Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: It’s a nutty year – Black walnut
This has been one nutty year. My neighbor has two black walnut trees at the edge of my property. The squirrels have made a mess with them and I’ve spent lots of time trying to pick them up off my yard before mowing!
So what can you do with all those nuts? Well, some say, the black walnuts are delicious. In fact I just talked with the cashier at the local gas station, she says they’re awesome in cookies! She told me she just puts them in her basement (which must be a lot drier than mine!)
I found a video of a guy from Canada who harvests them. He has a lot of information about Black Walnut trees, the juglone and how to harvest and prepare black walnuts.
Once you get the outside hull off, then it’s time to wash them off the big chunks from the outer shells. Next, put them in an onion sack. The point is to expose them to air to cure for a couple of weeks! Once they’ve cured, it’s time to crack them open.
This is not like cracking the walnuts you buy at the grocery store! We’re talkin’ hammer time! This guy cracks them open but doesn’t take the nutmeat out right away. He gets them all cracked, putting them back in the bowl and THEN he uses wire cutters! Yup, ya gotta want ‘em!
Or you can sell your crop to Hammons Black Walnut company. He has a hulling location in Montello, Wisconsin. The closest I could find. They do a LOT of business in Missouri! The toxic juglone is a natural herbicide, killing many plants underneath it. The juglone is also very toxic to horses.
Learn more about the Black Walnut toxicity at University of Wisconsin – Madison
I think I have to move my compost site…. the problem is, I have no where else to put it… unless it’s behind the garage. Hmmm….
