My parents have several Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) trees around their property, and today I started picking up the nuts to dry and eventually eat, mmmm.
These are on their way up to the attic - just a few of many more to come - to dry out on some newspaper. These particular ones have a sticky husk, others on my parents’ property aren’t sticky. When I go to husk them, I’ll wear rubber gloves to keep my hands from being stained black.
The genus name Juglans is derived from Jupiter’s glans, from the shape of the, ahem, nuts. Black Walnut trees are allelopathic, which means they put out a chemical so nothing can grow around the trees except other Black Walnut trees, which gives the tree itself and baby Black Walnut trees a good opportunity to grow. According to the Doctrine of Signatures, since walnut shells are shaped like a human brain, nuts are good for our brains.
In other news, my parents’ cat actually jumped up on my lap as I was putting on my shoes and curled into a ball for a nice nap. As a reminder, this cat is not a lap cat, and will scratch anyone who tries to pick her up. So I was in a pickle - I scratched her for a while which she loves, but then I had to figure out how to get her down without getting scratched to death. I ended up gently nudging her off so I could get back outside. Mom and I planted her new German Bearded Iris, which bloom not only from May-June, but from August-October, which is great!
