How to Harvest and Process Black Walnut (don’t wash them!)

Come join me in the chaos as I harvest and process black walnuts!

Visit my Amazon Storefront to purchase items I use for collecting, processing, and preserving walnuts:

Special thanks to Farmers Defense for the arm protecting sleeves! Buy your own here!

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Basement Dehumidifier

Walnut Picker-upper!

Vicegrips for opening black walnuts!

Rubber gloves

Black Rubber Gardening Croc Shoes for walnut husking:

Mesh bags for drying/curing walnuts

[vance]

I've made some excellent wood stain with the husks. Stuff about 50 husks into an empty pickle jar, cover them with grain alcohol (Everclear), and put the lid on. Let it sit for several weeks, open the jar and strain the raw walnut husk "liquor" through an old t-shirt into a clean canning jar. This homemade stain is a nice warm almost-golden brown color. I use it on cedar and ash traditional arrow shafts, but it will work on any wood project. The more husks you stuff in the jar the darker your stain will be.

[JasonBarnhart]

When I was a kid we wrapped them in a canvas tarp a drove a car back and forth over them to remove the hulls.

[janetsmart-countryliving]

We call the outer portion the hull. I find if you just hit them with a hammer it splits open the hull and you can pull it off easily. just be sure to have good gloves on. Ive never noticed them smelling like turpentine. I let them lay out on newspapers on our driveway to dry. My son modified a press to crack them with. works great! we put the nuts in freezer bags and store them in the freezer and I use them in just about any recipe that calls for nuts.

[Alisa]

I just discovered that I have a black walnut tree on our property. Never knew what those green tennis balls were! They've been falling all August and I've started to collect them. It's very labor-intensive but I want to do it. Husband rolled his eyes at another one of my projects. 🤪 Thanks for the info. This looks a bit easier than the washing method I've been seeing. The real labor will be getting the nutmeat out. Oh well! Here I go!

[pastryshack]

I love you method of removing the skins, I will not waste water to wash my any more. I always thought to speed up time their has to be a better way, and you have shown it.

[lucygriffith]

Oh my goodness!!! I had no idea walnuts were so labor intensive!!! So worth it onw of the greatest superfoods on earth. Thanks foe showing us. A great fall workout too! Great video

[richardjerome]

I live in Kent in the UK and have bought a house with a Walnut Tree. Thank you for this helpful video.

[ibelieveinpandas]

This is the easiest process I have ever seen. Everyone else makes it look so complicated I haven't even tried! I will save some citrus mesh bags and try your method. Way too many walnuts around here.

[Kra-rifd]

If you have a wood stove, I lay them out on trays (seedling flats) under mine to dry. But I do wash them. I don't like having the hull dirt mixed in with the meat when I shell them. But my black walnuts are dry over night when dried under the wood stove. I then cure them for 3-4 weeks before trying them. I do like the mesh bag idea for curing them though. A milk crate works well too if they are thoroughly dried on the outside first. I find that a milk crate holds about 5 gallons worth of black walnuts....about 500-600 in shell nuts dependent on size of course. A 5 gallon bucket holds around 110-120 in hull black walnuts.. so you need about 4-5 of the in hull buckets of black walnuts to fill one 5 gallon bucket with hulled walnuts....in case anyone is curious lol Remember to float test them first! If they float after ALL of the husk is cleaned off (even a little husk can make even good nuts float) then they are bad and not worth my time drying, curing, or cracking.

[sandramurphy]

Just learned you put the outer green hull in a large jar with vodka and make a tincture. This is apparently a great parasite cleanse. Probably why the squirrels eat it on the outer hull.

[naturekins]

The husk can be dried and sold for all sorts of purposes from herbal medicine to dye for wool. You can also feed small amounts to chickens if they have small maggets the chickens will love them even more. People use them to supplement iodine in the diet. Want a natural hair dye? Historically it was also used for that.

[jimindecarlo]

if i really dont have to wash them off then they just might be worth eating. Thank you! i watched so many video and this is the best method i came across

[amr]

I used to crack walnuts with my great-grandparents and I used to eat a good portion of my work. Lol. Loved cracking walnuts. They always had them.

[lewis]

It’s a good idea to fill a bucket 1/2 with water and put them in.. if they float don’t eat them😝

[bellababy]

Does the black get all over your hands when you crack the shell to eat them ? Can you post a video of that ?

[thnksno]

I've saved them from time to time and even got some seemingly permanent stains on my hands. But I never tried them even though I want to. Its the drying phase. I forget them, then 8 months later wonder if they're any good. Unfortunately, its also then that I'm in the mood to toss stuff.

[theprofessor]

Great tips and hacks brotha! Outstanding

[ilj]

Most of the videos i have watched say that power wash is the way to clean them. Another person in the comment suggested soaking the nuts in salt water for two days... I tried both ways and i got the white mold... I will now attempt your method and see if this works better.

[linlad]

Thank you for this information. I have so many questions: It's 11/2 today is it too late to use the walnuts on the ground this year? How long do you let them dry out in the mesh bag? Where can you store them out here in rural WI so critters won't infest them?

[starsantheoriginal]

I just discovered I have 2 black walnut trees on my property and in SO EXCITED, are you sure you don't have to wash them? Cause that's amazing if I don't. Also, where is a good place to hang them to dry? Cause I have a lot of wildlife on my property, I would rather hang them somewhere animals can't easily access