So, it's black walnut harvest season.

[Denninmi]

Taking the hulls off and picking up about a bushel of nuts each evening after work, which takes me roughly an hour. I rake them into a concentrated area, drive over them with the mower to break open the hulls, and then pick out the nuts.

After they dry for about 2-3 weeks in the greenhouse (which has no plants this time of year), I'll move them into the basement.

Winter will be a festival of shelling. I have an electric walnut cracker, but its still a slow process since it does one at a time.

A couple of years back, my mother cracked out 69 lbs of nutmeats. I'd like to beat that record this year.

Better get crackin'!

Love black walnuts. All kinds of great things in the future -- walnut brittle, date nut bread, candied walnuts on top of the Thanksgiving day Brussels Sprouts, black walnut brownies.

[Lucinda]

1. You post made me think about my mom

She loooved black walnuts. I haven't had any in a long time. :)

[grasswire]

2. I can't even buy them here.

I've been meaning to mail-order some for several years now.

[grasswire]

3. a festival of shelling.....hahaha!

Nice description.

You ought to write a short story for you-tube about processing those critters. I never heard about driving the lawn mower over them.

[gkhouston]

5. Nor had I, but it sounds like a great idea. Fudge with black walnuts... mmm. n/t

[Callalily]

4. Awwwww . . . black walnuts.

My friends' mom used to harvest them and give the walnuts away as gifts. Needless to say I "stood right in line."

You are blessed to be able to have such an abundance. That said, if you need to distribute, well I'm standing in line for that too. :rofl:

[tigereye]

6. we used to get those from a tree on a nearby farm when

I was a kid. Very tasty but a bit of work.

I thought at first there was a Herman Cain comment imbedded here... ;)

[1monster]

7. Oh man! I loooovvveee black walnuts. Where I grew up, we had black walnut trees

growing wild in the woods about a quarter mile from the house on the farm. We'd go pick up the walnuts that fell to the ground and get a bushel or two of them. How black our hands would get taking off the outer husks. It took forever to get the black out from under our fingernails. And nothing tastes quite like a black walnut. The have so much more flavor than English walnluts.

And they are almost impossible to find in Florida.

I evny you. (BTW, we opened the shells with a hammer. It was easier that way than using the nutcrackers.)