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10-18-2008, 07:02 PM
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5,715 posts, read 14,644,299 times
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I was just out for a walk with my dog and came across a bunch of walnuts.
(I know because I picked some up and cracked them with a hammer when I got home. )
I'm kind of new to this whole country thing and don't know how to take care of them after you gather them.
Do you shell all of them right away or should you leave them in the shell for a while?
I tasted one of the ones I picked up and they are different than the walnuts you get at the store.
Do you have to heat them or anything?????
Yep. I'm just a dumb city person. Someone needs to tell us every little thing.... 
I'm going back with a bag to pick up a bunch tomorrow so I hope someone will tell me how to prepare them.
Thanks!
Last edited by World Citizen; 10-18-2008 at 07:16 PM..
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10-19-2008, 08:53 AM
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Location: In a house
21,956 posts, read 23,387,094 times
Reputation: 15021
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They could be black walnuts. There are several varieties (21 species) of walnuts each with it's own particular flavor. You can either leave them in the shell or shell them. They keep quite well in the shell--I keep them in my nut bowl or put them in a paper bag in my pantry.. If shelled and you have a large quantity you can put them in zip-lock baggies and freeze them. I have never heated or cooked them myself except when they are in cookies and cook along with the cookie dough!. I just use them fresh out of the shell!  Walnuts are a great food for the brain!! |
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10-19-2008, 09:40 AM
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5,715 posts, read 14,644,299 times
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I had no idea that there were so many different walnuts...
Quote:
Originally Posted by cynwldkat
They could be black walnuts. There are several varieties (21 species) of walnuts each with it's own particular flavor. You can either leave them in the shell or shell them. They keep quite well in the shell--I keep them in my nut bowl or put them in a paper bag in my pantry.. If shelled and you have a large quantity you can put them in zip-lock baggies and freeze them. I have never heated or cooked them myself except when they are in cookies and cook along with the cookie dough!. I just use them fresh out of the shell! Walnuts are a great food for the brain!! |
As I said, I'm new to country living (and loving it)...
Apparently walnuts grow inside these green things. The shells on these are not very pretty. I can't remember seeing any shells like them in my mom's Christmas nut bowls but they may look better when they are cleaner.
Maybe they just tasted different because they are so fresh. I thought that they may have to be dried or something.
Thanks!  |
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10-19-2008, 10:09 AM
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Location: In a house
21,956 posts, read 23,387,094 times
Reputation: 15021
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The green outter cover has the nut inside! Yes, you don't keep that shell on. Fresh walnuts are a little softer than the ones you get in stores. I let them dry a bit just by letting them sit in paper bags for awhile but you do not have to let them dry. The flavor will change a little as it dries.
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10-19-2008, 10:12 AM
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Location: In a house
21,956 posts, read 23,387,094 times
Reputation: 15021
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Welcome to country living---enjoy!! |
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10-19-2008, 10:22 AM
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5,715 posts, read 14,644,299 times
Reputation: 2942
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cynwldkat
Welcome to country living---enjoy!! |
Every day is a new adventure. That's for sure... 
Thanks! |
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10-19-2008, 10:53 AM
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Location: CA
830 posts, read 2,620,724 times
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Watch your fingers when opening them!
I gathered a bunch of walnuts last year (in the city!) and was eager to get them all open. It didn't look so bad while I was in the process, but an hour or so later my hands were stained and they remained that way for weeks afterwards!
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10-19-2008, 11:11 AM
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Location: In a house
21,956 posts, read 23,387,094 times
Reputation: 15021
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Oh you are so right! They will and do stain your hands but oh well, it eventually wears off and the nuts are so darn good!! |
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10-19-2008, 11:58 AM
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Location: Somewhere out there
9,616 posts, read 12,526,614 times
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Walnut heaven (or hell?)
Quote:
Originally Posted by World Citizen
I was just out for a walk with my dog and came across a bunch of walnuts.
(I know because I picked some up and cracked them with a hammer when I got home. )
I'm kind of new to this whole country thing and don't know how to take care of them after you gather them.
Do you shell all of them right away or should you leave them in the shell for a while?
I tasted one of the ones I picked up and they are different than the walnuts you get at the store.
Do you have to heat them or anything?????
Yep. I'm just a dumb city person. Someone needs to tell us every little thing....
I'm going back with a bag to pick up a bunch tomorrow so I hope someone will tell me how to prepare them.
Thanks! |
Here in Central WA St. we, unfortunately, have three very mature walnut trees on our property. Well, they are pretty, esp. in their fall colors, but the mess they create is nasty! The soft outer green cover has to rot off and disintegrate. They we wash off the inky black mess, let 'em dry off for a day or two, and then crack them and pick out the tiny little bits of nut meat. Trying to crack them without pulverizing the inner prize is yet another challenge!
My first recommendation is, after you satisfy your frontier homemaker inquisitiveness, go and buy a big bag of them, already shelled, at Costco or Trader Joe's. The other manual homesteader harvesting process is whaaaayyyy tooo labor-intensive. You don't need to roast them; they taste different because they are of course fresh. Not sure just how they commercially harvest the inner contents in any imaginably profitable way (slave child labor?).
Enjoy!
Last edited by rifleman; 10-19-2008 at 11:59 AM..
Reason: typos
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10-19-2008, 12:38 PM
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5,715 posts, read 14,644,299 times
Reputation: 2942
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You're funny!...
Quote:
Originally Posted by rifleman
Here in Central WA St. we, unfortunately, have three very mature walnut trees on our property. Well, they are pretty, esp. in their fall colors, but the mess they create is nasty! The soft outer green cover has to rot off and disintegrate. They we wash off the inky black mess, let 'em dry off for a day or two, and then crack them and pick out the tiny little bits of nut meat. Trying to crack them without pulverizing the inner prize is yet another challenge!
My first recommendation is, after you satisfy your frontier homemaker inquisitiveness, go and buy a big bag of them, already shelled, at Costco or Trader Joe's. The other manual homesteader harvesting process is whaaaayyyy tooo labor-intensive. You don't need to roast them; they taste different because they are of course fresh. Not sure just how they commercially harvest the inner contents in any imaginably profitable way (slave child labor?).
Enjoy!
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I have already had that thought -- about the nice bags at the grocery and how easy they are to pick up. 
So, I come home with my prize and a neighbor tells me that if the outside part that you say has to rot off is mushy that the nuts may be too...
Some of the ones I found had already lost the green part. I will be checking them to see what's in there.
I'm going to buy a good nutcracker. The hammer thing is just not working out for me!!! 
Happy Fall !! |
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