Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: poultrygeist on September 01, 2008, 19:35

Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: poultrygeist on September 01, 2008, 19:35
Evening all. :)  

We've been offered some walnuts from a place we're visiting tomorrow but we don't know what to do with them between picking and eating !  :?

Do we pick a load, peel the green husk off and let them 'mature' for a while or should you wait a while before picking ??

Rob  8)
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: Big Jen on September 01, 2008, 20:05
Give them to me Rob :wink:
I have been trying to get hold of green walnuts for years without success.
As far as I know you dont harvest till late Sept/October but I could be wrong.
They are a delicacy that you can cook with or pickle or just eat them as they are. Yummy :D

BJ
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: poultrygeist on September 01, 2008, 20:09
I've just found a bit on a website about them. You're completely right. From mid-september, the green husks split and you air dry them.

Or you can pick them early to pickle them.

There a huge tree (50ft?) next door but one and I don;t think they do a lot with them. If they're still unpicked by end of september, I'll have to find an excuse to go and talk to them and casually mention the walnuts.  :roll:

Rob :D
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: Big Jen on September 01, 2008, 20:17
If you leave them too long, the squirrels might beat you to it 8)

BJ
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: poultrygeist on September 01, 2008, 20:20
Strangely, the squirrels started harvesting them about a month ago, but maybe a few ripen early. It's a massive tree with hundreds on so even an army of squirrels wouldn't strip it.

It would be nice to just have a couple of dozen to dip into now and then. Apparently you can freeze them for up to a year and there are cultivars that fruit after 3 years. Might have to look into getting our own.

Rob
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: Big Jen on September 01, 2008, 20:30
I had been looking at walnut trees on the internet and ebay but they were quite expensive for even a small tree. If you find any good suppliers - let me know. I love cob nuts as well, go foraging round the lanes picking them from the hedges in the autumn.

BJ
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: poultrygeist on September 01, 2008, 20:34
We've got tons of elderberries right now. Not much else left by the birds. We have one blackthorn in the garden which hasn't shown any fruit yet.

Must find a good foraging place. Everywhere here is fenced rather than hedged. Need a good old forgotten lane.

Rob
Title: Walnuts - when to pick ????
Post by: Annie on September 01, 2008, 23:19
unless you want to pickle them(and if you do then pick green walnuts not) then wait until they hit the ground and split then lay out on trays to dry.Trying to pull off the green flesh off the shell is difficult and any flesh left behind will go mouldy so storing is tricky.Dried walnuts in clean shell are easily stored in recycled onion bags.