NUTTY!: Locals in south of Spain thrash trees with long sticks – find out why…

When Paul Whitelock went for a walk with his dog in the countryside above Montejaque, he came across a group of people hitting a tree with long sticks. Intrigued, he decided to investigate. Here is his second article on important local crops. See also Put a Cork in it!

As I walked up the hill out of Montejaque with my dog the other day I came across four people bashing a tree with long poles. I stopped to look and realised they were harvesting almonds. It turns out that this most delicious of frutos secos, as the Spanish call nuts, is an important crop around these parts.

The beautiful pink blossom you see on almond trees in Spring turns into nuts by Autumn. The best way of “picking” them is to lay nets on the ground under the tree and then hit the tree branches with long poles. The nuts fall into the nets and are then easily gathered into big rubber buckets or crates.

Origin

The almond is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries but widely cultivated elsewhere. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree.

The fruit of the almond is a drupe, consisting of an outer hull and a hard shell with the seed, which is not a true nut, inside. Shelling almonds refers to removing the shell to reveal the seed. Almonds are sold shelled or unshelled. Blanched almonds are shelled almonds that have been treated with hot water to soften the seedcoat, which is then removed to reveal the white embryo.

Tree

The almond is a deciduous tree, growing 4–10 m (13–33 ft) in height, with a trunk of up to 30 cm (12 in) in diameter. The young twigs are green at first, becoming purplish where exposed to sunlight, then grey in their second year. The leaves are 8–13 cm (3–5 in) long, with a serrated margin and a 2.5 cm (1 in) petiole. The flowers are white to pale pink, 3–5 cm (1–2 in) diameter with five petals, produced singly or in pairs and appearing before the leaves in early spring. The almond grows best in Mediterranean climates with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The optimal temperature for their growth is between 15 and 30 °C (59 and 86 °F) and the tree buds have a chilling requirement of 200 to 700 hours below 7.2 °C (45.0 °F) to break dormancy.

Important crop

Almonds begin bearing an economic crop in the third year after planting. Trees reach full bearing five to six years after planting. The fruit matures in the autumn, 7–8 months after flowering.

In 2018, world production of almonds grew by 45% over the 2017 volume to 3.2 million tonnes, with the United States providing 59% of the world total. As other leading producers, Spain, Iran, and Morocco combined contributed 18% of the world total (see table).

Spain

Spain is the second-largest producer of almonds in the world, albeit way behind the USA. It has diverse commercial cultivars of almonds grown in Cataluña, Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía, and Aragón, and the Balearic Islands. Production in 2016 declined 2% nationally compared to 2015 production data.

The ‘Marcona’ almond cultivar is recognisably different from other almonds and is marketed by name. The kernel is short, round, relatively sweet, and delicate in texture. Its origin is unknown and has been grown in Spain for a long time; the tree is very productive, and the shell of the nut is very hard.

Flexible fruit

Almonds are used in a variety of ways, including marzipan, almond milk, almond butter, almond flour, almond syrup and almond oil. In Spain Marcona almonds are usually toasted in oil and lightly salted. They are used by Spanish confectioners to prepare a sweet called turrón.

Finally, a word of warning. Bitter almonds contain cyanide, a deadly poison!