Downed Black Walnut. Is the fruit harvestable yet?

[okiemommy]

Last night we had a Thunderstorm with close to 70 mph winds, and it downed almost half of one of our black walnut trees. My question is are they harvestable now, or are they a loss? Can anyone tell me about the wood? I don't want to just burn it, b/c I have heard that the wood is very expensive.

 

[ams3651]

weve always harvested black walnut after the skin turns black, you take it off and let them dry out. If you have a saw mill local or someone who has a portable you may be able to get it cut into boards for your own use.

 

[Rosalind]

Hard to say without seeing them. If they are big, you can gather up the fruits and let them sit in the garage or something until they turn black. I know I'm picking hickory nuts right now, and I'm picking 'em green and letting them get black in the barn. If I waited till they were black on the ground, the squirrels would eat them all. Hickories ripen about the same time as most walnuts.

agree w/ams3651, definitely get the wood cut up for boards with an eye towards using them in furniture. My brother took down a dangerous black walnut for my mom in 1982 and had the wood sawn up for cabinets, but didn't get around to building the cabinets for about 20 years, Meanwhile the boards sat in his garage, getting darker and darker. Now they look like ebony, and he built the cabinets and sold the leftover boards for a couple thousand $$--not kidding, he took his family on vacation to the Poconos with that money.

 

[okiemommy]

Thanks for the replies Rosalind, do you know if it matters how old the tree is before the wood is ready for furniture making? Or does it matter? I will "harvest" the nuts today and set them out to cure and keep them separate.

 

[Rosalind]

As long as you can get boards out of them. I mean, obviously if the trunk is about three inches across, you physically can't get a board out of something so small. Only reason you might not get wood out of an older tree would be if it's very crooked, but walnuts don't usually have that problem. Call a local sawmill and see what they require.

 

[okiemommy]

Thank you