PaulT Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 Discovered that walnuts grow on trees and not in shops [:D] as we have a number of trees in our garden in France.So, when are they harvested and how are they treated, i.e. should they be left before removing the outer skin, what is the easiest way and when should they be eaten. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/543616/ShowPost.aspxhttp://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/719519/ShowPost.aspxhttp://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/539785/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoddy Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 French walnuts taste much better than the ones available in the shops at Christmas which are usually American and very big. Most of the ones I have are very small and called Grand Jean which is a variety generally used in patissierie. My neighbour has Franquettes which he says are the best ones to eat as Christmas nuts. When I can I bring some back to the UK and give them to my friends as 'organic' (neglected). It's amazing what you learn isn't it ?Hoddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 We have a squirrel that lives in and on our (organic) walnut. He is almost black from the walnut oil I think. If you approach him in the tree he throws walnuts at you, much easier than picking them for yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Âme Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Teapot. Fantastic! Tree-rat working his nuts off! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
satnav Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 Our walnut trees didnt do much this year as last year it was a bumper crop.We harvest ours around end of Sept and first week or two in October - depends on the weather and of course our resident red squirrel. They were a bit small than last years but just as tasty. Wear gloves when you are picking from the ground as the outer brown skin can stain your hands and its takes weeks to vanish. Then dry them in a cool dry place. I have a (French) neighbour who washes his walnuts in cler water he preferes them to look sparkling wqhen he gives them to his family. I prefere the 'ol natural approach. You will find the fresh walnuts very soft inside and with a much sweeter/delicate taste than those bought in the shops. If you do a goolge you will find a recipe or 2 for pickled walnuts - but you use the young walnuts around spring time when their skins are still green. Enjoy..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 We dry our walnuts and then come January we shell them and take them to a mill where they are pressed and turned into the most wonderful rich oil for salad dressing etc. We have 4 walnut trees that render in the region of 130 kg of nuts and several litres of oil that lasts all year round and plenty to give away to friends and family. Pure walnut oil is very expensive to buy and amazingly rich - adds a whole new dimension to salad dressings! Hugely rich in vitamins also and yes I believe you can slap it on your face, make soap........ and many more useful things! You can also make use of the shells if you scrunch them up and mix them with bark for your flower beds to keep slugs away etc., or pathways too. I could go on about the amazing properties of these wonderful trees - we have Dormice living in ours in summer - right little trapeze artists! One word of warning though - NEVER cut any branches to prune, lop etc.,as the tree will bleed unmercifully for weeks and leave it open to weakness we were told. We made the mistake and the clear fluide that ran out for days was like a tap! Enjoy these wonderful trees and all their bounty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Thanks for the tip about not cutting branches.We have 2 trees and they were wonderfully productive last year. Less so this year, but we still had a wonderful crop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike151 Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 too late, i cut 1 x 225mm thick limb & several 100mm branches off the lower part of our tree last month, it didn't do any weeping! i hope when i go back in feb it hasn't bled too much, i'll let you know. definately didn't bleed for at least a week before we left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 Sounds like you got away with it then because they bleed within the day if they're going to. We cut ours too late on in winter, in other words towards the spring I think when the sap was already rising - our mistake but the tree in question is still there! We have some serious cutting back to do this year as our trees, we are told, are in the region of a hundred years old and are now posing quite a threat to overhead power lines when there is strong wind! We are dreading having to deal with it frankly as we can't seem to locate someone who will come and do it for us! So we plan to hire a cherry picker and maybe even contact EDF to ask if we can have the power turned off for a couple of hours for safety? I think we are totally barking but hey it's why we came here and we intend to stick it out come what may even if we die doing it! Joking really but it still beats being back in dear old blightey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fromage Posted January 1, 2009 Share Posted January 1, 2009 When we received planning permission to renovate the roof on our outbuildings, which are under some electric cables, we were told that we had to send the electricity company (Soregies) a Déclaration d'Intention de Commencement de Travaux (DICT). Within a week, they came and put a protective cover around the cables at no charge to us. Not sure whether this would be sufficient for your needs (depends how close the lines are to the trees) but no doubt EDF would assess the situation and do whatever they think is appropriate. Also, I notice that felling/pruning trees is one of the options on the DICT so they must have to deal with this fairly regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike151 Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 do you think it will bleed in spring when the sap starts to rise, & is there something to paint on to prevent it happening[quote user="alleycat"]Sounds like you got away with it then because they bleed within the day if they're going to. We cut ours too late on in winter, in other words towards the spring I think when the sap was already rising - our mistake but the tree in question is still there! We have some serious cutting back to do this year as our trees, we are told, are in the region of a hundred years old and are now posing quite a threat to overhead power lines when there is strong wind! We are dreading having to deal with it frankly as we can't seem to locate someone who will come and do it for us! So we plan to hire a cherry picker and maybe even contact EDF to ask if we can have the power turned off for a couple of hours for safety? I think we are totally barking but hey it's why we came here and we intend to stick it out come what may even if we die doing it! Joking really but it still beats being back in dear old blightey![/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alleycat Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Mike - I don't think it will bleed but can't say for sure - yes there are products in the garden shops that sell special stuff to paint on cut tree branches to seal them. We are about to do some serious tree lopping this month and we think we will get something to paint on just to be safe. Albeit our walnut bled last year, it still produced really well last autumn and has shown no signs of ill -effects - we were just a bit devastated at our inexperience and what it caused to happen to the tree. After we looked in our garden books we realised our mistake! Keep an eye on it but I would paint something on when you get a warm dry day. Cheers now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Early Spring, the sap will rise early due to "warmer" ambient temperatures following 3 weeks of very cold weather.I pruned the day before yesterday immediately after the thaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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