Monday, 24 October 2016

Walnut season.



The walnuts are dropping, and the harvest looks good.

I've mentioned previously that I drink two teaspoons of Walnut oil each morning, and try to eat about 8 nuts every evening. Their medicinal qualities are renowned.

Otherwise we make a good Walnut Pesto simply by substituting Walnuts for Pine Nuts, Lady Magnon uses quite a lot for her various cakes, and a lot go into our Summer salads. That's about it.

Of course, any that are left-over from the previous year make wonderful fire-lighters!



36 comments:

  1. WE used leftover macadamia nuts as firelighters as well. Those walnuts look good.

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    1. They very rarely fail, and the trees are still healthy; unlike so many.

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  2. Excellent harvest. Our tree lost all its leaves early and drooped all summer. Now the wood is full of worms and we have been told to chop it down and burn it. Such a pity.

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    1. I think I'd agree with the advice. Disease and bugs could spread to neighbouring trees. Explain to your neighbours how public-spirited you've been, and I'm sure they'll repay you in Walnuts.

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  3. We have another kind of nuts trees here, not so tasty.

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    1. Most of our local trees are cultivated, but the squirrels take the nuts and bury them, so there are wild trees everywhere too. I wonder what type of nut trees yours are?

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  4. I like walnuts, prefer them to hazelnuts, but not as lucky as you; I have to buy mine at the green grocers.
    Pine nuts are expensive so I also replace them with walnuts or almonds in pesto.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Here they are as plentiful as Acorns; very much part of the landscape. We're very lucky.

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  5. I've never heard of taking Walnut oil before. You obviously have a good and plentiful supply. x

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    1. Nothing to do with Walnuts is ever in short supply here; the trees are everywhere.

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  6. Fantastic! We have a couple of walnut trees which border our fence and are always full of nuts. But the squirrels come and take the lot unfortunately. Did you know you can use the spent hulls as a natural brown dye? Just boil them up in some water, leave to soak and strain off when you've got enough ... You could probably spread the oil on your hair as well, as a kind of Grecian 2000!

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    1. I have a bottle of 'Bru de Noix' which is a concentrated Walnut stain; I use it for colouring wood.

      If it would make my hair grow back, I'd probably do as you suggest; otherwise it sounds a bit 'oily'.

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  7. We have several Black Walnut trees, but the nuts are too much trouble to bother with. English walnuts would be fantastic! The last place we lived had pecan trees, and I miss them. Pecans are delicious and grow well around here.

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    1. I do occasionally see Black Walnut trees growing here, but I can't see the point. As you say, they are impossible to extract.

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  8. Yesterday we had a tasty & light coffee & walnut sponge.

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    1. Lady Magnon made an Apple and Cinnamon Cake with Walnuts. Very nice too.

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  9. We always miss out on the walnuts. I've got a sackful of hazelnuts back home though.

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  10. We have two beautiful walnut trees in our garden. Unfortunately, we are never there when they drop So we offer them to the neighbours!

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    1. Lucky neighbours. I expect they keep some for you; don't they?

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  11. I envy your usable walnut trees. Here, we have "accidental" black walnuts planted by squirrels. They are messy invasive trees and a true pain in my backside. Do you have to take some sort of outer coating off the walnuts first? (outside of the shell) -Jenn

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    1. They fall from the trees as you see them above. Some trees fall cleaner than others, it's a matter of knowing which are the cleanest.

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  12. Squirrels ate all ours AGAIN!. Just back from Lidl, where I bought walnuts and dates to make D and W cakes for a Civic Society "do" this weekend. How I wouldhave loved to use our own.

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    1. When I was small, my people made Pickled Walnuts. In Surrey they were always prepared during Goodwood Week. The Squirrels never allowed us to have any actual nuts.

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  13. I love pickled walnuts and also use a lot of walnut oil, but although we have two walnut trees the fruit never seems to mature properly. I wonder if we are too far North.

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    1. Even in leafy Surrey ours wouldn't ripen properly, and the Squirrels ended-up having them all.

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  14. In my childhood, we once lived next door to a house with a large black walnut tree that leaned over the picket fence into our yard. I do agree with what others have already commented about the process of finding the walnut under all that cover.

    Now, I just buy walnuts at the grocery shop, but truly prefer the taste of pecans and almonds. Almonds are the ones that I eat just about every day.

    If I were lucky like you to have ample supplies of walnuts nearby, I might change my allegiance.

    Best wishes.

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    1. We are bit too far north to grow Almonds, but we can usually buy fresh ones. I love Pecans too; I wonder if they would grow here?

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  15. Maybe it has something to do with the order of operations, but when I sub. walnuts for pine nuts my pesto comes out brown. It also tastes rather peculiar. Any thoughts?

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    1. The flavour is certainly 'nuttier', but I wouldn't have called it 'peculiar'. I wonder if your ratios are too heavy on the side of the nuts?

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    2. That could be the issue. Next time, less nuts.

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  16. Throughout my childhood we has a Macadamia Nut tree in our back yard. They were known as Queensland Nuts in those days and not a commercial product till they were developed and marketed - from Hawaii I think- much later. They have a VERY hard shell and when hit by a hammer often fire off in all directions much like a wayward bullet. It was a lot of work for an often smashed nut but they were pretty tasty.bLove the natural bounty of your area, fig trees seemed to be everywhere too.

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    1. Macadamia nuts are delicious, but I don't think I've ever seen one inside its shell. Yes, this time of year we are overwhelmed with Figs, nuts, and usually Mushrooms.

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  17. Just read elsewhere, another use for the walnut. A liqueur. From the Ardeche and mixed with a Pacherenc du Vic Bilh from Madiran area. Another glass to experience. Somehow sounds better than Snake Bite or beery cocktails.

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