Cracking Hickory Nuts With My Boys

Sunday was a glorious day here.  We went to church in the morning, and that afternoon we took the kids and dog (Jackson) to a local park.  We went on a 2-mile walk, and let the boys play on a huge dirt pile.  It never ceases to amaze me how much fun little boys can have in a pile of dirt.  They ran up the “mountain” and rolled down.  It was a fort to be held against the “evil Daddy,” (that’s me ), and his “evil attack puppy.”  Then they mined rocks from the pile and broke them open to reveal the “beautiful crystals.”  It was a hoot!  My wife played with them, talked with them, and just enjoyed watching them play together.  Then we went to pick up nuts.  If you’re interested in organic, local foods, there’s nothing better than nuts that you hull yourself.

Cracking Hickory Nuts

On Saturday, after my oldest son and I came out of the woods, we went to visit my parents for a bit.  They had a bucket of hickory nuts (still in the husk) sitting on the back porch.  My Mom wanted some to make fudge with hickory nuts, and they still needed to be hulled and the meat removed, so as long as we were there, I figured we could help.  After all, how much fun would a little boy have when given a hammer and told to break things?  Between the four of us, we spent about an hour cracking hickory nuts, and managed to get her a cup of nuts for fudge.  It never ceases to amaze me how much work goes in to breaking nuts, and I think hickory nuts must be the worst.  Those things are a pain, which I suppose explains why you can’t usually find hickory nuts on store shelves.  But, they’re well worth the effort, as they have a different texture than store-bought walnuts or pecans.  They’re also a good source of magnesium, as well as being high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Back to the park

On our walk, I had noticed the huge number of walnuts on the trees and scattered all over the ground.  I got this bright idea that we should gather them up.  Why?  Because my kids enjoy learning how to do things for themselves, and they need a greater appreciation for how “stuff” gets to the store shelves.  There was a time, not too long ago, that nuts couldn’t be found at the store.  (Does that make me sound old?  Probably.)  I’m certainly no expert, but I believe they’re black walnuts.  So, we picked up about 10-gallons worth of walnuts and brought them home.  The kids enjoyed picking them up, and especially cracked up when I grabbed one of the young trees and managed to shake about 100 walnuts off the tree.  In case you’ve never seen a raw walnut, they’re about 2-inches in diameter, and are HEAVY!  If you make the mistake of getting hit by a falling walnut, you might just end up with a concussion!

So, now I’ve got two 5-gallon buckets of walnuts sitting in my driveway soaking in water, in preparation for harvesting.  I found a good YouTube video that describes the process of harvesting walnuts.

The goal is to soften the husks so they can be broken off and discarded, leaving the nut.  I know you need to wear gloves for this part, because walnut trees produce a substance called junglone that is poisonous to many landscape plants and will stain everything it touches.  Once they’re husked, we’ll set them out to dry for a few weeks, then they’ll be ready to store.  Of course, the kids will be enlisted to participate in this process as well.  It builds character.  Besides, I think they’ll get a kick out of it.

And, to make my “old guy” plug here, back when I was a kid, I have vivid memories of my Dad making fudge at Christmas, and my brother, sister, and I sitting around cracking pecans and breaking them into pieces.  We were enlisted in that process, so I figure its only fair, right?

So, has anyone else tried this?  Am I (ahem!) nuts for getting my kids to help with this, or is it a good thing for them?

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