Seeds of all pines (Pinus spp.) are edible, but in many species, they are so small that it is not worth the trouble.
The pine trees that are worthy of cultivation in Sweden is cembratallen (P. cembra and P. cembra var. sibirica) and Korean pine (P. koraiensis). Cembratallen produces seeds in size 10×8 mm and koreatallens seeds can grow up to 16×12 mm. The cones need three years to develop and the seeds are harvested by the cones scales are broken. One method that I saw people use in Mongolia is to put the cones on the embers of a campfire, when they get hot, they open themselves so that they can more easily take out the seeds. The seeds must be scaled, but the shell is usually relatively mild in both species and can be easily cracked with the teeth.
According to most sources need trees around 30 years before they produce fruit, men Mark Shepard, which operates a large farm in Wisconsin (USA) according permakulturtänk where he cultivates nöttallar (Pinus sylvestris), claims that his selected trees bearing fruit after 5 years [1]. The trees are very durable and are also used in lähäckar. They are hardy to at least cultivation zone 6.
Korean Pine is somewhat less hardy, but thanks to its large seeds even more attractive for me to grow in the Putt Myra forest garden. The pine nuts to buy in the store will moreover usually from cembra- or Korean pine in Asia, because the work to harvest cones is dangerous and time consuming and therefore something you would rather let people in poor countries do.
It is not easy to multiply these two nöttallarna. Both will first need varmstratifieras, which means that you put the seeds in a sealed plastic bag with slightly damp sawdust or peat and subject them to constant 20 degree heat in a dark place for three weeks. This allows the seeds after ripening and increase the likelihood that they will germinate. When they have varmstratifierats they need kallstratifieras and storing the bags cold (just above 0 grader) until the seeds should be sown, which works best in early June.
It's easy to get hold of cembratallar in Sweden, but the price can vary greatly, so it may be worth checking around a bit in the various nurseries. Korean pine, I was hunting for several years and finally bought a small plant when I was in Jamtland December. Frötillgången is quite poor, because you can not import pine seeds to Europe. When the plants are well planted, they almost no support at all with us, the four cembratallar we have so far planted has never been watered or fertilized. The only thing we do is to enclose them with chicken wire all year, when the deer love to sweep their horns against the pine top shots.
There is little data on harvest volumes from nöttallar, but pinjetallar (P. pine) Italy is said to produce 5-15 kg per tree and year [2]. Although they are hardier pine trees produce only a couple of pounds of nuts per year is enough after all a whole year for a family. It's important to get ahead nötskrikorna and other birds that like to pick cones directly from the tree, which explains why even the commercial growers hires people who climb the trees to harvest cones.
Literature
[1] Shepard, M., Restoration agriculture : real-world permaculture for farmers. Austin, Texas: Acres U.S.A., 2013.
[2] Crawford, M., Nut Crops – Appendices, 2012.
Ser fram emot när vi får läsa om er första kotte på era tallar 😉
Stone pine can självså in Sweden, and I have seen much of it in cultivation zone 5. Thus, it may be worth it to look for plants. Plantlets can recognize that this is a fembarrstall unlike our native pine which is a tvåbarrstall (if you dislodge softwood see that they stay together 2 and 2, but the stone pine is the 5 and 5). I think it seems that the seedlings emerge at the bit between damp-moist soil, and of course close to buildings where there are adults cembratallar.
Korea Pines seems interesting!
Fun Emelie, thank you for sharing your experiences!
There's even more interesting nut pines. Pinus sibirica, for example,, which is closely related to cembratallen but extremely hardy. Or Pinus pumila who is also from Siberia but the shrub shaped so you can easily pick the cones. Might be interesting to test if you come across some specimens.
In Siberia grind them pine-nuts to obtain seeds. CHECK 40 min into this program:
http://www.svtplay.se/video/2705218/lyckliga-manniskor/lyckliga-manniskor-avsnitt-1
Jag lyckades få 2/5 frön från cembratall att gro genom att lägga dem i en pallkragar med jord i slutet på augusti och täcka det hela med finmaskigt metallnät (mot gnagare) och sen halm uppepå. Lämnade allting tills i maj då jag tog bort halmen och skolade om plantorna. Varm-och kallstratifiering utan minsta knussel. Nu hoppas jag bara att älgarna inte äter upp dem!
ich komme aus italien und kenne die Pinoli Nuesse, meine Frage: sind diese Pinoli Nuesse identisch mit den Kiefersamen??? oder wo sind die hier in Schweden zu finden?????
Die Pignoli-Nüsse stammen von der Pinie her (Pinus pinea) and are thus not to be confused with the Siberian pine (P. sibirica) or stone pine (P. cembra), the much smaller one, but produce nuts that are very similar in taste.
Hi, Now I have finally succeeded in growing pine nuts for plants outdoors. They are available in pots, should I put the whole pot in the ground for their first winter as a small plant, the root system still looks very small. Or should I put plants where I want the tree already now? What is recommended that the distance between some pine trees be? Thanks for all the inspiration!
Is it pine or Siberian pine / cembratall you have sown? Unfortunately, I don't know if it's pine, but in the Nut Grower's handbook, I write like this about plant spacing: “The pines are quite competitive and need plenty of distance from other trees to develop well. In nature, they often grow in dense stands together, where they form a common crown with several different strains. This growth method is to the credit of the house crow because it hides the nuts close together in small stores in places that have perfect growing conditions for the pines. In commercial production
the trees are usually planted 6–8 meters apart in rows with an interval of 6–10 m.” It is an advantage if the plants are a little bigger when they are planted, but it is also possible to set them directly. Hope they make it! /Philipp
Thanks for the answer! Then I test both closely and occasionally. I bought big nice pinecones at Coop in Lessebo for Christmas. They had to lie in front of the soapstone stove because they were so nice. And then I saw the seeds when they opened. I have managed chestnut and walnut before. But it took 3 years before I succeeded with these seeds. Finally, I pushed all the casings with svinto so they were clean. Put them in water for about 3 days and planted outdoors in January February so there has been snow on the pots. It has been hot and cold for several rounds now in our winter in Kalmar, so I hope they can handle the coming winter. Think how happy you can be over a few plants. Previously I had them in the freezer and not so long in water. Or was I just lucky with this particular cone. But your book the nut grower seems like a better option than trying to find out yourself. I have forest garden as a lookup of varieties. 👍
Thanks again for help! You don't have to post this post, but I thought I'd still respond and say thank you!