They won't be ready to harvest until fairly late in the fall. The husks will turn brown and the nuts may start to fall out of them, or the whole husk may fall to the earth. They are generally ready to harvest around the time the leaves turn colors and start to fall from the bush.

Squirrels may strip them bare before this time -- watch out for this, and cover the bushes if necessary with a tough cover (shade cloth works well). Repellant sprays may work for some people. You can also distract the squirrels with other feed (sunflower seeds, corn), or live trap and remove them.

After they fall, separate the nuts from the outer husks, and then spread them out somewhere warm and dry for at least four weeks to cure. You can then crack them. I find the little hand-crackers work best for filberts/hazelnuts.

To roast, take the nutmeat, drizzle with just a little vegetable oil of your choosing, salt if you wish, and put into a 350 degree oven. WATCH THEM CLOSELY, and stir them every 2 or 3 minutes. Roast until they are as browned as you like, should take somewhere between 3-4 and 10-12 minutes, depending upon how many you're doing and how browned you want them. You can also pan-roast them on top of the stove, stirring constanlty as if you were making a stir-fry dish.

Hope this helps.

Since I use hazelnuts for baking as well as cooking, I roast them plain, sans oil or anything then after removing from the pan and cooling a bit, I rub in a tea towel or mesh strainer to remove what brown skin I can.

Toasted nuts have a shorter shelf life, so use quickly or freeze. Hazelnuts can also be canned if you're short on freezer space.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning Nuts

Hazels tend to go rancid very fast, so when you do harvest, it may help to prolong the taste by refrigeration or even freezing.

Just learning my self. I have picked them for 4 years at least .my Bush is about 9feet grays did beat me to them one year.I watch the hauls when they start to open and the nuts go to Brown
I pick them,haul them and let. The nuts air on a tray for about a week or so .last year i placed some in a 350 oven (in the shells) for about 10or a little longer minutes .you have to watch you do not burn them.