Almonds

ceh · Post by **ceh** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:50 pm

The garden at the villa has quite a few almond trees which have a good crop on them at the moment.

When is the time to harvest them?

Thanks

Lesley Jean · Post by **Lesley Jean** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:08 pm

I think you can harvest them as soon as the outer shell starts to crack which should be this month I think.
I found this info on how to harvest don't know if it will be any help.
We are hoping to have almond trees in our garden so I have been looking up info etc.............

Knock the almonds out of the tree with a long pole - ideally catching them in some sort of netting. The almond has an outer skin or husk. Pick this off by hand immediately when you pick the almonds since it stops them from drying properly.
Almonds from the tree need to be dried before storage because otherwise mould forms. Therefore after husking, lie the almonds on a flat dry surface out of rain but where air circulates well. Mix them around frequently and open one or two periodically to see if the kernels of the almonds are dry and brittle (i.e. no longer rubbery).
Keep the almonds in their shells and they can be stored at room temperature for many months (assuming you dried them adequately). If you want to be extra sure then you can freeze your almonds for a couple of days in the freezer before storage. This will kill any pests which may be hidden in the shells. You can also break the kernels out of their shells and freeze them for a year with no great loss of flavour and it takes a lot less storage space.

ceh · Post by **ceh** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:29 am

Lesley Jean - many thanks for that information. I shall have fun harvesting them and being able to dry and store them would be a bonus. I've seen the netting techinique used for olives in Tunisia but had forgotten about it.

The trees in the garden look a bit beyond their best but appear to be cropping well this year - it had been suggested cutting them down and burning them as firewood but as the villa takes its name from them, I have said no.

Thanks again.

Lesley Jean · Post by **Lesley Jean** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 9:42 am

You can try pruning them after you have harvested and see if they come back better next year. I think you can prune as you would an apple tree. Just think of all the lovely almond recipes you can now do with your own almonds.... yummy

pato · Post by **pato** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 11:18 pm

Lesley Jean wrote:kernels of the almonds are dry and brittle (i.e. no longer rubbery).
.

Why you not like them rubbery?

suziebear · Post by **suziebear** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:03 pm

ceh wrote:I shall have fun harvesting them and being able to dry and store them would be a bonus.

Hi if you end up with loads that you dont know what to do with them, John has said that he fancies trying to smoke Almonds at Fumeiro. He has seen smoked Almonds for sale previously (cant remember where) and wants to do them himself to see what they taste like.

SJ & RE · Post by **SJ & RE** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 1:48 pm

Smoked Almonds taste fab, I got some in India

SAM SPARKLE · Post by **SAM SPARKLE** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 2:10 pm

baggysallyjane wrote:Smoked Almonds taste fab, I got some in India

If you fly with KLM they give you Smoked Almonds gratis

EMM · Post by **EMM** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:03 pm

Just make sure that you have the " sweet almond " and not the BITTER almond.

This is a different species and contains very high levels of prussic acid which is a poison .

I think that these almonds are the ones used in making the liquors, the poison is destroyed during processing.

Many of the wild almonds found in the algarve are the bitter variety as we found out when we tased ours, Very Very Bitter.

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:32 pm

You're right there. We've got a bitter almond & a sweet almond right next to each other and the bitter almond really has an unpleasant taste.

ceh · Post by **ceh** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 9:19 pm

This is more complicated than I thought as I don't know if the almonds are sweet are not - will check