Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: ipt8 on August 17, 2005, 13:36:22
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I am battling with squirrels over walnuts on a tree. I have a plan for the tree which has meant pruning some branches.
From the branches I have removed about two bucketfulls of walnuts. These walnuts have developed nuts inside.
My question is what is the best way to deal with the walnuts I have collected?
???
:'(
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hi,
Are the shells hard or soft inside the green casing?
Rosie
ps - wear gloves as they stain black
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The shells beneath the hard casing are hard and they contain nuts, all-be-it in the unripe stage.
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Unripe walnuts are called green walnuts and are edible but apparently sour. Great used in cooking though so I am told and considered quite special by some.
ps. googled and found this list of tempting walnut recipes
http://recipes.epicurean.com/asc_results.jsp?title=Walnut
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You can only pickle walnuts when the shells are soft - you need to pick them in about June, so make a note on your calendar for next year. You prick them a couple of times, cover in a thick layer of salt for 3 days, wash off salt quickly, cover with hot spiced vinegar & put in jars with seals or waxed paper between lid & jar, ready to eat in 3 to 4 months. Dead easy and so much cheaper than buying pickled walnuts - in the shops they are £2 or £3 for a small jar!
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eat the squirrels.
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Bob Flowerdew said something about this on GQT the other week. If I remember rightly, you pick them after the green stage but before they are fully ripe to beat the squirrels (but not beat the squirrels with, a branch would be better for that!) THen leave them somewhere (can't remember where he said) to ripen. (darn - the bbc has only archived up to 2004!)