Friday, October 3, 2008

Black Walnuts and Hickory Nuts


Black walnuts versus hickory nuts. That is a funny question. You see I have lived in my home for over seven years now and could've sworn I had a black walnut tree growing in both my yard, and my neighbor's yard. I was the happy recipient of many 'black walnuts'; which I enjoyed picking up from the yard. But that is about all since I could never crack the nuts open. Gee, aren't black walnuts hard to crack open? I honestly think hickories are a harder nut to crack.

Well, a good friend of the Jimster's just happens to have a real walnut tree in front of his house in Clarksville. I thought the large green things were pretty cool and collected a few. Mr. Fix-it collected even more. I asked Mr. Fix-it what the green things were, as they looked nothing like my black walnuts, and he said, "Black walnuts of course!" I'm like "No way!"

So I promptly take him out back to show him my black walnuts. He says, "No, those are English walnuts or something, I don't know what, but definitely not black walnuts." "Okay" I say, all the while thinking to myself he surely doesn't know what he is talking about, one of us is wrong.

The 'walnuts' sat on my kitchen table for a few days when my friend Vonna came over. There they are in the picture. I showed her the 'walnuts' and said "Aren't they cool?" I even pointed out the strange green things Mr. Fix-it picked up (that he claimed were black walnuts), and I showed her my 'English Walnuts'. Vonna kind of got a smile on her face and said, "Tina, those are hickories! Not black walnuts and the green things Mr. Fix-it picked up are black walnuts!" Now do I ever feel silly and Vonna assures me she will not let me forget my mistake.


The next thing I do (once Vonna is gone of course), is Google hickories. I found a website that pretty much spells it out for me. It even shows the different types of hickory nuts, and from it I was able to figure out my so called black walnut tree is actually a red hickory, aka Carya ovalis. Check out the website as it is laid out really well, and simple enough even for me to understand. Vonna was right, as was Mr. Fix-it with his black walnuts.

I next Google black walnuts. I found it interesting that the green pigment is nearly impossible to get off from your hands if you handle the black walnuts. The Jimster figured this out after a visit to his friend's house; where he and two other teens had a black walnut fight. Teens, gotta love 'em! I am happy to say that the Jimster also Googled black walnuts and found out straight gasoline will take the green stains out of his skin. It worked.

Right after all this transpired, there was an article in the newspaper where someone was talking about black walnut season. The article said there is a company that has centers all over the south where ordinary folks can collect their black walnuts and take the nuts to certain processing centers. I found this intriguing. The very next day look at what I found in the newspaper! We here in this local area have our very own processing station if anyone is interested in earning some extra money. I guess money does grow on trees after all.

All pictures show the black walnut tree. My red hickory tree will be posted on at a later date, but it is similar to a black walnut tree. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Lesson learned: Listen to hubby more and research trees more so friends don't get to tease you for ever and ever! But good friends get to do this sometimes. The really good news is that I can plant and grow anything I want under these hickories, unlike black walnuts, hickories do not secrete the poisonous substance Juglone; which usually kills most things growing in close proximity to a black walnut. No wonder everything is growing well under those 'black walnut' trees.:)

Any problems identifying nuts at your place??

in the garden....

38 comments:

  1. Hi Tina, ah, gasoline, good to know. Don't you hate it when the hubby knows more about plants than the master gardener? Ha, sorry I couldn't resist that one. ;-> I wish our trees were hickory, it is a nice wood with, as you say, no poison in the soil. The squirrels are trying to throw those nuts in my pond, but they have been foiled by the netting. Saving the green balls and boiling them, they stink, makes an oily stain that can be used for wood or baskets. I think I might have a jug of it in the garage somewhere, nice and fermented. The squirrels have been bringing us hickory nuts, pecans and chestnuts, the pecans are new to me, but the others are all around the neighborhood.
    Frances
    ps it's good to be able to laugh at yourself, isn't it? ;->
    F

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  2. So maybe you needed to plant your friends walnut tree in your yard? Too funny about the discovery, I think almost every nut has a processing plant, thanks for reminding me to update my beechnut. I have those pics too. Pray I'll be careful! lol
    Today is another day with my head 'sploding, but hubby got it back!

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  3. I always have a hard time identifying nuts at my place. I swear my husband is one, but he disagrees and says I'm one. I know the dog is one, so are the cats. I'm pretty sure a few of my neighbors are, too, but I'm not sure what kind of nut I'd classify them as - nutty nuts, or just numb nuts?

    Okay, in all seriousness-ness.... We dry our black walnuts out over the winter and place them on a big wire rack in a sun/shade spot again in the spring. By mid-summer the green is much easier to remove. We then crack the nuts and harvest them in mason jars that I keep in the freezer. I'm not overly fond of black walnuts, but they are good roasted and put in salads!

    ~Sophie

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  4. Frances, It is GREAT to laugh at oneself every now and then. Helps to keep us humble. Husbands and friends are good at that! You are so smart with all that staining stuff. Are you going to be using the oily stain to stain some baskets? That will be cool.

    Dawn, Nope, the neighbor's tree is a hickory too. Funny thing is, they don't have any hickories this year and I have a bumper crop. I DO hope your head feels better soon!

    Sophie, I can count on you to help me identify some nuts! I have some nuts of the different type than just the kind you eat and roast too:) Sounds like you have a great idea on drying the walnuts all winter and spring. Any tips on hickories? These guys are HARD to crack, but when we have cracked them the meat wasn't so bad. Yum, roasted nuts sound good now with the cold here.

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  5. My parents have a black walnut tree and as kids we were always getting the green stuff on our hands. I don't remember if we ever ate any of those nuts, I don't think so, I think they were hard to crack as well.

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  6. Hi Tina, I have dozens of black walnuts on the farm--no hickory trees. Every year I have to get rid of hundreds of seedlings that the squirrels have planted.

    They are messy, they stain and they are HARD to crack. They also produce a chemical from the roots that prohibits growth in a lot of other plants so you don't want a walnut tree near a garden or near a compost pile.

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  7. Tina, you had me falling out of the chair this morning with this one! Frances, I love that Master Gardeners comment... Yep, if we cannot laugh at ourselves, well you know the rest...

    Tina, I knew all about walnuts as I grew up with a walnut tree in the front yard. I know about hickory also as they were in the woods behind my grandmothers house. We have one Hickory in our front woods but few nuts as the drought and squirrels keep the count low. It was always fun to see the squirrels grab an encased green walnut and jump from tree to tree with its treat. I bet they had green teeth after gnawing on them. LOL. Those things really make a thump when falling out of a tree. Don’t recall ever being hit by one but I bet that would hurt!

    You will see more about walnuts on Sunday because in a posting ready talking a bit more about them.

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  8. We've got a few black walnut trees in the back. It's pretty neat that there's a place you can take them for money. I'm not sure I could gather anywhere close to 100 pounds of them though! That's a lot of walnuts. I'd rather have the hickories though. Especially due to the black walnut chemicals in the leaves. Oh well, we've got what we've got!

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  9. I don't have any trouble identifying nuts at my house. Oh, you meant on trees:)
    This is funny, Tina, because I am still trying to identify the trees in my yard. I thought you could just look at the leaves and figure out what they were, but all the tree books I've been checking out talk about the bark, the fruit, and the size of the branches, etc. It's not as easy to identify something as it sounds.
    Now, what are you going to do with all those hickory nuts?

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  10. I have a black walnut tree that was here when we moved in. It is very messy and I've never tried to do anything with the nuts. I was concerned about the juglone that they secrete but I've not really had any problems growing plants under it.

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  11. Very cute post! I know all the nuts around me, at least I think so. LOL

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  12. Wild Hickory Nuts reminds me of Euell Gibbons. My mom has an old black walnut tree. It really produces a lot! We have an English walnut and we get a lot too but the squirrels get them first. I don't mind though because I enjoy watching the squirrels more then I like shelling walnuts(-:

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  13. Good Morning All,
    ROFLOL. Tina, you are too funny. This is one of the funniest post ever. I love it. I don't have either nut {don't think, maybe me} but wish I did. I had Black Walnut in N.C. Probably saw Hickory as a kid. They are hard to crack but I think they are good. I miss them.
    People in N.C. around where I was take the walnuts put them in the driveway & run over them to get the green-black outer casing off.
    Chesnuts are a whole different ballgame--better wear thick leather gloves to get to them buggers.

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  14. Well at least you know what kind of tree you have now Tina. Plus you can plant under it which is a bonus. Our Pecan Tree has the same green shell that stains your hands.

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  15. We use to put the black walnuts in the driveway and then run them over with the car to get them out of the green covering. I did have a problem with my hickory nuts also. I did not know what they were until now. They are all over my back yard. I have the black walnut tree in the front by the road and it has a big bush at the base of it. It was all there before I moved there.
    My dad and his friend tell me there is one place around here that had white or english walnuts and no one every gathers them. I thought that was interesting and would like to go and see it.

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  16. Great story, Tina. Even if it means you are now fair game for your teasing friends! ;)

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  17. Cindy, Did you just let the green stuff wear off your hands? It can take a long time I am told by Vonna.

    Marnie, I am REALLY kind of happy I don't have black walnuts for sure. No poisons here. Do you ever do anything with your black walnuts? Pesky squirrels! They like hickories too.

    Skeeter, Yup, you know me. I try to seem like I know a lot. This just shows what I DON'T know. Silly me. The squirrels also like these hickories and are very busy right now. Urgh! Look forward to seeing your post on Sunday.

    Dave, I think 100 pds of hulled walnuts is an awful lot too. But, from the trees I have seen, they have a bunch of nuts. Might not take too long to gather so many. I bet there is a station in Nashville too.

    Rose, Yup-lotsa nuts around here too-all kinds!;) It IS hard identifying trees. And I took a tree class too and have one of those books. Very hard. Not my thing I guess. But I am learning. Any suggestions for these hickories? I sure would like to use them. I might try what Sophie said, let them dry then try to crack them next year. We'll see.

    Phillip, Great you can grow plants under your black walnut. I thought it was great I could grow them under mine too, until the truth was revealed finally. Sure you don't have a hickory? Just kidding. Your garden certainly doesn't suffer from the walnut.

    Mom, Lotsa nuts here too-you just don't know!

    Lola, Coming from you that is BIG praise. So glad you got a kick out of the post. And considering how long you have been reading, you would know. Remember when I would talk of my black walnuts? Jokes on me for sure. This can be my nutty post. We best not get too much into the real nuts in life, so we'll stick with hickories, walnuts and chestnuts for sure. They grow many chestnuts in Maine, and I miss them.

    Racquel, Yup, now I know. I kind of should known all along though, and that is the irony. Makes me wonder what other trees are growing out there. I know for sure one or two are wild cherries because our extension agent told me. Yeah me. (I thought they were ash trees:( I LOVE pecan trees. Sure wish these were them instead of hickories.

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  18. Tina,

    Very clever and funny. We have several Shagbark Hickories...beautiful trees with shedding bark and as Frances can attest; great fun for the squirrels to drop the nuts on your head as you pass under! I wonder how they taste?

    Gail

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  19. ps I love your new, to me, having just noticed it, header photo! In fact, your blog is looking spectacularly delightful! Gail

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  20. Hi Tina, no basket making for a while, you should see the stockpile of baskets I have made. I think I made up that stain for the basket I made for Semi's wedding gift, 2003. It should be good and stinky now I'll wager. About what to do with hickory, forget the nuts, use the wood for smoking meats and fish and barbeque!
    Frances

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  21. Gail, I LOVE the shagbarks. I actually did a post on them back in April when I visited Cross Creek refuge. They are so cool. So this is what got Frances huh? Yup, had to change up the blog after the one year. Skeeter said it was time for a change.

    Frances, I bet it is very stinky indeed. I bet that basket is beautiful. If I find wood on the ground we are for sure throwing it in the grill. Yum!

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  22. Hi Tina,
    Yeah, it's me again. Can you tell me what you all did with the Chestnuts. I mean did you roast them, boil them or what. Seems I remember that you can sometimes buy them in the grocery--maybe around the holidays. May have to get some if I find them. I sure would like to make some Chestnut Dressing. It's so yummy.

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  23. Drat! Someone beat me to the Euell Gibbons thing. I don't know about eating those hickory nuts. Didn't Euell die of a bleeding ulcer? I figure it was either the hickory nuts or the GrapeNuts that did him in. :>}

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  24. Hi Lola, As I recall, we kids thru them at each other! Horse chestnuts hurt too. I don't ever remember roasting or cooking with them. In Germany you of course get roasted chestnuts everywhere in the winter. I am pretty sure you can buy them anywhere, just look by the nuts. Chestnut dressing sounds English, and I bet it would be great!

    Hi Walk2write, You come up with the most interesting things. I had never heard of Euell Gibbons but Googled him. He DID die of a ruptured aortic aneurysm. A complication of Marfan. He was a big celebrity because of his like of natural diets and eating wood. It might've been the hickory nuts or Grape nuts or the pine tree-gee I hope not!

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  25. Tina, have you been hiding under a rock during the 70's? Euell was the big Grape nuts man! He was right up there with Mr. Wipple (sp?) the Charmin man and the Maytag man... lol...

    Ah I remember the warm chestnuts in Germany at the Kristkindlmarkts... Our friend would buy them and put them in his pockets to keep him warm. I would buy Gluhwein to keep me warm. lol...

    Jean, I have been spreading Pine Straw again.. tee hee…

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  26. I think you're lucky that they're hickories. We've been struggling with black walnut STUMPS for 8 years (since they were stumps and we didn't know that they were walnuts, and since I didn't know about the poison in balck walnuts to begin with), we didn't figure out for years why nothing would grow near the stumps! except weeds, of course!)

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  27. ROFLOL. Skeeter, you won't do--Tina hiding under a rock. Bush maybe.
    Is it a full moon?

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  28. I'm here, just hiding in the garage. It looks like two or three families are having a yard sale outside my house, instead of just one. But it is set. I think I am selling some plants too. Gotta clean it all out.

    I have NO idea who this guy was Lola and Skeeter! None! I certainly know the Wipple man, but not this Greg. Not a senior moment I hope?

    Cosmo, That is a bummer. Eight years and not knowing the stumps were walnuts and all that poison. BIG bummer. I have read some things do grow in the juglone. Can't recall what things, but there are a few (very few) brave souls. How did you finally figure out they were black walnut stumps? And how far out will things not grow from the stump?

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  29. The Curmudgeon recognized a sprout coming up from one of the stumps--he told us about the poison, too. The thyme grows ok around it. For awhile (before we knew about the black walnut) we were trying to grow vegetables--nothing except the thyme has grown within probably a 10' perimeter. Anyway, we're turning that part into thyme lawn so it's not a problem anymore.

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  30. Ah, so that is it. Sounds like a GREAT idea to turn the area into a thyme lawn in order to grow stuff. I think I saw the thyme lawn already on your blog. I like the idea. I'd love to have a thyme lawn here (no mowing!)Otherwise I think you'd have to bring in more soil and take the old away.

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  31. Don't need any help IDing walnuts, but could you come by and help me ID what I think might be celosia growing in my garden?? (Hee! Hee!)

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  32. What, TC? No trust in my powers for identifying the elusive Celosia?

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  33. OMG! (As my 13-year old daughter might exclaim) I didn't know you'd be "listenin" in on this W2W! ;~)

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  34. TC, you never know where you might find me these days. I'm a disembodied voice of reason (?!) coaxing people out of hiding and into conversation. Actually, I was checking my e-mail and found your comment at the top of the list.

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  35. The eyes have it TC, or in this case the email;)

    Walk2Write, You are doing outstanding with conversation your blog and here too!

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  36. I am new to TN from Seattle and had never seen black walnuts but recently was given about 700 to hull and cure, I thought it would be a great lesson for my homeschooling kiddos! and today we found hickories and had no idea what they were...so we brought some home thanks for helping us figure that one out! Needless to say I have no idea what I am doing hahaha!

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  37. Tina,, Heimansohn used to hull em for you too,, years ago at least... Did you see my shared post about making " walnut" tea,, and using it to catch worms?? Really really works,, am catching lots and starting my own fishing worm contraption,, they are 3.50 for 20 of them at Walmart!! ( also put some in my beds) Have a great Gluhwein recipe lol

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