Hazelnuts

Anyone in northeast USA growing hazelnuts?

My understanding is there a blight around here that can impact european filberts, but there's been a lot of work on cultivars that are hybrid or resistant. I planted two hazelenuts 4 years ago, and am pleased I got some nuts off the "lewis" tree! I also have a "royal" tree next to it for pollination, and they did both make catkins over the winter but the Lewis one is larger and was the one to make nuts this year.

… I assume I am probably lucky that squirrels didn't discover this yet, but now I want to plant a bunch more. XD Looking to get a bunch from Z nutty ridge in spring.

Still working on processing the nuts, there's only a few – my air fryer is also a dehydrator, so I think I am supposed to dehydrate them (in or out of shell, I believe it's usually done in shell) for 48 hrs, then toast them after shelling? Any tips on processing a very small batch of hazelnuts appreciated.