Table of contents
- Harvest time of walnuts
- How are walnuts harvested?
- After harvest: Clean walnuts
- Dry walnuts properly
- When are walnuts ready?
- Store dried walnuts
- Freeze walnuts
From harvesting to storing walnuts, there is a lot that can go wrong. Because even small mistakes and carelessness can lead to the nuts becoming inedible. In this article we have summarized what hobby gardeners should consider from harvest to storage!
Harvest time of walnuts
As a rule, hobby gardeners can look forward to the walnut harvest from the second year after planting. The nuts themselves need a while to ripen, because the harvest time usually begins at the end of September. However, this is only a guideline, as the walnuts should be left on the tree for as long as possible. Even if the temperatures drop below 0 degrees in the meantime. Walnuts cope well with early frosts, allowing them to fully ripen on the tree without any problems. You can tell whether the nuts are ripe by these characteristics:
- green shell bursts open
- Outer shell turns black
- Fruits fall from the tree
How are walnuts harvested?
Basically, never use force to pick the nuts. On the one hand, the shoots could be injured by tearing them off. On the other hand, the fruits are not yet fully ripe. Because mature specimens fall off the tree, so they only have to be collected - and should be. Because the nuts end up on the sometimes damp ground, which exposes them to moisture. This can penetrate through the shell into the nut and thus promote mold. It is therefore advisable to pay attention to the following when harvesting walnuts:
- best to collect daily
- especially on rainy days
- discard damaged, rotten, and moldy nuts
- not on the compost but in the bio bin
Tip:
During the walnut harvest season, it is beneficial to keep the grass under the walnut tree as short as possible. This makes it easier to identify and collect the nuts on the ground.
After harvest: Clean walnuts
- Peel the nuts with your hands
- Remove shell residue with a coarse brush
- dry nuts with kitchen paper if necessary
Tip:
It is advisable to wear gloves at all times during cleaning. Because the peel contains tannic acid, which causes unsightly, brown discoloration on the hands. In addition, it is quite persistent and often lasts up to 7 days.
Dry walnuts properly
After the walnuts have been cleaned, they can then be dried. The following applies: the nuts should dry as quickly as possible, but not too quickly. An oven, for example, is not suitable for this because it is simply too hot there. Even temperatures above 30 degrees affect the fat in the nuts and ensure that they go rancid faster. It is therefore better to dry the nuts gently. All you need is a flat box lined with sackcloth or an old towel. To dry the nuts, proceed as follows:
- Lay nuts generously
- sufficient distance from each other
- all nuts evenly surrounded by air
- Put the box in a dry, airy and dark place
- for example boiler room or attic
- Temperature around 20-25 degrees
- Mix and turn the nuts several times a day
A notice:
If the weather permits, the nuts can also be dried outdoors to dry. However, it is advisable to bring them indoors overnight to be on the safe side. They can go outside again the next morning, but only after the morning mist has cleared.
When are walnuts ready?
The drying time depends on many factors, which is why it can vary accordingly. If the nuts dry under optimal conditions, a drying time of about three to six weeks is assumed. However, you can tell whether the walnuts have dried sufficiently:
- remaining peel residues have fallen off
- Nuts are much lighter
- have lost about 50 percent of their weight
Store dried walnuts
After the walnuts have finished drying, they can be stored. Walnuts are always stored hanging in sacks or nets. This ensures even ventilation, which in turn prevents the formation of mold. Under no circumstances should walnuts be stored in plastic sacks or bags. In addition, the following factors should be considered when storing walnuts:
- dry, dark place
- Humidity not too high
- relative humidity about 55-65%
- Temperature about 10-18 degrees
A notice:
The dried walnuts can be stored in this way for up to two years. If the nuts are particularly oily types, a shelf life of around one to one and a half years is possible.
Freeze walnuts
If you want to store walnuts, you don't necessarily have to dry them. Because the nuts can also be frozen without any problems. The practical thing here is that the nuts can be frozen whole, crushed and portioned. For this purpose, the nuts are first cleaned and freed from the shell. The further procedure is relatively simple and is as follows:
- Place whole kernels on a baking sheet
- or chop nuts
- wrap the nuts in a kitchen towel
- and crush with a rolling pin or steak hammer
- Portion nuts if necessary
- wrap airtight and freeze
- Nuts have a shelf life of about a year
The nuts are best portioned in 200 gram portions, as this is the usual standard amount in many baking recipes.
Home editorial office
Learn more about harvesting fruit
Drying fruit in the oven or microwave? That's how it's done
Dried fruits are not only incredibly tasty, but also healthy and have a very long shelf life. Of course, this is especially true if they come from your own garden. But how do you dry fruit if you don't have a dehydrator but want to use the oven or microwave instead. Everything you need to know is right here.
Skin, peel, core the peaches - that's how it works!
Many a fruit lover has to put up with sticky fingers, mushy pulp and a lot of frustration, when he's desperately trying to prepare his favorite fruit ready to eat: peaches are hard to eat process! But are there also easy ways to skin and core your favorite fruit?
Drying figs – this is how you dry them with sun, oven and microwave
Drying figs makes them both durable and delicious, natural sweets. In addition, dehydrating with the sun, oven or microwave is very easy, but requires a lot of patience - and the right approach. We reveal what to look out for and how it works.
Fruits and fruits themselves dry in the oven
The drying of fruit and fruit is also referred to as dehydration and has been known in this form for centuries. It is one of the oldest methods of preserving food. Learn how it works here.
Meadow orchard: Creating and maintaining | What is allowed?
If you want to create a meadow orchard, you have to find out about regulations, maintenance and building law in advance. A subsidy for this contribution to nature conservation is also available, which means that the investment can be worthwhile, especially in the long term.
Harvesting Boskop apples: when is the harvest time in 2022?
The Boskop (actually "Der Schöne aus Boskoop") is an old apple variety that is still very popular. It is versatile and can be stored for a long time. The right harvest is crucial for a long shelf life. When the time has come in 2022 and what needs to be considered is available here in the guide.
