If you know of anyone that would pay me for my walnut trees, I’d be glad to sell them.
I moved into my current house with over 20 black walnut trees in my yard. These trees range from 60 ft to well over 100 ft tall. They are straight. They are producing nuts in abundance.
They also suck.
They are dirty trees, that produce a ton of nuts. The juglone (mentioned above) kill a number of nice landscape trees (Learned this the hard way).
I have been slowly removing the trees from my property. I’ve contacted every saw mill in my area. I’ve been giving the stuff away for fire wood (and having a difficult time doing this). It’s great hardwood, but I can’t sell it to a lumber yard.
They just won’t macerate the way you need them to. It won’t taste “off” but it probably won’t taste much beyond the alcohol that is used; thinner and limpid. That is why you need to do it when they are still green and very soft. Within a day of putting the cut walnuts in the alcohol, it turns this divine shade of green-tinted blackish/brown.
You could hack up one of the ones you have and put it in a little cup of vodka and see what color it turns. I’d be interested…
If you can split the shells neatly enough, they can be used for crafts. The inner side of each half looks enough like a big-eyed face to be used to represent an owl’s head (I saw one such in the collection of a woman who collected owl art). The shells are also thick and hard enough to be carved, if you’re into that, or know someone who is.
That’s the only use I know of for the shells. The hulls are for dye and ink-making, the meats are for eating (they taste a lot stronger than English walnuts, but that’s not a flaw; they go nicely in cookies and such), and the whole “fruits” are for throwing. When I was a kid they were also for putting in front of the school bus tires while it was stopped; when it started again it would crush the shells with loud, kid-pleasing pops.
My in-laws own 140 acres of timber in the Ozarks. They hired a logger to remove some of the bigger trees–oak, hickory, and walnut. They have made enough off the little bit that he has taken to pay for the vast majority of the property. Seriously, walnut is worth a chitload of cashish. Look for the right buyer.
Agreed. But you are talking about a major piece of land with a number of trees. Much more worthwhile to a sawmill, buyer, etc. to come out and buy the trees.
In a smaller environment like mine, I’ve had some offers, but they have all included me taking down the trees myself. No thanks. If the wood is worth something (and it is, in large enough quantities) then come out here and take the trees down yourself, then take them home with you.
Absent of that, I’m happier to give the wood away. If I take it down myself, I’ll cut it into smaller pieces to reduce the risk of the tree falling into my house or on something else of value. Then, it just becomes a pile of firewood I’d like removed. It’s a shame, really, because I’ve cut down 60 year old trees. But 10 trees don’t seem to excite the potential buyers in my immediate area. I can’t even get anyone to come out and look at them to see if they’d be worth cutting down and buying. Which amazes me, since I’ve read that my trees can command a high price in a good market. Hell, I am just looking for someone to remove them for free, and pay me a fraction of the cost of what they are worth. Anyone with the ability to use this wood would make out very well, and yet I get the same answer all the time… not enough trees.
Oh well. I guess I’ll keep taking them down one at a time until they are gone.
To me, they are a nuisance. They have killed more than a few nice landscape trees I have planted, and they limit severely the trees you can grow around them. For furniture, they are great. If you like the walnut meat, they are great. If you want to create a landscape in your yard, you are severely limited by the juglone in the root system.
So God put the walnuts there so the squirrels would have something to collect and eat in the winter. And you’re taking away food from the poor squirrels.
Think of the squirrels. OH GOD won’t someone PLEASE think of the squirrels
Maybe someone can answer something for me. I have a walnut tree in my yard, and have no trouble getting the husks off – all you have to do is stomp on them. But are the nuts clean enough at this point that they can be stored, or do you have to get every bit of husk fiber off of them? I’ve done the latter, and it’s extremely laborious, involving a wire brush and lots of elbow grease. But maybe I’m wasting my time?
Gather the walnuts that have fallen. The outer covering is very soft. Place the walnuts somewhere that they won’t roll away (deprssion in roadway). Drive over them repeatedly. The nut shell will not be broken. When the outer husk is broken, shredded, crushed, or whatever. Buy some Gum boots at walmart and facillitate the breaking of the covering by stepping, sliding, scuffing on the nuts. Use some plastic gloves (just keeps hands from being stained). Pick up the nuts and push away the crushed covering. (doesn’t have to be clean of any residue), just remove what wants to come off. Spread the nuts out to dry for a week. (advise the squirrels that they are yours). Put them in a burlap bag and store in a dry place for use in November and December. The burlap bag will allow further drying. Crack them with a heavy vise or hammer. After they are cracked (not crushed) remove the shell and inner membrane (as tough as the shell) with a pair of good quality small side cuts. (Diagnonal Cuts) That is the way the squirrels do it, minus the hammer or vise. I know of no advantage in hitting the nuts on the long oval, short dimension or the ends.
I’m fairly sure that my parents have tried cracking that tough inner shell after driving over the nuts, and then they just removed the outer husk and took the nuts somewhere to be cracked with power tools. I know that in at least one local garden shop, they have a machine that cracks pecans on a bulk basis. Bring in your pecans in shell, and you get the pecan meats a little while later. And pecans, even non-papershell pecans, are much easier to open than any sort of walnuts.
I don’t like the Black Walnut meat. Most nuts do need to set a couple months to taste right. We used a hand cranked corn sheller to remove the husk.
I’d look for a Hickory nuts. They’re my favorite nut and if your area grows Black Walnuts it grows Hickory nuts from the Shagbark Hickory. Don’t pick up Bitternuts.
The traditional way to do nuts is gather them when mature before the squirrels get them. Hull them. let them sit a couple months and pick the meats in late fall and early winter in front of the television. Hickory nuts are ready to pick when they start to drop and the hull separates from the nut easily. Walnuts are just picked off the ground also when they fall
