# Anyone here harvest their own walnuts?



## Cowboy

It looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of black walnuts this year and so far the weathers been good enough to start harvesting them . Its been a few years since I have done it and my buyers are no longer in buisness . 

 Just wondering if anyone knows what the going rate this year since everything else has gotten so expensive ? I see some are even selling them on ebay now but not sure if I can go off of those prices due to shipping. Any thoughts? Thanks.


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## joec

I haven't gotten black walnuts since a kid on my grandparent's farm in Virginia. God I used to love those things. The only walnuts I've had since are the one in the store around Christmas time.  I know my gun belt and holster I had made are died with a walnut stain as it was done in the 1800's. When you get a price on them please post it as I would be interested in getting up to 5 lbs of them.


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## Danang Sailor

It's hard to find in-the-shell black walnuts; a Google search only turned up two sources.  Prices were the same for both:
$6.99 per pound, with shipping extra.

When you decide what you're going to do let me know; Joe isn't the only who'd be interested!


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## SShepherd

whut?? people pay for them in the shell????? I have shitloads

sorry CB, sell yours- I was just suprised, they're a bitch to shell


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## AAUTOFAB1

I have been collecting them as they fall this year,was going to try and clean them up and give them away for Christmas,not sure they would bring much as i only have one tree and the most i get is a wheel barrow full... not sure of the weight...


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## Cowboy

SShepherd said:


> whut?? people pay for them in the shell????? I have shitloads
> 
> sorry CB, sell yours- I was just suprised, they're a bitch to shell


NP Shep and you bet they are a royal pain, but I gota pick the darn things up anyway cuz most of my walnut trees suround the house and driveways and you know how much of a mess they make. Not only that but the husks contain some kind of crap that kills some vegetation. 

  I seen some on ebay this morning still in the rotting husks for sale allthough I woudn't want to do that.  


AAUTOFAB1 said:


> I have been collecting them as they fall this year,was going to try and clean them up and give them away for Christmas,not sure they would bring much as i only have one tree and the most i get is a wheel barrow full... not sure of the weight...


 AA From my understanding if you dont have any other walnutt trees close they more then likelly wont pollinate, allthough some species will self polinate. They look the same they just dont have any nutmeat in them . FYI, You can tell by floating them in water the good ones sink the bad ones float. 

 I'll see where I get in the next week or so Joe and DS , so far I just have been putting them in 55 gallon barrells and haven't checked to see how many good ones I have. Thanks to all for the input.


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## AAUTOFAB1

Cowboy said:


> AA From my understanding if you dont have any other walnutt trees close they more then likelly wont pollinate, allthough some species will self polinate. They look the same they just dont have any nutmeat in them . FYI, You can tell by floating them in water the good ones sink the bad ones float.


 
well i guess some one else must have a walnut tree near me that i have not seen, although we have many pecan farms down here,we don't have a lot of walnut trees this far south,, and my nuts have plenty of nutmeat in them and I'm guessing it must be self pollinating,your guess is as good as mine..


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## Cowboy

AAUTOFAB1 said:


> well i guess some one else must have a walnut tree near me that i have not seen, although we have many pecan farms down here,we don't have a lot of walnut trees this far south,, and my nuts have plenty of nutmeat in them and I'm guessing it must be self pollinating,your guess is as good as mine..


 Hey thats what they call the stuff , allthough I can tell Ya the first time I heard that I tryed barbquin em but they kept fallin through the grille. 

  We do have quite a few black walnut trees here, but there two that are fairlly far apart on the river bank and they aint never got nothing in them so I have no clue , only what the so called experts tell me.


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## SShepherd

lol, we used to throw them at eachother as kids, no mistaking where you were hit.



then we got our asses busted for staining our clothes


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## Cowboy

SShepherd said:


> lol, we used to throw them at eachother as kids, no mistaking where you were hit.
> 
> 
> 
> then we got our asses busted for staining our clothes


 No doubt , same here but they also make for perty good targets same as hedge apples do .


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## BRGTold

Cowboy said:


> No doubt , same here but they also make for perty good targets same as hedge apples do .


 My eighty five year old neighbor..would jack up one side of his truck about 2"..and run the walnuts threw with his truck in gear...and shell them and  then pick them up.. letting the tire shell them off the green husks..and then collect them..he had a trought that he rolled them down...


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## SShepherd

heh, I used a board with a hole in it, and a hammer


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## muleman RIP

We used to spread them out in feed bags in the lane and drive on them. If you keep them one walnut thick it works pretty good. Amazing how much traffic they can take.


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## Huffy

Harvesting is a lot easier and quicker now that there are tools to help ease the back.  This fall I picked up a "Nut Wizard".  It is the best thing since sliced bread.


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## Andrei

I just planted a walnut I purchase but it is English walnut not black.
I harvest some from my neighbor's orchard and so pecans and pistachios.


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## 300 H and H

i have 6 black walnuts. I do pick some up for eating, but not nearly all of them..

I usually do about 3 5 gallon buckets full. I  share them with some friends, and my father too..

Not everyone likes the strong taste of black walnuts. 

Regards, Kirk


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## Andrei

Agree, black walnuts have a very strong flavor and my wife hates them.
English walnuts we pick when are green and make preserve in sugar syrup and are fantastic. 
If you have a surplus of black walnuts you can fatten up your turkey or pigs before slaughter.


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## luvs

we used to collect scads of them w/ my Gram & Pap- there were scads of boxes/baskets of 'em on their third floor. i rang my dad to see if he remembers how we used to husk them. i swear, we used to manually shuck 'em.

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/fo...he-trouble-to-shell-them/stories/200609210264

 my Dad rang me- now, he says put them onto a porch roof & dry them until they turn black. he & i have separate thoughts- my Pap may well have put his on his roof. i remember those husks, getting 1 of my teensy nails dug in, & peeling them. as w/ so many things, ones person's way is different than another's way, huh-- my Pap may have changed his tactic over those years.


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## Andrei

Me and my wife we still shuck them manually.
I kind of crush them to much but she has an expert hand and can just crack them and extract the nut without breaking it.


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