Q&A for How to Harvest Black Walnuts

It's a good idea to wash the shells before drying the nuts. However, be cautious about using nuts with black or decayed hulls. The nut meat won't taste as good, and in some cases the nuts may be infected with toxic mold or microorganisms.

You can make dye by simmering the hulls in water for about an hour. Hit the hulls with a hammer first to break them open a bit--this will help release the juices. Put the nuts in a mesh bag, bring some water to a boil in a big pot, and put the bag in it to simmer. Take the bag out and strain the dye bath to remove debris once it's had time to cool.

If you don't dry the walnuts before cracking them, the meat will be moist and soft. After getting the hulls off the nuts, allow them to dry for a few weeks before you open the shells.

The fuzzy matter could mean that a bug got into the nut and has laid eggs.

It will be messy, but the nutmeat inside is still good. Just be sure the hulled nut is nice and dry before you start cracking.

Your vice needs to be attached to a work table or other suitable surface. Open the vise, insert the shell, and slowly tighten the vice. If the nut slips, re-position it. If it starts to buckle, watch for small pieces that might fly off. As a safety precaution I would advise safety glasses.

A walnut will continue to ripen after it has fallen from the tree. It will slowly decrease ripening when put out to dry. If you keep them in the green shell, they could continue to ripen for the next 2 weeks, then they will start to dry. Don't leave them in the green shell for more than 2 weeks, or they will get moldy.

The walnut meats inside the hard shell should be fine, but I think they still need to dry/cure - not sure how long, as I've not done that bit. The part that is decaying is just the outer hull. I use this part as dye - the tannins and juglone in the green (now black) hull help make a remarkably color-fast dye. This of course is why handling walnut hulls leave your hands stained for days. When I harvested walnuts last week, I collected the hull and left the nuts for the squirrels.

In time, you will slough off the stained skin. Best to wear old clothes and heavy rubber gloves when working with walnuts, as there isn't a way to get it out of clothing.

It means the nut was damaged by insects or was otherwise open to the atmosphere by a crack or hole and the developing nut dried out early.

Only after the green husk has been removed and the nut has had some time to dry out and age a bit.

You can use any of the larger pliers on the market. Use 1/2-inch masking tape to build up the ends of the pliers handles so when the hulls break, the pliers don't pinch your fingers.

Yes, I have several walnut trees and I put them in a large plastic bin I leave outside for the squirrels and chipmunks. They peel the green right off, no problem.

Yes. The maggots can't get through the hard shell. I've also hulled walnuts and never had any issues.

Yes, you can make a tincture with green hull nuts and 80-proof vodka to treat parasites.

If kept in a refrigerator or freezer, unshelled walnuts last 9-12 months.

You can use mason jars to store walnuts in the fridge or use freezer bags and keep them in the freezer, but if you don't refrigerate them the oil will cause them to go bad fairly quickly.

No. You can eat them raw, or bake them in recipes that call for nuts.

You can try to use the hulls for dye, but the meat inside won't be ripe. If you press with your thumb and it shows an impression, then they are ripe.

No, don't soak them. Crack open the nuts and put them in a baking pan. Add some oil, salt them, and roast them in the oven.

American Indians reportedly used them (in some quantity) to anesthetize/kill fish in a slow stream. The fish would float to the top and be scooped up or netted. As naturalist Euell Gibbons ("Stalking the Wild Asparagus," 1962) once said about freezing and thawing dandelion roots in your refrigerator to produce fresh mid-winter greens, "It's a scurvy trick, but it works." And, like fishing with dynamite, it is effective but not selective, and should only be used for survival purposes.

The rain will be good to clean them after the outer green shell is removed. After that, dry them in sun or bring inside to dry. Regarding the little worms, they are in the green shell area which is removed, and do not harm the walnut inside.

I have seen it done with simple tarps, placed around the tree soon after the first nuts have fallen. Wait a few days, the winds will help you. Use a pole to shake the limbs and finish the harvest. Done at the right time, most of the nuts will fall and can quickly be gathered just by folding the tarps and funneling the nuts into a box or basket for further "processing."

One easy way to get the green shell off is to put on a pair of rubber boots or work boots and to stomp hard on the green shell while they are laying on the ground. Put on a pair of gloves, proceed to collect the walnuts, and place them in a place where they can dry for at least one week. Then you have to finish your job by raking the green shell and discarding of them properly.

Orange hand cleaner you can find at any auto parts store works very well. Just apply generously and wipe with a rag or paper towels.

The husks inhibit plant-life of many kinds, all kinds of fungus, and many microbes.

Yes, especially if they have fallen off the tree naturally. The husks will darken with time, become mushy, and slip off. Once the husk is removed, any nuts that float in a bucket of water are generally empty, either because of disease, bugs, or rot. They can be safely composted or thrown in the woods. The rest need to dry, and cure for a couple of months. Most people harvest them in October or early November, and wait until January or February to crack them, then put them in the freezer to be used throughout the year. Some prepare them all before Thanksgiving so they may use them in holiday baking. They are especially wonderful in toffee!

If you want to have a black walnut tree grow the fastest take off the outer hull first. However, the black walnut will still sprout if planted whole in soil. It will just take longer, because the outer hull will have to break down first.

I recommend cleaning it. Place them in a bucket with water and stir them vigorously. Change the water several times and repeat. This should sufficiently clean the walnuts.

Yes. Last year, we gathered tons of black walnuts. After they had been piled in a plastic barrel for a few days and the green hull had started to turn black, we began to de-hull them. During that time, there were tiny maggots inside the outer hull. This is actually nature's way of helping to clean off the outer hull. After the maggots had started their work, it made de-hulling much, much easier. We then spray-washed the remaining black residue off the nut and left them to dry in the sun. The maggots did not go inside the inner hull which protects the nutmeat inside.