Walnuts

[Bruce Koch]

I live in sw MN and we have several walnut trees. One tree with quite a few walnuts on it just dropped over half in one night. Does this sound normal or was it hit by lightning? Are this good for roasting? The nut is still very green.

Thanks, Bruce

[Michael MacDonald]

do you think he was aiming for you and hit the tree by mistake? good thingk most of your walnuts didn't fall off overnight.

other than that, I know nothing of walnut trees. high winds? low temp? crazed squirrel?

[Joe Pelonio]

Growing up we had about 15 walnut trees, one of my duties was husking them to sell to a local candy factory. Normally they will fall when green from stress due to lack of water, or because they were not fully pollenated. They are done by wind, not bees, but sometimes there isn't enough wind at the right time. If the husks are still green you will probably find the meat to be very wet and mushy, not at all good to
use for anything. If they appear to be full sized, you might try letting them dry out until the husk is black, then peel off (it will be hard work)
and give some a try. When the husk ripens on the tree it comes right off the shell.