they are hidden in the grass
and I step on them
almost making me trip.
I ride the lawn tractor
and they make a loud noise
like you have hit a rock
and afraid they will hurt the blade.
Black Walnuts
There is nothing tastier
when added to sweets I bake,
cookies, candy, cakes and this early
morning have put Black Walnut
flavoring in the pumpkin bread
that is baking in the oven.
Very expensive when I purchase a small bag
of the nuts
and usually go for the black walnut flavoring.
I have hundreds of these black walnuts
and cannot enjoy them.
Over 30 years ago and new to the country
I was so thrilled to find the ground covered with these and the hickory nuts in the Fall.
I gathered and would sit with a hammer trying to crack them
Spending hours for the smallest jar of this delicacy
and black stained hands.
Old timers told me to put them in the driveway and as the
vehicles ran over them they would crack the husk.
Anyway I just gave up.
Do not like buying them when I have an abundance on the ground
here at the edge of the woods.
The squirrels sure love them.
Their teeth must really be strong to crack them.
Shells everywhere on the paths in the woods.
I do know they bury them everywhere and all
through the year I see them scratching them up
sometimes in my garden.
13 comments:
The memory of a black walnut tree brought me way back to childhood. I remember that we ate them but cannot remember how we opened them. I will ask my siblings and get back to you.
My mother-in-law used to make the most delicious black walnut cake.
My memories come from a neighbor who had them in her yard...I used to step on them and roll...their house was stained from them...as the tree was right next to the house.
Balisha
In the fall, our great-grandfather would take my brother and me with him to gather walnuts and hickory nuts. Once the tough green hull was dried and removed, we cracked them open with a hammer, then removed the goodies inside with a horse shoe nail. It was a job that kept young hands busy for hours. Thanks for the trip down memory lane...
Beautiful pictures and sentiments of black walnuts.
I like your writing; even the most mundane items come to life.
I don't know what black walnuts are, but it doesn't matter. Your lines tell me all I need to know.
Marcia, Balisha, Mary and Mermaid,
thank you for commenting. Friko, thank you...
Usually about this time of year I fill a wooden bowl of mixed unshelled nuts for friends to crack, to raid when cooking, to add to the cozy fall feel of days gone by. Last spring I threw out the remainders for the squirrels. A more industrious person would have cracked them and frozen the meat. That’s not me ~ industrious. This past weekend my banana bread for a block party was sadly needing nuts and I ran down to the little local store. All they had were small packages of shelled chopped nuts by the ice cream. They worked. Any nut it takes a car to crack is way beyond me. Happy autumn.
I have a little container of black walnuts in my freezer picked out by Mama before she passed away in 1987,so I know they wouldn't still be good to use. "Why keep them then?" someone might ask. Because they're just a little part of her work, picked out by her gnarled, arthritic fingers. I just find them too difficult to bother with.
Enjoyed this post!
does any bird nest in the large hole where the old limb used to be or is that simply a gnarled scar with no depth? lovely photo, ernestine.
Lynn, Charlotte, Sky and Judy,
thanks for visiting and have a great day...
I had a vise mounted on the work table in the garage that I used to crack the walnuts. I put them in the driveway first to get the husk off and then dried them and went to work. My Daddy always had a pan, a large round rock and a hammer in his hand, cracking Hickory Nuts during the long winter evenings.
I liked the picture of your black walnut tree. I noticed that another commenter was curious if anything had nested in the hole in the tree. I was wondering the same thing.
Your post reminded me of the black walnut tree that is in the yard at my dad's house. It has been there since before I was born, and is not nearly the size of the one in your picture. It made me wonder how old your tree may be.
I can't remember for the life of me how my mom peeled them and then shelled them. I believe she let the green shells dry on them first, but I don't remember how she broke them open.
Isn't it funny to see the squirrels running around with big walnut-stain-lipstick grins on during the time the walnut hulls are green.
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