820-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 6. 1993
Ridge Walnuts Bring Home Blue Ribbons
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
NEW PARIS (Bedford Co.)
This year, George Dickum
brought home six blue ribbons and
eight other places from the Penn
sylvania State Farm Show. They
were all for his outstanding edible
nuts.
The ribbons were added to the
pile he has already won at both
state and national levels.
Dickum’s interest in horticul
ture goes back many years. He
was reading a magazine article
when he first learned about the
Carpathian walnut. “My forefa
thers came from the Carpathian
Mountains in Czechoslovakia. I
knew that was a cold weather
country and it sutprised me. I
spoke to my mother about it, then,
just tucked the information in my
head for later use.”
Years later, he was strolling
through the Herman Furry orchard
near New Enterprise and became
interested in Furry’s method of
grafting walnut trees to black wal
nut. “Right after that, I wanted to
George points to the location of the graft of an Enolish
walnut onto a black walnut tree. "
George Dickum in a nursery of nut trees.
try it myself,” he remembers.
Then a steelworker in Johns
town, Dickum planted a few trees
near his home in Geistown. When
the family moved a few years lat
er, he took his orchard along.
“My greatest desire was to live
in Bedford County,” Dickum re
members. “I always loved this
area. And, 1 knew that if apples
would grow in Chestnut Ridge, so
would nut trees. They require the
same type of soil.”
Seventeen years ago, he bought
a small 12-acre farm just outside
of Schellsburg, and planted as
many nut trees as he could afford.
Now a leading member of the
Northern Nutgrowers Associa
tion, George has won prizes in
both state and national competi
tion. National competition is held
in Nebraska and he has taken both
First and second places there.
This May, he plans to travel to
New Zealand to a nut growers
symposium. “I would like to leant
how I could earn international re
cognition,” Dickum explains.
He says he has been disappoint-
ed that Pennsylvania State Univer
sity has not paid more attention to
the need for nut trees in the north.
“They are an old and valuable
food source,” explains the outgo
ing and knowledgeable Dickum.
“And, English walnuts have only
good cholesterol. They are a good
meat substitute.”
He says Nebraska is now lead
ing the nation in the study of nut
trees. “Last year I returned from a
trip to find a botanist from Nebras
ka wanting to see some of my
trees,” Dickum says.
Dickum explains the import
ance of developing food growing
areas in the north. “Irrigation such
as they are doing in northern Cali
fornia can only last so long, when
they eventually hit salt water, it
will all end. The cold weather
fruits and vegetables that can be
grown in the north will be a valua
ble source of food. And, nuts will
be included."
English walnuts grown in the
cold weather areas of the country
are larger and sweeter than those
normally shipped from California.
“Candy makers love them,” he ex
plains. “They can get the whole
walnut out of the shell to dip in
chocolate.”
The Dickum farm now includes
a tree nursery where George has a
number of cloned varieties of nut
trees. Included are his English
walnut grafted to black walnut;
buart nut which is a cross between
a butternut and heart nut; a peban
grafted to hickory (they are both in
the same family), and his giant
sized Napier filbert, named in
honor of Napier Township.
Last year, George and his two
sons who live in the area picked
1,500 pounds of various types of
nut. There arc about 30 pounds of
nuts to the bushel.
Nuts sell for $1.50 to $2 per
pound. “It’s a lucrative business,”
George points out. “If you would
plant yourself a nice grove of nut
trees at age 40, the trees would be
keeping you by the lime you
reached 65.”
While Dickum has a few fruit
trees intermingled in his orchard,
he prefers the nut trees. “One rea
son is that I don’t have to worry
about bee pollination,” he says.
“Nut trees are all wind pollinat
ed.”
Cold weather is not as detri
mental to the nut trees and frost in
the spring does not seem to harm
them.
Grafting docs require 85-dcgrcc
temperatures lasting for at least 30
days. “However, we find we can
cover the graft area with plastic
and the summer sun will maintain
the temperature we need even if
the air temperature lets us down,”
he explains.
Like all plant species, the nut
trees and filbert nut bushes do
have enemies. The husk fly can
lay eggs in die shell causing them
to rot. Therefore, the Dickums
find it necessary to spray.
The peskiest pests, however,
are the squirrels and deer. Deer at
tack only the chestnut trees, but
squirrels will eat any kind of nuts.
“They think they found heaVen
when they get in here,” Dickum
grins.
To combat the fuzzy tailed tree
rats, he uses both traps and Jack
Russell Terrier dogs. Jack Rus
sells were originally bred to kill
fox and will attack a squirrel with
equal ferocity.
The Dickums use the nuts in
many forms of cooking including
cookies and they add crushed wal
nuts to their hamburg for a teal
taste treat.
George Dickum with a “best of show” award from the
Pennsylvania State Farm Show for his edible nuts.
Nuts from the Dickum orchards
are also marketed all across the
county. “Mostly by word of
mouth,” he explains. “Someone
gets them, gives a few away, and
before long I’m getting more or
ders.”
A wide variety of handmade
nutcrackers provides ready sarri
ples for browsing customers. He is
presently working on a belt-driven
model of a nutcracker which he
hopes to be able to offer to local
farmers with black walnut trees on
their land. “The worst part about
those is the cracking,” he says.
Dairy Farmers Join
Basketball Network
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
Penn State Basketball has
moved into big league action and
Pennsylvania dairy farmers have
continued their sponsorship of the
team’s network. The Penn State
Radio Network is one of the
strongest collegiate networks in
the country, bringing live Big Ten
basketball to fans throughout
Pennsylvania.
Dairy farmers, through the Pen
nsylvania Dairy Promotion Prog
ram, are targeting fans with mes
sages about dairy products.
Basketball and dairy products
make a great team. Athletes of all
ages depend on nutritious dairy
foods to help them become strong
and agile.
On the Network, fans are
encouraged to use dairy products
to maintain their “edge.” One
message explains “Why Milk
Really Scores with Basketball,”
Another source of nut income
for George is the trees themselves.
“About March,” he explains, “As
soon as you can get a shovel in the
ground, people will be stopping to
buy trees.” X
Always willing to lend a hancL
he has helped two area
Cliff Zimmerman and Charlie
Betsch, start their own small mjfc
orchards. **
“I learned a lot from other peo
ple and I am always willing to
share my knowledge,” says Dick
um.
with reminders thwt milk builds
strong bones and great muscle
tone. Fans are told “the next time
someone passes you a cold glass
of milk, give it a shot!”
Real Pennsylvania cheese is
also a focus of dairy fanners’ mes
sages. Farmers offer fans a tasteful
cheese “basketball” line-up that
includes: “Monterey Jack
Nachos,” “Parmesan Popcorn,”
and “Swiss Cheese Fondue.” All
of these delicious cheese snacks
provide plenty of nutrition to fans
and athletes.
Pennsylvania dairy farmers
have been sponsors of the Penn
State Network for over seven
years. The Pennsylvania Dairy
Promotion Program is a non
profit, dairy farmer funded gener
ic promotion organization. The
Program works on behalf of dairy
farmers to share product and
industry information with the
public.
CIOANTIC
SILKCTION
IN
Lancaster
Farming's
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