The golden chinquapin grows up to 20 feet in height in the Klamath mountains, but gradually reduces in size as it nears the top of its range, becoming a small shrub in the Puget Sound area. Its nuts are small and sweet, and it is a fine ornamental. Almonds Almond trees require long, hot summers to ripen their nuts, and are best suited to areas where peaches can be grown successfully. A favorable location with a deep, light soil is a necessity. The people of the remote, mountain country of Hunza have made sweet-pit apricot kernels a main part of their diet for centuries.
Most apricot kernels contain a form of cyanide poison which accounts for their bitterness.
Sweet-pit apricots, which taste like almonds, do not contain this substance and are safe to eat. Two sources at present are Bear Creek Nursery and Grimo Nut Nursery. Because of their relatively low oil content, chestnuts can be used as a diet staple, dried and ground into flour. Some progress has been made in developing blight resistant American chestnuts, and breeding between species is underway with the hope that this forest giant can be restored to its former range. All four of the chestnut species mentioned above are being grown in the Pacific Northwest.