Friday, April 9, 2021
CapitalPress.com
7
Andy and Sherrie Alberding: Orchard owners learn as they grow
ROSEBURG, Ore. — When
Andy and Sherrie Alberding fi nally
purchased a country home and prop-
erty, they also got themselves a new
learning opportunity.
The property included 10 acres
of mature hazelnut trees of the
Ennis variety. The Alberdings are
the owners of Sims Electric, a Rose-
burg-based business, so adding a
hazelnut orchard to their responsi-
bilities was a new experience, but
they weren’t shy about taking on
the challenge of learning something
new.
“I’ve wanted to buy property in
the country since I was a kid,” said
Andy Alberding, now 46. “It’s really
cool to have some property where
you have the opportunity to produce
a product.”
The Alberdings completed the
purchase of the property that’s in
Garden Valley a few miles north-
west of Roseburg in July. Two
months later and it was time to har-
Craig Reed/For the Capital Press
Andy Alberding, left, and Howard Sand check on the quality of the
Ennis hazelnuts that were harvested last fall. Alberding purchased
a hazelnut orchard and is learning about its maintenance and the
marketing of the crop from Sand.
vest the nut crop.
Neighboring farmer Howard
Sand was there to help. Sand, who
owns 50 acres of hazelnuts and has
many years of experience with the
nuts, had been managing the 10-acre
orchard for the previous owner and
agreed to continue its management
and to share his experience with the
Alberdings.
“Andy has been a great student,”
Sand said. “Andy knows equipment.
Last year during harvest, the next
thing I knew was that Andy was on
the sweeper doing a great job.”
Sand helped the Alberdings mar-
ket the nut crop.
Alberding said it was fortunate
that he purchased an orchard that was
pre-made — the trees were planted,
the equipment was there and Sand
was familiar with the orchard.
“I’m trying to talk to Howard
enough so I can learn and help on
weekends and in my spare time,”
Alberding said. “It’s all the lit-
tle details that take place during the
week that I need to learn, details that
keep the orchard healthy.”
Those details include pruning,
spraying and checking traps for
insects.
Sand said his advice to anybody
considering getting into the hazelnut
business is to do research on hazel-
nut varieties. He said the market is
currently trending toward the kernel
product and the Ennis variety pro-
duces “a jumbo-sized nut.”
The hazelnut trees in the Gar-
den Valley area are still recovering
from the damage they suff ered from
a heavy snow two years ago. Last
fall’s harvest was 25% to 50% less
than average, depending on the age
of the tree.
The Alberding orchard was heav-
ily pruned back after the snow broke
many branches and split some trunks.
Sand said the trees are now showing
“phenomenal growth” and will soon
get back to producing an average or
better crop.
“We absolutely love having some-
thing else to work on,” Alberding
said. “The orchard is a peaceful place
to work.
“And yes, the family enjoys eat-
ing the nuts,” he adds.
The Alberdings hope eventually
to learn enough about the mainte-
nance and harvest of the orchard to
do most of the work themselves.
“I have no timeline for that, but
at some point I hope to have enough
time and experience, thanks to what
we learn from Howard, to do it our-
selves,” Andy Alberding said.
S235339-1
By CRAIG REED
For the Capital Press