[Durgan]

Walnuts
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?IDYXM 15 October 2008 Walnuts
Most people avoid these nuts in the wild due to not knowing how to get at the meat. There is a walnut tree along my walking path, and 220 nuts about 12 pounds were collected from the tree and from the ground below. These nuts were processed and the pictures indicate the process. At this stage of dryness the meat completely fills the nut case, and crackling is almost impossible without complete shattering. As the meat dries the membranes shrink and cracking is facilitated.

 

[della92]

Thanks for the pictures and the tutorial, I plan to work on the Walnuts we collected this weekend.

 

[Sara Noel]

I just knew you'd pull through. Thank you. I always wanted to see it done.

 

[madhen]

I lived next to a walnut orchard growing up. I'm a pro at getting that meat out at least in halves.

 

[Durgan]

I just knew you'd pull through. Thank you. I always wanted to see it done.

This was my first experience with walnuts. At first I tried throwing them onto a hard surface, but this was too tiring. Then I decided to use my brain, and it worked very well.

Washing is a bit of a chore, since the water has to be changed about six times. In large quantities, a washing machine might do a good job, but I didn't try this due to the stain, but bleach would probably remove any stain-next time.

I looked out to see how the nuts were drying, and a couple of squirrels were dragging them away one by one. Fortunately, I noticed it early and only lost a few.

 

[Durgan]

I lived next to a walnut orchard growing up. I'm a pro at getting that meat out at least in halves.

Let's see your technique, particularly on a un-dried nut, but I will also accept the procedure for a dried one.

 

[Sara Noel]

So is the difference between these walnuts and the store type the tree variety or the way they're dried? I know absolutely nothing about walnut trees and walnuts. I remember playing with them as a kid because our street had quite a few walnut trees. End of my knowledge other than squirrels loving them.

 

[Durgan]

So is the difference between these walnuts and the store type the tree variety or the way they're dried? I know absolutely nothing about walnut trees and walnuts. I remember playing with them as a kid because our street had quite a few walnut trees. End of my knowledge other than squirrels loving them.

There is quite a variety of walnuts. I have seen the type depicted, in stores. The other type with the smooth shell sort of joined at the center is more common. I did a perfunctory search for the name of mine, but gave up due to not being able to match the found pictures.

The type depicted has to dry for about a month, otherwise it is most difficult to get to meat out. Even unripe the meat tastes really good, but the small shattered chunks sort of distracts from the pleasure of eating.

There are numerous trees in my area, and nobody bothers collecting the nuts.

 

[baronmom]

I have an English walnut tree in my yard, but I can never seem to get any walnuts from it before they get eaten by the bugs. I use to have two trees, but one died. I would love to be able to have walnuts to eat from it.

 

[Ceashels]

That is really cool Durgan, thank you for sharing. Did you use the stain to dye anything?

And will you be going thru the work again anytime soon?

 

[Durgan]

That is really cool Durgan, thank you for sharing. Did you use the stain to dye anything?

And will you be going thru the work again anytime soon?

If I find another tree, I will do another batch. It is almost the end of the season here. The stain browns the hands for about a week, until it wears off. Actually it is stronger when the nuts are immature about a month ago, and the covering is almost as hard as the nut proper.

 

[Durgan]

Juglans nigra L. - black walnut or Aamaerican Walnut.

I found the type of walnut tree depicted. Juglans nigra L. - black walnut or American Walnut.

I spilled some of the nut washing water on the grass and instantly the earthworms rose to the surface, and have since died. The tree produces a toxin called Juglone, which inhibits growth of many plants. This toxin insures few plants grow around the base of a Juglans nigra L. - black walnut. It is probably prudent to not grow these trees in a backyard garden, or utilize any part of, in the compost heap.

 

[Ceashels]

That is some potent ammunition the black walnut tree has going for it then. I remember growing up we had on occasion used black walnuts in some holiday baking, the flavor is very different from English walnuts. They were incredible when baked into a cake.

 

[joyofsix]

We always gather black walnuts. i'm still using my grandma's method. Spread them in the drive (gravel drive) and run over them with the car for a day. Pick out the de-husked walnut, dry in an old potato bag, then use hammer.. Eh, works for us. Now I'll go watch the tutorial and see how we should be doing it.:shame:

 

[Durgan]

Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.)
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BAPAP 17 October 2008 (Juglans nigra L. - black walnut) or American Walnut.
A friend informed me about a walnut tree, and I visited and got about 20 lbs. On the way home I saw a tree along the road and got another 20 pounds. The walnuts were processed and the total nuts were 650 about 36 pounds. They will be cured and used this winter for food. Total time processing was 3 hours and 20 minutes.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?BRZNS Summary: Walnut Experience.

 

[Darlene]

Yum! Just wanted to give you a high five. WTG :hifive: I really do enjoy your posts. Glad you have such a taskmaster supervisor too.

 

[Durgan]

Yum! Just wanted to give you a high five. WTG :hifive: I really do enjoy your posts. Glad you have such a taskmaster supervisor too.

I just wish more people would use their cameras. I am always interested in how other people grow plants. Context and close-up is sure informative.

Gardening, plants and photography are much more informative than prose.

People are not utilizing pictures; in spite, of most people having digital cameras.

I have the best display system on the internet, and I say this without bragging, since it is a trueism. The system is not computer nerd stuff, just utilizing existing readily available software.

The "bucket" systems are absolutely irritating, as are most blogs, due to the primitive method of handling internet pictures.