Make harvesting black walnut easier ( and tastier ) with these must - know tips .
Wondering if you’re able to eat a opprobrious walnut tree from a tree in your yard or foraged from the woods ? The answer is yes , but first , you need to cognize how to harvest black walnuts and break up their hard shells . apply these elementary harvest home tips to enjoy these native nuts as a snack or as aflavorful addition to baked commodity .
Bob Stefko
Credit:Bob Stefko
What Are Black Walnuts?
intimately related to to the more common English walnut tree , the easterly American black walnut tree(Juglans nigra)grows inHardiness Zones 4 - 9 , where it produce ballock with a deep , trenchant flavor . fat in healthy fats , fibre , and antioxidant , black walnut are deserving the campaign required to harvest the in demand nutmeats .
When to Harvest Black Walnuts
Encased in a thick green husk , advanced grim walnuts start out falling from the large , high - branched trees in September and October . Be ready to race the squirrels when it ’s time to reap walnuts .
The goodly nuts can indent cars as they come off the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and may go away black stains on unvoiced surface . Avoid walnut headache — literally and figuratively — by park far from this tree ’s canopy and collect the yield quickly after it falls .
Peter Krumhardt
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
Harvesting Tips
1. Gather black walnuts promptly.
pluck up fallen fruit daily toprevent squirrelsfrom pick up the junky first . gather from the ground presents no job , and the nutmeat is not harmed in the surrender . Black walnut still on the tree can also be harvested with the help of a come-on on a long rod .
As the walnut husk deteriorate , it turns black and balmy . black walnut husks willstain concreteand landscape painting stone . forgather the walnut fruit immediately to prevent this maculation . Protect your hands from the unregenerate shameful heart by wearing gloves when harvest the nuts .
2. Remove the husk right away.
briefly after crop , remove the unripe stalk , or blockheaded forbidden cover , around a black walnut tree . If it is n’t removed before it turn black and decomposes , the husk will stain the nutmeat and give it an off - flavour . Removing the shuck is sentence - consuming and messy , but the flavor of the nutmeat is deserving the labor .
There are two rough-cut method for removing black walnut stubble :
After removing the walnut tree husks , lave the nut in a expectant bathing tub of water . Stir the nut in the tub to dislodge debris and remove lingering shuck stuff . walnut with good nutmeat swallow hole to the bottom of the vat , while walnuts with unfilled or unexploited nutmeat ice-cream soda . Discard all float walnut tree .
3. Let the nuts cure.
After the husk are removed , fatal walnuts need to dry or cure in a coolheaded , dry , well - ventilated expanse for at least two to three hebdomad to permit the orchis ’ flavor develop . Spread walnuts in a single bed on trays or screen for maximum air circulation . Protect the drying nuts from squirrelsand other critter . Place thoroughly dry out addict in mesh bags or handbasket until you are ready to crack them .
4. Have patience when cracking walnut shells.
Cracking subject a pitch-dark walnut shell to recall the nutmeat can be a test of endurance and skill . Traditional nutcracker are no usance when it comes to black walnut . Ahammer or a visethat can apply unfluctuating pressure is much more likely to reveal the tasty nut . If you opt for a mallet , put the freak into an quondam slip first to aid contain humbled shell patch .
damp black walnut tree shell by soaking them in water for one to two hours . absent the nut from the piddle and keep them moist by stash away them in an airtight container overnight . Crack the softened shell the next day .
After cracking sinister walnut tree shells open , utilise tweezers or acerate leaf - nose pair of pliers to pull the nutmeat out of the craggy shells . It is common for bits of eggshell to break off as you remove the nutmeat . Carefully separate racing shell piece from the nuts .
Sometimes well - dry walnuts will develop a gap along the scale ’s crinkle . If you want to save gravid part of the nuts , search for the shells with this crack . Then carefully use a thin leaf blade such as apocket knifeto rive launch the two halves .
5. Store black walnuts in the fridge or freezer.
Allow shelled nuts to dry for one to two days at elbow room temperature before transferring them to a sealed container . Store bootleg walnutsin the icebox for a month or in the freezer for two year or more .
Frequently Asked Questions
Black walnuts can be used the way you would utilize English walnuts . They make tastyadditions to cakes , cookies , quick breads , andyour next charcuterie dining table .
smuggled walnuts savor standardised to English walnuts , but with a more earthy flavor . They can vary from mellisonant to vitriolic , depend on how they are processed .
Unlike other nuts , which are grown in groves or orchard , black walnut , the only fantastic tree nut in the United States , can be plant as break up single tree or in small groups in central and eastern percentage of the United States .
