Our Book

Before you click on the link to Chelsea Green - please take a careful look at what folks have said - and who they are... we're very proud of them.

 Chelsea Green: 
Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts: The New Resilient Crop For A Changing Climate - 2015

Joel Salatin, farmer and author-

"Anyone ready to innovate outside the box will be blown away by the vision and practical insights demonstrated in Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts. The eclectic blend of science and practical how-to information packed into this fascinating, readable book is enough to inspire a whole new generation of farmers. Turning soybean fields into hazelnut plantations is truly a vision for the stout-hearted pioneer futuristic farmer. Sign me up."--

John Torgrimson, Executive Director, Seed Savers Exchange

" Apply Johnny Appleseed’s pioneering spirit to the science of breeding and cultivating hazelnuts, and you’ll begin to understand Phil Rutter.  Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts offers the reader a complete guide to hazelnut farming – from planting and maintenance to harvesting and marketing.  This book, co-authored by Phil and his son Brandon Rutter-Daywater and his colleague Susan Wiegrefe, shows that hazelnut farming is an ecologically sound, food producing alternative for growers on any scale."

 Booklist-

"In Western industrial nations, hazelnuts offer a familiar flavoring to confections such as pralines and popular aromatic coffees. If the authors of this distinctive horticultural guide have their way, however, hazelnuts will also be bred to resist the ravages of climate change and outstrip soybeans as a high demand, optimally sustainable crop worldwide. Developed and grown at the Badgersett Research Farm in Minnesota, where Rutter is the CEO, the hybrid plants recommended here are compact, densely yielding shrubs that require little cultivation, efficiently soak up water, and actually reverse soil erosion. Amazingly versatile, the hazelnut and its coproducts, including husks and shells, can be used not only for food but also for fuel and construction. Along with abundant photographs and useful charts, Rutter and his coauthors provide a wealth of information on growing-site requirements and management of a productive plantation, along with invaluable marketing tips.  Their guide is a godsend for agricultural entrepreneurs and farmers desperate for newer, financially lucrative crops to replace those that have been, or may soon be, compromised by climate change.”

Nathan John Hagens, Editor, TheOilDrum; President, Bottleneck Foundation .

 "A more resilient future requires diverse and hardy food-bearing crops. Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts is an encyclopedia of the 'how-to' and 'why-for' of breeding, growing, harvesting and marketing this unique and important crop. We just planted 300 hazelnuts last year!”--
 

 -Martin Crawford, author of Creating a Forest Garden:

"This book is not only a testament to 40 years of dedicated hazel breeding work, but also a call for more tree crops for a sustainable agriculture in general; a fantastic manual about all aspects of cultivating hardy hazel trees and processing their nuts."-

 Eric Toenesmeier, author of Paradise Lot, coauthor of Edible Forest Gardens:

"The authors of Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts have been advocating woody-plant staple crops for carbon sequestration since I was in high school. This manual provides theory, context, budgets, and practical details like pest management and fertility for this important new crop. Worth the price for the information on their innovative hybrid swarm breeding system alone.” --

 Steve Gabriel, coauthor of Farming the Woods:

“Growing Hybrid Hazelnuts is a compelling work combining natural history, genetics, and ecology to form a rich strategy for breeding hardy, disease-resistant, and productive hazelnuts. The need for perennial staple crops is great, and the authors show that it takes time, integrity, and patience to develop a crop that will feed the world. This book not only completely covers hybrid hazelnut cultivation, it also offers a roadmap for breeding other crops if we are to get serious about regenerative perennial food production."--

 Diego Footer, Founder of Permaculture Voices:

 "If you are dissatisfied with the current state of the annual based agriculture system currently dominated by corn and soy, then here is an alternative. This book is an action plan building off of Phil Rutter’s thirty years of experience, where you can become part of the actual on-the-ground change towards building a perennial woody system that conserves resources while providing for human needs."--

More coming-