Foraging Black Walnuts

Today at our local schoolyard, one of the children brought me a green "kiwi size" gift that they had found on the ground.  It turned out to be an Black Walnut that had fallen off of the tree.  I immediately became excited because I was not aware that there was a Walnut tree in the school yard.

We walked along the fence of the yard until we identified 2 Black Walnut trees standing side by side.  I was very excited about this find.  All of the children eagerly helped to pick up the walnuts that I had knocked to the ground from the lower branches.  In a couple of weeks from now, the walnuts will mature on the tree and the hulls will become much softer.  One will just need to touch them with a stick and they should easily fall to the ground...  I intend to go back for those walnuts on the higher branches.

Normally, we would wait a couple of weeks before harvesting Walnuts however, with the new school year literally around the corner, I knew that we had better start foraging today.  I always pack reusable grocery bags with us because the children are always finding things on our nature walks that they want to bring home.

For now, we are very satisfied with what we foraged today as we picked about 25 pounds today just from the lower branches.  My thumbs are stained brown for the next week due to the natural dyes of this nut. 

In order to preserve these "Green Goodies", you will need to remove the hull.  Before you begin this task, it is beneficial to wear gloves unless you want to go around with Brown stained hands for the next week.  If you do happen to stain your hands, I have read that massaging vegetable oil into the skin will help to remove it.  I tried this today and had no luck so I will be going around with brown stained fingers for the next week!

You should be able to remove the hull by smashing them with a hammer(wearing gloves!).  Black Walnut hulls are more difficult to remove than those of an English Walnut.  It is helpful to put cloth down underneath the walnut to eliminate any splattering of the juices.  I have read that some individuals will drive over them with a car to break them open.  I do not recommend this because it is dangerous. 

Once the hulls have been removed, you will need to rinse the "stones" with water to wash away any extra debris.  Ensure that you still have those rubber gloves handy for this messy job!  Now lay the stones out for curing in a dry place but not in direct sunlight.  It will take approximately 2-3 weeks before they are cured.

Now, what are you going to do with the hulls?  Well, place the hulls into a bucket and cover them with water.  Set them aside for 3 days, then boil the liquid and hulls for 2 hours to make a "walnut liquor".  This walnut liquor is a beautiful espresso coloured dye that you can use on your hair, boiled eggs at Easter or make a totally cool  tie-dyed T-Shirt.  Apparently from what I have read, the dye will last a very long time if stored in glass jars kept in a cool place. 

If you have any wooden project on the go, Walnut hulls provide a natural stain.  Voila!  You can finish your wood projects beautifully and naturally.  Most importantly,  in a couple of weeks you will have beautiful nuts to eat and it didn't cost you a thing!