Everything 'cheffy' - what does cheffy mean, Owdboggy? Sorry, no idea whether your memory is accurate or not, hope someone does. I'd pick 'em and try it anyway, unless they're poisonous before ripening.

cheffy as in TV cook-chef. All garlic and lime juice!

Too late, they are cutting the hedges as I type.

Ah, I see, that never occurred to me, thought it was some local dialect, lol! Shame about the nuts.

Our Hazel tree is loaded this year. These chefs have some crazy ideas. I havn't got time for roasting unripe hazels...too busy watering things to keep them alive! Sometimes when the nuts drop themselves they are still moist inside Owdboggy. What I want to know is how come the squirrels know when the nuts are ready to feast on and bury all over the garden? They are never seen until the nuts start to drop.

If the hedges were left alone then I would not need to be wondering about roasting them green.
There are very few squirrels round her, it is mice which eat most of the nuts. You can tell from the way the nut has been nibbbled if it was squirrel or field mouse.
What is really annoying is that the one section of hedge which will not be cut. mine. has no fruit on it at all!

How about pre-empting the thuggy machinery next year by tieing back the branches of the hazel tree so it appears not to need cutting? Then you can nip out and harvest the lot when it's ready and give it a quick prune with secateurs. ;o)

The hedgerow in question is about 2 miles long so on both sides of the road, and both sides of the hedge so you are talking 8 miles in length. And when they cut the hedge they CUT the hedge, there are usually no leaves left at all. And the vibration from the cutter knocks off any nut clusters which are inside the hedge. And they cut it even when to our eyes it does not need doing. The Council/Farmers pay a man a contract to cut the hedges and so he cuts the hedges.

We had a squirrel inspection early this morning. First Iv'e seen all year. Crafty critters. It looks awful, Owdboggy, when they smash these hedges to pieces. Like you say....why does it have to be total destruction rather than just tidying up? I have just been out to the tree and taken down a green cluster, bashed it with the rubber hammer. IT TASTES EVEN NICER THAN RIPE HAZEL NUTS very pleasant. Maybe if you gather a big bundle of hazel fronds and stash them they will ripen more anyway. Worth experimenting? I have put a picture of the cluster on my pictures.

I tried some too and there is nothing wrong with them as far as taste goes. When we have the oven on I am going to try roasting a few and see what they are like. Trouble is the oven will not now be on until Sunday so don't hold yer breff for a report!

You're as bad as me Owdboggy - my oven only goes on rarely, specially in the summer, and this summer, everything I cook has had to be on the top, far, far too hot to bear the oven on.