Harvesting/scavengin g walnuts

I opened one last night with my grandson... it was horribly bitter! He was fascinated that I found them, and he will bring in a handful for show-and-tell at school, but we will leave them for the squirrels.

Our tree was loaded but the b….y squirrels have had the lot! They have even been digging up those that their mates buried! ?

As a child I used to collect them and let them dry in egg boxes.

We have a very damp climate and have had quite a few wind/rain storms the past week. I saw quite a few on the ground with the hull split; these are the ones I picked up to check out. I will make sure to bring a bag with me on my next dog walk.

I read to rinse them off because the rind was quite tannic and bitter, and then let them dry for a few days.

The nuts Gin describes sound very different to mine. No wet skin on mine and no need to dry before cracking. Maybe there are different varieties!

Definitely worth it. We have a walnut tree and this year it has produced quite a lot of nuts. Most of the green outer casings seem to split on the tree and I find clean, dry, walnuts on the ground. I’ve collected them and brought them in to the house. I cracked some of them and put the nuts in the oven for a few minutes, though that’s not really necessary. They’ll keep in their shells for months till I want to use.

No don’t dry them,q wet walnuts are delicious. It requires patience to peel off the bitter skin covering the juicy creamy nut. I bought some off the market this week. I can amuse myself for quite a long period skinning them and dipping in salt. Reminds me of my childhood.

Yes, but you need to dry them out in order to open them I think.

The hard brown walnut is contained inside the green outer casing which you can open. At this time of year that’s all you need to do. Then crack the walnut open when you want it.

The other day I discovered what I thought was a green ball in a tub of spent compost. It turned out to be a walnut which I opened to reveal the regular walnut inside. A squirrel must have buried it there from my tree which I never get nuts from. Now I know why!

yes, wonderful. Enjoy.