The Butternut Tree

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As we were clearing portions of the creek last year, one tree took us by surprise. It looked like a Black Walnut, yet the bark was all "wrong". Instead of being rough and dark brown, it was smooth and grey. We thought the tree was either an Ash or a Black Walnut.

The mystery tree turned out to be.....White Walnut or Butternut

Since we are keen to maintain any productive and special trees on our land, we decided not to take it down until it was positively identified....and this has now happened.

By the time Spring came, we knew the tree was a nut tree. It had developed catkins and was not flowering like an Ash. And of course since that time, the nut of the tree has developed. Since the fruit is elongated, this is certainly not a Black Walnut.

The Butternut or White Walnut in its husk

Everything points to the Butternut tree or White Walnut. However, it may still be a hybrid, a Manchurian Walnut or Heart nut. So this week, we removed the husk from the nuts and we were left with what we expected: the distinctive shape of the White Walnut.

It is harder to crack than the English or Persian Walnut, but much easier to work than the Black Walnut. The nuts are large and tasty, similar to a Persian Walnut.

The Butternut or White Walnut

It turns out that the Butternut tree is also an endangered species in Canada. The Butternut tree population has been decimated by a canker. Permits are now required to cut down healthy trees and programs are in place to re-establish this variety. So now that we have identified another dozen such trees on the property, we consider ourselves lucky and we're certainly determined to protect them.

Another nut which is becoming an important part of our lives is the Black Walnut. Already last year, we discovered how to process them and experimented with various recipes. We had collected a wheelbarrow full of nuts and they were all rapidly consumed.

This year, we decided to process much more. Over the past few weeks, we collected four times what we did last year. As the fruits have ripened, this week was also the beginning of Black Walnut processing. This will probably go on for a month and we will publish updates on our methods as we go along.

The first step started this week by removing the husk. The best time to do this is as the fruit begins to brown and turn black. Waiting too long, the husk rots and turns into a black ooze which is difficult to clean. Not waiting long enough, the husk will be much too hard to tear away from the nut.

If right, removing the husk from the nut should feel like removing the stone from a peach.

The first step in Black Walnut processing: removing the husk from the nut

Getting all the little bits of husk from the nut shell is not necessary since much of it is cleaned in the following step.

Once husked, the nuts are tossed into a large container of water. You can simply clean the nuts by agitating the water. Nuts that float are indicative of a compromised shell (either by insect or disease) or an ill-developed nut. These can be disposed of since they are not worth processing any further.

In a few weeks we'll begin the next (and much more difficult) step: shelling.

As we continue to harvest Raspberries and Kiwis, Chef has been rapidly filling the shelves with his new line of preserves. This week, he launched a Tomato and Pickled Corn relish and a beautiful Quince Jelly.

Chef is rapidly filling the shelves: Quince Jelly

Meanwhile, we are also being forced to rapidly use our remaining tomatoes. If we don't, the fruit flies definitely will. Unlike last year when we disposed of the majority of our green tomatoes, we were determined to use everything we could this fall.

Last year, we tried Green Tomato Salsa, Fried Green Tomatoes, Green Tomato Relish, and even Green Tomato Pie. What we learned really is that Green Tomatoes are not as tart as you might expect, which makes it a very versatile food.

This year, we decided to make life easy. We simply started to introduce green tomatoes in all of our home pantry's sauces and soups....and this is exactly what we did all week with the remnants of our yellow and red tomatoes. For the most part, it is impossible to tell that some of these sauces are at least half Green Tomato.

Yellow Tomato Sauce ....with Green Tomatoes!

In the meantime, work continues on the manor. This week was horrifying as we discovered a significant amount of rotting on the old eaves troughs. This extends to the brick walls. In some places the top layer of bricks can simply be removed by hand.

Around the house, we are discovering significant damage to the wood trims

In the end, a lot of this needs to be rebuilt.

Finally this week, we were very surprised to find out that the girls and I made it on the front page of Niagara this Week. Such a good photo....I had to post it :)