Wildcrafting Walnuts
California Black Walnut trees grow wild in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. We found these perfectly ripe on a 4 wheel drive up Bailey Canyon Truck Trail.
They only produce nuts every other year, so we felt particularly lucky to discover them.
This used to be the driveway up to a ranch, of which only a concrete pad remains.
We gathered up a bowlful of green ones off the ground. According to the interwebs, all of these are good despite spots and wrinkles, as long as they are green and show no signs of mold.
My husband removes a hull with his pocketknife. To process them, all the hulls must be peeled off, and the nuts washed to remove any remaining flesh.
This is the first time we have ever tried this, so we were eager to just have a look inside before hanging the hulled nuts out to dry for a couple of weeks.
Unlike the commercial English walnut, California Black walnuts have 5 pieces of meat inside.
These wild walnuts are pretty puny. Even while still plumped up, there is barely any meat. Still, we plan on following through out of curiousity.
I am excited to eventually sample this native tree's windfall! The foothills are full of edible plants free for the foraging.
Do you think such tiny nuts will be worth the effort?
My grandparents had a black walnut tree..and I never saw them do anything with them..so curious...so did I read you dry and then they are edible?
Yes, once you remove the green outer covering, you are supposed to rinse them well, then hang in a mesh bag to dry for 2 weeks. They can then be cracked with a hammer to get the meat. :) It is kind of a lot of work. The walnuts we got are pretty small specimen. Thanks for your comment!
Black walnuts were very common on the farm here in Michigan. I never tried to peel them, but I would stash a few off the tree in the ash tray for a while coz I like the smell.
*goes to the kitchen to smell them
I read that about quince and keeping a bowl full for the fragrance so last year, with our first meager crop I did just that. They did not spread their fragrance throughout the room but they did smell good if you picked them up and smelled them close up. So for our first crop of walnuts I will try the same thing.
Our walnut trees are about 5 years old now. I wonder how long it will be before we see the nuts.
I think we may get almonds for the first time this year. The tree is covered with little ones.
Mmm, almonds! I prefer those to walnuts by far!
I bet they will b easier to get to the nut!
Walnuts seem like they will be a lot of messy work.
Too true! The walnuts have a strong brown stain as well as being a total pain. Hehe, it rhymes so it must be true ;)
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