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http://www.durgan.org/URL/?EVDMA 12 October 2011 Black Walnut (Juglans nigra)

About 3000 Black Walnut(Juglans nigra)were picked from three trees along country roads. Few people utilize these wonderful tasting, nutritious nuts due to the effort in processing. There are many black walnut trees in my area. There is 500 to a 1000 nuts on each tree depending upon the age of the tree. The nuts fall off the tree when ripe. It is simple matter of picking them off he ground. It takes several weeks before they start to deteriorate.

Removing the hull is almost effortless with one smack from a rubber hammer on a block of wood. The nuts are then power washed to remove any remnants of the hulls.The liquid has a chemical called juglone, which stains and immediately kills earthworms and inhibits the growth of many plants, and should not be disposed of in the garden area. I put all liquid down the storm sewer.

Cracking fresh un-dried nuts is almost impossible using typical means. Hand compression tools take too much strength and simply crush the meat, when and if the nut breaks. Un-dried nuts are very tasty and the effort to crack is probably worthwhile.

My method is to utilize two pulleys with a heavy hammer, to limit bouncing, which is relatively successful. However this method works very well with nuts that have been dried in the Sun for about 4 days. I have in the past extracted whole segments. The nut is the most difficult one can encounter.

The meat is held in place with an internal structure in four quadrants around the nut. Seldom is the meat extracted whole. There is some babble on the internet about using a vice, but it is a failure along with being almost impracticable. Squirrels do not crack the nut. They gnaw each quadrant and dig out the meat, and leave the nut essentially intact.

The meat is wholesome, very pleasant tasting, and about 20 make an adequate meal. I consider the processing to be worthwhile.

And I thought "taking a sledge hammer to crack a walnut" was just a figure of speech Interesting post Durgan, I like the idea of using the pulleys as spacers to limit hammer travel.

I am with you on this Durgan , we have recently picked hundreds from a tree in our garden. By the end of it my fingers were stained the darkest black and it doesn't wash off!

We didn't find it too difficult to crack the nuts, just bashed them with a rolling pin. It all went in a coffee and walnut cake, or we stuff mushrooms with chopped walnuts and stilton cheese. Mmmmmm. They are a great meat replacement aren't they?

bonniethomas06 wrote:I am with you on this Durgan , we have recently picked hundreds from a tree in our garden. By the end of it my fingers were stained the darkest black and it doesn't wash off!

We didn't find it too difficult to crack the nuts, just bashed them with a rolling pin. It all went in a coffee and walnut cake, or we stuff mushrooms with chopped walnuts and stilton cheese. Mmmmmm. They are a great meat replacement aren't they?

The Juglans nigra is not the same as the walnut you are encountering. I see the one you are describing in the supermarkets around Christmas. There are two types sold, the common light coloured English Walnut, and a black, which is similar in physical structure to the white walnut, but nothing like the (Juglans nigra).

Certainly the (Juglans nigra) is the most miserable nut, that I have encountered with regards to getting at the meat. Certainly when not dried somewhat, and even then the takes effort. It has a wonderful rich taste, and indeed is a wholesome food. Few people utilize them and complain about having such a tree in their back yard. They either remove the nuts to the dump or run over them with the lawnmower.

Great Post Durgan!

My old mum used to buy pickled walnuts which always appeared much darker in colour are these the same ones as yours Durgan?

becks77 wrote:My old mum used to buy pickled walnuts which always appeared much darker in colour are these the same ones as yours Durgan?

Juglans nigra are never sold commercially. They are too difficult to separate the meat from the shell.

bonniethomas06 wrote:We didn't find it too difficult to crack the nuts, just bashed them with a rolling pin.

Are you sure those were black walnuts, and not english walnuts or carpathian walnuts? I have seen black walnuts destroy hammers, so I have a little trouble believing your rolling pin survived, unless it's the kind used to smooth roads out.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?MDAEX 14 October 2011 Drying Black Walnuts (Juglans nigra)

The processed walnuts are being dried in the greenhouse. Squirrels are constant threat to the stock. When and if the Sun comes out the racks will be placed outdoors, along with the dog, Ginny. Total time including picking about 20 hours labor.

Hehe still lauging at the thought of a 'miserable nut'.

Sounds like mine were the wimpy English walnuts, because they were very easy to bash.

Do we get a photo of Ginny Durgan?

I remember you posting about them last year and how hard they were to crack. I'm lucky we have the European 'easy to crack with nut crackers' type walnut but that's not to say you get them out in whole pieces like the ones you buy to decorate cakes with.

Doesn't matter to me cos I chop them up to put in cakes and bread. Just had walnut bread for lunch which is delicious.

I have collected must be more than 2000 this year, but this is the first year since moving here that I didn't have time to count them. Last year I harvested 1,859 - I know this cos it's on a note on my noticeboard next to my desk. Yeah I know I'm mad but year 2 I got about 7 nuts from the trees as they were young and only just starting to produce, and this is now year 7.

I shall be giving a lot away as I have quite a few bags of last year's nuts I'm still cracking!

Think our ones are Juglans regia.

I have about three thousand. Experimenting I have found the nuts are much easier to crack, since they have been dried for about four days, and will probably get easier the more dry they become. Fortunately, there is much meat in each nut, so the effort is its own reward. I crack about ten each day and ingest. This is done in the greenhouse, since the shell particles sometimes fly a bit in all directions.

I could have collected thousands more, since nobody else collects them.

For the European walnut you don't need nutcrackers, a pointed knife in the base (where the stalk was connected) will soon open them without the risk of smashing them

That's only when they are fresh off the tree - I can just about do them straight off the tree with my fingernails, but then they are too fresh for my liking to eat like that. They also crack in half much easier with nutcrackers when they have been recently harvested.

Durgan wrote:since the shell particles sometimes fly a bit in all directions.

I do 'em in the kitchen and yes I know they fly all over the place.