Look for the post with the parking sign & leave your cache mobile on the gravel; walk a short distance to the cache. Do NOT go into the orchard. (The cache is on private property with permission - just stay out of the orchard & you're golden!)
Sneaky ‘Hyde’ Near the Hazelnuts
Welcome to our cache; you are now standing near one of Oregon’s many acres of filbert orchards!
Wait, are they Filberts or Hazelnuts???
We satisfied our curiostiy with a quick internet search, and it seems there is no wrong answer. “Filbert” is the correct name for both the tree and nut, and this name is of French origin. “Hazelnut” is the name coined by the English. To confuse matters even more, apparently, in some parts of the world these nuts are known as Cobnuts!
More fun tidbits we mined from the internet:
The Oregon Legislature named hazelnuts the official state nut in 1989.
Filbert trees can produce nuts until they are more than 100 years old!
The Filbert tree blooms and pollinates in the winter.
In ancient times, the nuts were used as medicine to cure chronic coughing, and baldness!
Have fun & cache on! You may be wondering, why the fancy cache container? It is an homage to the CO’s years as a volunteer. And it’s just COOL. 😊
Enjoy!