Walnuts and Butternuts

A mature walnut tree is a big bold monster of a tree that produces nuts wrapped in hard green pods. While there are many different types of walnut tree, such as Carpathian, English and Black walnuts, they all share the common trait of needing many years to reach nut bearing maturity. Butternut trees are the kissing cousin of the walnut. They have all the same traits, growing habits and nearly identical nuts. The one major difference about the butternut is the fact that it can begin producing as early as 3 years.

Growing zone: Walnuts zone 4 to 8. Butternuts zone 3 to 7.

Time to maturity: 5 to 10 years for walnuts. 3 to 5 years for butternuts

Pollination needs: Walnuts and butternuts have male and female components. Because of this they need to have a compatible partner tree for cross-pollination.

Pruning/Thinning: Walnuts naturally develop a strong central trunk.

Harvest time: Butternuts ripen in August. Walnuts ripen between September and October.

Both walnuts and butternuts are deep rooted. These roots release a compound into the soil known as juglone. While this chemical is safe for the lawn, it has the ability to wreak havoc with other fruit trees and most garden plants. Because of this Walnuts and butternuts need to be planted a significant distance away from susceptible plants. The general rule of thumb is that the juglone will spread through the soil twice the tree’s height. When a walnut tree is small, this distance can be insignificant. However since some walnuts can grow to over 40 feet tall, you must take their mature height into account when planting.

Long term storage options:  Walnuts and butternuts both are laborious to harvest, process and prepare for long term storage. One advantage of English walnuts is that they fall free from the husk upon ripening. All other walnuts and butternuts the husk falls free from the tree, leaving it is up to you to get at the shell and nut meat inside.

The husks have a tacky substance on the outside that can stain just about every substance known to man, including concrete. It is best to collect nuts and lay them out on a tarp or multiple layers of overlapping newspaper. The nuts can also stain your skin, so it is advisable to wear gloves at all times when handling them.

Removing the husk can be a challenge. While I know there are websites out there that tell you to drive back and forth over them with your car, I personally have seen this go horribly awry. The nuts are round and if the tire hits them in just the wrong way they get squeezed out the side with incredible force. In my mind I would rather take the time to remove the husk by peeling with a dull knife. It’s simply not worth the broken windows and mutilated ankles that can come from a driving accident.

If you absolutely find the process of peeling the husks to be too tedious, you can try to roll them under your foot.

Once you have the husks removed you can dispose of them by burning them or throwing them away. They have a good concentration of juglone still in the old husks and should not be included into your compost or mulch.

Lay the nuts out in their shell a single layer deep on sheets of cardboard lined with newspaper. Place them in a cool, dry place with a fan blowing over them. Roll the nuts once a day for the first week to make sure they don’t have moisture settling out on the bottom. Painter’s desiccant placed in the corner of the room will also help speed the drying process.

After two weeks of drying, the nuts should crack open relatively easily using a standard nut cracker. If they resist, continue drying.

The nuts will store just fine in a cool dark place if left in the shell. Some people will advocate removing the nutmeat from each shell, and placing them in vacuum sealed bags for long term storage. While this may buy you some additional storage time, I don’t know that it matters much, considering the nuts left in the shell will keep for up to a year and you will be into next year’s harvest.

Also, walnuts are known to contain heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids. Removing them from the shell starts the process that slowly breaks down the fats through oxidation.

Walnuts can also be shelled and blended into walnut butter. It is best to roast the nuts before grinding. This increases the flavor and sterilizes the nut meat. Blend the nuts to your preferred texture in a food processor. While the nuts are blending, you can add a dash of cinnamon and a modest sweetener like honey or stevia. The nut butter should then be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

You can also extract Walnut oil from the nut meat but you will need a hand crank nut press designed to blend and extract the oil. There are kits out there which can do double duty both as a nut press and an apple cider press!