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The Black walnut Tree

10/11/2015

10 Comments

 
The Black Walnut Tree, as a member of the second order of Creation after the Four Sacred Elements, brings human beings tremendous gifts.  The medicine of the Walnut Tree includes oral remedies such as the ability to reverse small cavities, as well as the ability to encourage the growth of enamel over cracks in teeth.

The Walnut Tree also has anti-parasitic properties and is an excellent source of the iodine needed for healthy thyroid functioning.

Further to these medicines, the Walnut Tree can be tapped just as the Maple Tree can, but it is said the syrup yield is less in comparison.  The Walnut Tree also drops nuts, but they are harder to open in comparison to the English walnut and as such require more time to harvest the nut meat.  Regardless of these matters, it is important to value that a lesser yield and more time for harvesting are pitiful barriers to the gifts the Walnut Tree offers.
​
I offer here eight photographs of my process thus far of harvesting Walnuts from the Black Walnut Tree.

First Photo:  I collected walnuts that had the green husks intact and where the husks were not broken.

Second Photo: I placed a few dozen into several plastic shopping bags, tied them up, and then stepped on them as my process of breaking the green husks.

Third Photo: Wearing heavy duty gloves to avoid staining my fingers I then peeled off the green husks.  During this process I inspected for creature invasions discarding the necessary walnuts.

Fourth Photo: I placed them in the kitchen sink for rinsing.

Fifth Photo: Then I rubbed the nuts together to remove trace husk.

Sixth Photo: A second rinse is applied.

Seventh Photo: The water is drained.

Eight Photo: The cleaned walnuts were then placed on a dehydrator in the sun. They will remain here for several weeks.

Miigwetch for witnessing my learning process about the gifts of the Black Walnut Tree.

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Lynn Gehl, Ph.D. is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley.  She has a section 15 Charter challenge regarding the continued sex discrimination in The Indian Act, and is an outspoken critic of the Ontario Algonquin land claims and self-government process. She has three books: Anishinaabeg Stories: Featuring Petroglyphs, Petrographs, and Wampum Belts, The Truth that Wampum Tells: My Debwewin of the Algonquin Land Claims Process, and Mkadengwe: Sharing Canada's Colonial Process through Black Face Methodology. You can reach her at lynngehl@gmail.com and see more of her work at www.lynngehl.com.

10 Comments
Cat
10/11/2015 11:14:16 am

Miigwech...the dark juice in the flesh of the drupe can also be used as a dye. Stains really well.

Reply
lynn gehl
10/11/2015 12:10:12 pm

How do you make the stain?

Reply
Lynn
7/28/2020 04:21:38 pm

Cat, What do you mean by "drupe"?

Reply
Philip Kienholz
10/11/2015 07:05:06 pm

Nice. My neighbour's tree dropped about 30 ripe ones in my yard this week, and I found a tree in the park that had dropped hundreds. I took far less than half, leaving plenty scattered all over, but it still filled two shoulder bags and a medium back pack -- heavy walking home. I put my basket container in the greenhouse but the first night the squirrels discovered it and left remains of about 5 husks they had opened. I have since moved the basket to a metal shed and they have left it alone. I'll try your processing and drying method. Thanks.

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Ruth Lapp
10/12/2015 03:34:56 am

this was a great learning post. thanks. I was out in the woods near Yarker ON yesterday gathering shag-bark hickory nuts....a small and delicious cousin of the black walnut. Love the nut trees!!

Reply
Debra Gehring
10/12/2015 08:15:38 am

Thank you for taking us through this experience, Lynn. My son has a young Black Walnut tree and is not producing yet, but now I am aware there are benefits.

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Yvonne Dee Stahl
10/12/2015 04:01:54 pm

I wish I hadn't cut down the Black Walnut tree that was super shading my yard. However, my neighbor has made some beautiful turned bowls, gorgeous cutting boards and interesting walking sticks from the wood.

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Monique Léger
3/4/2016 03:28:21 pm

Hello Lynn, I would like to communicate with you about the Black Walnut as I am in the process of developing a large black walnut project for the Ottawa area. We follow the same steps as you but on a larger scale and we are now looking into the cracking of these gems! Please contact me so we can discuss. Merci!

Reply
Lynn Gehl
3/4/2016 04:22:17 pm

Monique, email me at lynngehl@gmail.com

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Sheryl Boivin
3/2/2017 06:26:11 pm

My mom planted what she thought was a butternut tree. I see it is a black walnut tree. It is HUGE and the squirrels hide the nuts everwhere in my sheds and once upon a time my attic. I would love to know more about harvesting, tapping etc. Chi Miigwetch!

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copyright Lynn Gehl
www.lynngehl.com