Harvesting and processing black walnuts

November 08, 2010

Processing walnuts reminds me when I was a kid... when my dad made us all help him :) All of us--my friends too. There was a time I felt I was in danger of loosing my friends because of all the "chores" my dad made them help with. Simple nostalgia drives often drives me to do the things I do. I told myself I wasn't going to step over the walnuts and forget them this year.

In our family, there was always a bowl of nuts on the table... through the winter. Maybe I did it just to have some nuts layng around. Black walnuts have a hard shell that takes a hammer (or a heavy duty cracker) to bust the shell. I recall using a hammer and my dads anvil to crack black walnuts and tediously pick the nuts out of the shells for hours when I was a kid. But the reward was something else. It is something I crave more now as an adult then I did when I was a kid. Here, in our my back yard... the best quality nuts for the taking, and all I need is the desire.

My dad would collect them when they were soft and mushy and would drive over them with the truck to loosen the hulls. I took a more precise approach. Here's the process I employed. I clamped a drawknife in the vise and rolled the walnut over it to cut the husk in half. Then, using both hands (with latex gloves on,) twisted either side of the hull in opposite directions. The greener ones came right out... the darker, harder ones took rolling them on the ground under my shoe.

Cleaning the gunk off is a multi-day process. Put them in a bucket of water and use a paddle on a drill or something to agitate the goo off. The water will be black. Again, this will stain your clothes and hands. I got some holes in my gloves and had black fingers for weeks. Still on my hands as I type as a matter of fact. Nothing will take the stain out, except time.

Afterwards, I put them under some screen or wire to let the sun hit them and dry out. After the hulls are clean enough, bring them in side and store them in a cardboard box in the corner... even near the fireplace. The nut will contract and be easier to get out of the shell.

Do this with your kid, but allow them to become bored and don't force them to appreciate this process like you do. It's only important to expose them to it, so that one day, they may look back as I have... and maybe take it up on their own. Afterall, us Morgan's become a little nuts over time. Take a look at the pictures to see the process.

Tags: garden , how-to , nature

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