Walnuts

We are planting walnuts. The old joke is that you plant fruit trees for your children but nut trees for your grandchildren. 

While we are planting using techniques that have been shown to minimise the time to obtain a commercial crop, we do not expect a significant crop for another 5 to 7 years. 

The process involves growing seeds of the Black Walnut (Juglans niger) and grafting with commercial nut varieties. Black walnut without grafting represents a hardy root stock and, without grafting, is grown for timber. Walnut timber is now a most valuable commodity.  

Our first trees were grown in tubes and planted out in the field. The second group have been planted out directly into the paddock.  Our rootstock still need some time to grow big enough for to be bud grafted in the field.  

We have since also planted out some pre-grafted trees. These are predominantly the new lateral bearing varieties Howard and Tulare, with some of the older Franquette variety as pollinators (and also the newer Cisco variety). 

See the Walnut Propagation link for more. 

Why Walnuts?

Too many people's only experience of walnuts are in nut mixes or as  packaged kernels from one of the major supermarket chains. 

Is your idea of walnuts something very strong and unpleasant tasting with a yellow and waxy appearance? If so, then you have only had rancid nuts.

While walnuts will keep for 12 months after harvest in the shell, too many walnuts available to the public are more than 18 months old (and not very well cared for). For example, walnuts are considered by the US government as a strategic asset and they consequently keep a reserve for 12 months until the next year's harvest. Consequently, this reserve comes onto the market a minimum of 12 months after harvest and can be up to 2 years old before it is sold. 

Some US walnuts come onto the market soon after harvest and are definitely not rancid. However, since the USA has a number of pests and diseases of walnuts not present in Australia, any such fresh US walnuts are chemically treated and it is obvious in the taste (although they are much better than old nuts). 

Good quality walnuts have a mild nutty taste - never strong - with top quality nuts grown in cooler climate areas having white kernels. Walnuts grown in hotter northern irrigation areas tend to have darker kernels and a different taste. It is a matter of personal taste to some extent which you would prefer but the fresh local walnuts from either cooler or warmer regions are noticeably superior to imported chemically treated fresh nuts and simply vastly superior to the yellow, waxy and (frankly) rancid rubbish too many supermarkets supply to unwitting consumers.

Don't take my word for it. Try some fresh local walnuts and tell me if I am wrong.