about this famous Oregon nut back in the early 1980s, the Hazelnut Marketing board conducted a huge campaign to train us writers to call ’em filberts (like growers out here call ’em), instead of hazelnuts (like all Europeans). Even though it seemed that we were in the minority, I liked that we were bucking tradition up here in great Pacific Northwest. So filberts it was.

But it seems that even though growers grow filberts, they sell hazelnuts. At least, they do if they want to move in international circles. And so, in order to reduce the confusion, we food folks have once again been asked to reverse course. Which I am grudgingly doing. No matter its name, it’s still the official state nut. And, it still tastes absolutely fabulous with all sorts of sweets and savories, from chocolate and raspberries to salmon and pork tenderloin. So on with the season, which, like I said, is in full swing. Actually ”old crop” versus ”new crop” is of much less concern in the nut trade than any other type of produce. While the biggest damage to nuts occurs through moisture, modern storage facilities and packaging control it. And so, there is little qualitative difference between last year’s and this year’s crop.

If you intend to squirrel away large quantities for the winter keep in mind that exposure to air, light, warmth and moisture will hasten rancidity. If you have an area which eliminates those conditions, then large quantities are best stored in their shells. On the other hand, shelled nuts take up less room and fare very well in the freezer.