tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30790016.post8110905107734076744..comments2024-03-29T03:40:45.267-04:00Comments on Princeton Nature Notes: Butternut Redux--A New Generation Bears its First CropSteve Hiltnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13814809440369173963noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30790016.post-24991005852238386702021-12-05T15:53:59.523-05:002021-12-05T15:53:59.523-05:00Steve, I'll contact you by email.Steve, I'll contact you by email.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09091911309863741342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30790016.post-64600824980861531982021-12-05T14:33:08.509-05:002021-12-05T14:33:08.509-05:00This is really exiting!This is really exiting!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07655819220143394312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30790016.post-84815965894470134772021-12-04T16:01:23.315-05:002021-12-04T16:01:23.315-05:00Great information, Tom. Thank you! If you know of ...Great information, Tom. Thank you! If you know of any native butternut trees bearing in Princeton, that could be helpful for our propagation initiative, in order to smuggle more genetic diversity into the future.Steve Hiltnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13814809440369173963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30790016.post-81377142877378212302021-12-04T11:37:45.544-05:002021-12-04T11:37:45.544-05:00Steve, thanks for your informative article on butt...Steve, thanks for your informative article on butternuts. I have been interested in these wonders of nature for at least 50 years in Princeton, and have enjoyed many harvests. But as you say, they are not nearly as plentiful as black walnuts, and thanks for explaining their difficulties in surviving. I applaud the efforts you and your friends are making to revive this magnificent tree and source for humans, but of course, very few people understand such things. <br /><br />I'm hoping that some of the Asians populating the area will find value in our natural products and support them. I've already seen signs of it. They are from a different culture, and hopefully we can adopt the benefits they offer. <br /><br />I also volunteer that butternuts have important advantages over their black walnut cousins. Incidentally, the black walnut, Juglans nigra, the butternut, Juglans cinerea, and the so-called English walnut, which actually came from Iran, Juglans regia all have the same genus, supporting very well the tectonic plate theory, which postulates that at some time in the past all land masses were connected. The Carpathanian walnut is a variety of Juglans regia, able to grow in cooler climates.<br /><br />But anyway, I find the butternuts much more creamy or rich in tasting than the black walnut, and for me, who is a self described expert black walnut cracker, deftly using a hammer on a hard surface and my fingers, the butternut often allows you to extract the entire meat intact. This is not possible (for me) with the black walnut, and certainly impossible with most hickory nuts, even well dried ones. But cracking technique is very important, and not worth my getting into here. <br /><br />I would like to mention my two methods for removing the husks. In the first method, it's best to wait until the dropped nuts start decaying, with the husks turning black and squishy, containing maggots. Right there under the tree is a good time to remove the husk by stomping on it and rolling the nut under the soles and heels of your feet. The advantages here are that it's immediate, much less time consuming than a process of gathering and transporting, and it greatly reduces the amount of stuff you want to bag and carry to your car. <br /><br />Another method I use, particularly if the husks are not sufficiently rotted, is to collect them in a plastic garbage bag, tie it shut and leave it in a garage for the husks to rot. After a couple weeks, usually long enough for the maggots to die, put a batch of the nuts into a wheelbarrow and hit them with a rubber mallet, the kind you use to hammer on the hubcaps for your car. There's a recommended technique for hammering that you quickly get the hang of. I may have a slight preference for the first technique, but the advantage of this second one is that you needn't spend as much time stomping nuts under the tree - say if it's getting dark, or if you're wary about being thrown off the premises. But then you have a lot more weight to carry to your car. And then you have to wait weeks before you get what you want.<br /><br />After de-husking, I put them up in a garage loft to dry, which is very important, because drying shrinks the meats, allowing much easier extraction of whole pieces. It's nearly impossible to extract fresh meats with any of these nuts, especially hickory nuts even when the latter are well dried, with all their nooks and crannies.<br /><br />Best,<br />Tom TononTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09091911309863741342noreply@blogger.com