ISO: Black Walnut Recipes

My maternal grandmother was an excellent cook and a wonderful baker. Many of her holiday specialties included black walnuts that she and my grandpa hulled themselves. I remember stories of them sitting at a card table lined with newspaper, wearing cotton work gloves, using a hammer and pick to get all the delicious nutmeats out of those stain-making shells.

My two brothers, my sister and me with my Grandpa and Grandma Spohn, 1966

When I figured out that we had a black walnut tree in our backyard, I was pretty excited - but mostly because I was thinking about all of the great woodworking projects my daddy has made over the years. His family land in Saline County is a great place to harvest a black walnut tree (especially when it's in the way of some corn or beans that need to be planted.)

So here we are, seven years into our noTTafarm adventure, and our black walnut tree is going nuts - literally. Scott noticed the limbs were sagging, and a few weeks ago, the nuts started to rain down with deep thuds. He's spent quite a few hours raking and gathering the walnuts so I'm thinking this is the year to process a few. Let's see if the baking-with-walnuts gene was passed along.

 Scott raked the leaves and walnuts into a neat row.

I don't know much but I do know that the green outer layer of the walnut needs to dry before being rubbed off to reveal the hard shell. And, if you don't wear gloves, your hands will be stained. I'll have to do some research on the best techniques!  

My Nutty noTTafarmer

So far, Scott has filled two five-gallon buckets, a ten-gallon trash can, and about a third of the wagon but many more walnuts are on the ground and attached to the tree. This ought to keep me occupied for a few months. Be sure to send your favorite black walnut recipes my way, just in case I'm successful.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure! 

Who's the Boss?

I think it's pretty obvious . . . Bibbers is the boss of noTTafarm! That little yellow (ok, "orange") former barn cat keeps every one (including the four-legged members of the family) under control.

Come on over and get some love! Bibbers is always happy to rub his damp nose on your bare arms and shed his golden fur on your black t-shirt. 

Stay Tuned for More Bibbers News!

Indian Summer & Harvest

Fall is nearly here and the garden will soon breathe its final breath. Sounds like the perfect time to offer an updated crop report. 

• The beans were doing super well UNTIL I saw a freakin' SNAKE amongst the leaves. So - no more beans for us! (No one else is willing to pick up where I left off so they're going to seed.) I know it was just one of those skinny brown snakes that hang around noTTafarm and he was just eating bugs that were attacking the beans but I DON'T CARE. A snake is a snake. End of story.🐍👎😒

• Our eight tomato plants keep on producing; in fact, they're going a bit overboard. I've enjoyed lots of fresh tomatoes and taken two big containers of them to work to share with my co-workers. The volunteer plants (mostly seem to be of the cherry variety) that returned this year have also been fruitful. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Scott is pretty proud of his ornamental gourds, too. I counted about 20 set-on with many blossoms still showing promise. They will make a great autumnal display!
  
  
  
  
• My ornamental miniature corn was relatively successful. Let's call it a "learning year." I planted the seeds too thick, didn't thin out the seedlings enough, and didn't prevent worms from attacking. When we harvested it all this past Sunday, many of the husks we opened revealed powdery worm poop instead of colorful kernels. Still, we had about 20 useable ears that will add some color to my fall decorating. 

For our 2018 garden, we'll naturally have tomatoes and basil and peppers and beans (no snakes allowed, of course.) What else should we plant? I'd like to expand our "ornamental" offerings to include more varieties of corn and maybe even some pumpkins. Who knows: we may end up with a real pumpkin patch one of these years.

Stay Tuned for Our Next Adventure!