Hickory Trees

KinDee, Karen and I went for a drive today. We headed to Oelwein and went out to the Amish. I noticed today how the hickory trees really stood out amongst the others. The leaves on the other trees are all starting to grow pale as the hickory is still a bright green. The hickory tree has a distinct look to it's leaves; sort of clumpy, and spiky looking. They aren't lobed like your oak or maple. They're more like an elm on steroids. I could see the bunches of hickory nuts in the tree. I love the taste of a hickory nut. It's a relative of the pecan. You can substitute hickory nuts for pecans and make a hickory nut pie. The only thing about hickory nuts that I don't like is the hickory worm. When cracking the hickory nut, you will occasionally find a little white grub worm. People say they are great for fishing. I wouldn't know because I refuse to touch anything that looks like a maggot. If you see a small hole in the side of a hickory nut, odds are that a worm bored that hole. Not in, but out. I haven't studied it much, but I think the nut grows around an egg and the worm grows inside. When he's big enough, he bores a hole through the nut shell and goes off and does whatever hickory grub worms do. I'd love to plant a hickory tree in my yard. They're slow growers. I probably wouldn't live long enough to enjoy the tree myself, but my kids would. Unlike a walnut, I don't see those disgusting bag worms taking over hickory trees. I suppose mowing might get to be a challenge. I remember having a bunch of walnut trees when I was a kid. I used to mow and I'd hit those walnuts and send them flying. There was no way around it. You had to be careful that no one was close by when you mowed under the walnut trees, and you had to aim away from the house and cars. I haven't found hickory trees in the nurseries around here. I see the county offers them to farmers for wind breaks, but you have to order a lot of them, and they're spindly little bare root things. I want either a large potted hickory or a ball and burlap specimen. I have these really crappy maples that I would just love to cut down and replace. I hate maples. I also have an elm tree that I like. I'll keep that one. I have a dwarf cherry that's out next to my drive that I planted when I moved here in the summer of 2004. It's only now really starting to take off and produce cherries. They're the tart cherries, not the sweet ones. I wanted a cherry tree because I remember sitting under the one that we had at the Chase Place when I was a kid. I always said that if I bought a home, the first thing I'd do is plant a cherry tree, which I did. I have these giant old pine trees as well. I'm hoping I die before they do. They'd be a real bitch to cut down. If it fell the wrong way and went through my house, it would truthfully cut my house in half. I've also tried planting an Iowa peach tree. It's called an Indian peach, which is actually a native tree to Iowa. According to the lady that I bought the seeds from, it can take a year or two in the ground before the seeds germinate. The first year, the tree will look like a weed. After that, it's supposed to look like a tree and be extremely hardy. She claimed that her husband had mowed down some little ones only to have them return. If anyone's interested in these peach trees, you can read more about them at this link : http://www.localharvest.org/indianiowa-whitefreestone-heirloom-peachtree-C242
If anyone knows where I can get a good locally grown hickory tree, drop me a line.