The Eastern black walnut tree brings back memories for me. This tree is in the local park near our house. This seems to be a good year; the tree is loaded with nuts.
It's a useful tree, though it has some major issues.
If you handle the hulls without gloves (I made that mistake once), you will have brown hands for weeks.
When we lived in rural Arkansas, many years ago, we decided we would gather the nuts and extract the delicious black walnut meat.
I don't know if you've ever seen the inside of a black walnut in the shell. Just to get the nut opened, you either need to be Superman or determined. Very determined. Using a car helps. You run the nut over and crush the nut under the tires. You can use a hammer, too, if you aren't afraid of ruining your fingers.
Actually, that nut can be cracked with the proper technique. We didn't have it. Too bad the Internet didn't exist while we had these nut trees on our rural property.
Once open, the inside of the nut is like a maze. Good luck in getting nutmeats out, although squirrels seem to have little trouble. Each fall, there is a parade of squirrels through my back yard, some carrying these nuts.
You can buy them processed in certain stores, but be prepared to pay the price.
The taste is - how to describe it? Earthy? Hard to explain but way different from the English walnuts we get in the United States at the local supermarket.
And, oh, about growing them on your property. The tree, including the roots, excrete a substance called juglone, poisonous to a lot of plants, including apple trees, tomatoes, potatoes, and others. The roots extend way behind the tree, and if the tree is removed, the soil remains toxic to these plants for several more years. Then, there are the nuts when they fall. Have fun picking them up (see above on using them as a dye).
On the other hand - in the fall, these trees turn a lovely yellow.
And they are pretty.
Joining Parul at Happiness and Food for her second and fourth Thursday of the month #ThursdayTreeLove.
'Tough nut to crack' would seem to have originated from these nuts! Jokes apart, indeed an interesting tree. Thanks for introducing us to this species! :-)
ReplyDelete...lovely for furniture, but tough to grow many things under it.
ReplyDeleteI had heard that some nuts can be impossible to crack directly from the tree. This certainly fits into that category! Interesting about the soil remaining toxic even after the tree is removed! We certainly do not have these type of trees here in Phoenix (I think :)
ReplyDeletebetty
Ah..black walnuts! Definitely that tough nut.
ReplyDeleteCarol C
Beautiful. And dangerous. Describes a lot of things, does’t it?!
ReplyDeleteThey truly are beautiful trees!
Wow, that tree is both beautiful and dangerous
ReplyDeleteI love black walnuts. I used to find black walnut ice cream, but for a while it's been hard to find. I wouldn't want a tree though, the nuts (and bark) are toxic to dogs. There are too many nuts to try to pick up from what I've seen! Messy husks.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt and uncle had a huge black walnut tree in their yard when I was growing up. I remember my cousins and myself cracking - or attempting to crack - those shells. The nutmeats inside are delicious and worth the effort but, my goodness, those were tough nuts to crack!
ReplyDeletewow! Sounds like a very powerful tree with its walnuts ~ great post and photos ~ thanks ~ Xo
ReplyDeleteLiving in the moment,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
More trouble than they're worth? I guess it would depend on how much you like the nuts.
ReplyDeleteNow that big tree.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on and stay safe
Growing up, the house next door had several black walnut trees. Subsequent neighbors have not had any interest in the nuts. We hulled quite a few in my day. They gave the Pecans in our yard an interesting flavor.
ReplyDeleteAlana,
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've tried breaking open a black or English walnuts before...well, it seems I might have with EW but I can't swear to it. I know DH has and I remember him saying it's nearly impossible to get them open and that it'll leave your hands stained. I buy the black walnuts to use in my black walnut cake for Christmas which is mmmm, good! They are pricey but worth the money. :)
A black walnut? I did not know about that. Walnuts are sure tough to crack but walk over a with a car is more than I had imagined. Thanks for joining with this interesting fruit and tree, Alana. I hope to see you back tomorrow.
ReplyDelete