Processing walnuts to eat

[Birdhuntr1]

My mom wants to know how to go about collecting walnuts from my sisters yard, and the process all the way through. She tried a couple years ago, and said they all had white worms in them. Apparently this is something that reminds her of happy times as a child, and wants to pass along to my nephews. If anyone can tell me how so I can pass it along, I sure would appreciate it.

[wapiti777]

My grandfather would collect them from trees along sides the roads in Kansas, take them home, let them dry in the card board bases of boxes- the kinds that would hold the cans of vegtables or soup in the grocery stores.
You have to keep them very dry, I tried it this year in the garage with black walnuts from my sister in laws house in Jackson and the all got a bad white mold on them. Had to threw them out.
You might try googling home walnut processing.

Good luck

[Mudfoot]

Wapiti gives good advice - do a search on the web and there is info. I got into collecting/harvesting a few years ago and found great info. I'm betting the worms she found were the larvae that are just under the husk and really don't bother the nut inside the shell. I see them all the time on the walnuts under my trees. What I have found to work very well for me is once you get the husks off which vary in color from green (not ready IMO) to yellow (just right) to brown, put them in a 5 gal bucket and float test them. Run the hose in there and if they start to come to the surface, they are hollow and you won't waste your time drying and cracking these ones. After you have tested them, I sometimes double and triple rinse just to get the messy stuff off the shell. Then I dry them for a couple weeks. I put them in crates, or a rack that I built so air can circulate around them. Keep them in a cool place and never in the sun. If you just put them away wet, they will mold. Anyway, after a couple weeks of drying (check every now and then to make sure they aren't molding) start cracking. I use a bench vise and a pair of wire snips to get the meat out in the biggest pieces I can. Good luck -- they are lots of work but I enjoy it and love eating 'em.

[Michigan Mike]

I agree, there's lots of online info and here is one I liked.
http://www.icserv.com/nnga/feature1.htm

This year I waited until the first few started to drop and then
shook down the rest with a pole, most were still green but it turned out great.
I usually average 20 floaters per hundred that I toss.
I dehusk them just using my boot, which is pretty fast.
I wash them about a 100 at a time in a bucket with the hose running and keep stirring with a broom handle until the water is finally clean.

After that I put 100 per milk crate(2 deep) and stack them with the bottom and top crate being empty.
I put them in the sun until they are dry to the touch(about 6 hours) and then put them in the garage for 2 weeks before I start cracking.

I tried the vice(too slow for me) then went back to a 3 sided box with a paver and a hammer and I also used wire cutters to cut open the chambers.

I averaged filling 3/4 of a 1 lb butter cup per hundred nuts.
Sure is allot of work for a few pounds of nuts but black walnuts
are so good and worth it imo.

mike

[Birdhuntr1]

Thanks everyone, I'll print this out and let Mom have at it. She'll be happy to have something to keep her occupied.