Nuts!

Below the house, at the edge of the creek, is a Black Walnut tree.  It is covered with heavy green fruit and  from time to time we hear the dull thud of one of the almost tennis ball-sized nuts dropping to the ground.

Black Walnuts are a native species in Virginia - here is a prettier tree in the grounds of a winery that we visited yesterday.  It is covered with green husked fruit..

Unfortunately the nuts themselves are a little disappointing.  The husks contain a dye which is as enduring as henna on the skin and there are often tiny worms inside.  I collected one that had fallen and broke it open.  It looked very unappetizing..  The nut  inside looked like a squishy black truffle.

The nuts are an acquired taste I am told - often pickled.  The squirrels seem quite keen on them.

This diagram shows the stages of stripping the nuts down..

Yesterday we visited a Pick Your Own fruit farm about an hour from here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge.  One of the reasons for going was to try our hand at harvesting a different 'nut' (really a legume) - the Virginia peanut.

It was an extremely hot day and David got the job of digging the plants...

My job was to separate the nuts from the mud.

Once home, the nuts were treated to a good wash before roasting..

Like the Black Walnuts, we probably won't be making these a regular part of our diet - at least, not home-cooked ones!