A Vintage Black Walnut Harvest

I am declaring 2011 a black walnut vintage.

The walnuts have literally been raining down from the big ol’ tree in my backyard–to such a degree that we have to avoid standing under the giant for fear of being cracked on the noggin by the cue-ball sized nuts as they plummet earthward. I’m told a rich harvest of walnuts is a sign of a harsh winter to come.

The black walnut is native to North America, and it’s a very hard nut to crack (I mean really hard to crack) indeed once you get through the green layer of fibrous material that protects the walnut. It is also much more bitter and has a stronger flavour than your standard English walnut (which likely came from California).

The other problem with black walnuts is a higher fat content which causes them to go rancid more quickly than their English cousins. In addition, when you have a great pile of them they can be quite odoriferous and gardeners will tell you that little plant life can grown robustly when it is under a black walnut tree because of the toxins it releases into the ground.

But the trees do provide some benefit, both from a sort of cultural point of view that captures a past history of Kitchener and dendrology itself and a highly practical one. It is interesting to note that the hotel at King and Benton streets in downtown Kitchener was once called The Black Walnut Inn: that was probably for the very good reason that it once stood in a stand of black walnuts.

Even further back, local Waterloo Region folks of Old Order Mennonite background apparently used to collect the walnuts that had bombarded our neighbourhoods in the east ward and used them for all sorts of applications, including to make dyes and colouring.

Pshaw on acorns! Of more immediate impact for me–though not literally–is that now that I’ve collected 60 lbs. or so of black walnuts, I am hoping to give them to a Perth County pork farmer for his herd of wild boar to nosh on.

I must say that I do like the idea of being a gentleman farmer providing food for some great local livestock!