Habitat
Type: hedgerows, parks, gardens
Distribution: mostly SE UK and continental Europe
Prefers: moisture, light, warmth
Other: mostly planted, usually bare ground below tree due to growth inhibiting substances exuded by the tree

General
Growth type: tree
Cycle: deciduous
Height: up to 30 meters

Leaf
Shape: pinnate
Texture: glossy
Arrangement: opposite pairs of leaflets
Edge: smooth
Other: aromatic

Trunk
Colour: grey, smooth when young
Texture: smooth when young, turning more rugged when mature

Flower
Shape: catkin
Arrangement: male: hanging; female: erect
When: April to May, before leaves
Other:
Colour:

Fruit
Shape: oval
Colour: green, brown when fully ripe
Size: up to 40 mm
Other: thin flesh layer over large seed

Seed
Shape: convoluted, brain-like appearance
Colour: cream-coloured flesh with brown papery skin
Size: 30mm
Casing: woody, crinkled, light brown

The seed casing can stain clothes and skin.

Needs careful storage as susceptible to dangerous moulds. See Collection, Storing and Notes below.

June and July
(trunk) all year
approx. late winter to early spring
unripe for pickling from June to mid July, ripe late September and October

Parts with black and white icons are for non-culinary use

Flavour
Rating and Description:
nutty

How to Consume
raw, syrup
raw, pickled

Nutrition
fat, protein, ellagic acid


Used as ...
food

Recipe
Base recipe to make pickled Walnuts
Use non-iron (unless stainless steel or coated/plated) vessels and implements.

Use green Walnuts collected around late June or early July. Test if soft enough with a pin. If it goes in a good way the nut can be used. Wash the nuts, drain and test how much liquid will be needed to cover the nuts by pouring water over them and measuring the water after pouring it off. This will avoid wasting brine or having a shortfall. Prick each nut several times deeply to allow the brine to enter.

Essential ingredients:

• approx. 150 g salt to 1 litre of water (recipes vary) - or by volume about 1 measure salt to 10 measures water
• water for the brine to generously cover the nuts
• boiled vinegar to generously cover the nuts (type according to taste)
• preserving jars (Kilner type are best)

Non-essential ingredients:

• herbs and spices to taste for the vinegar
• up to 500 g sugar per litre of water to counter the tartness of the vinegar (add gradually and taste the vinegar, it may only require a few spoons of sugar)

Boil the water and salt until the salt is dissolved. Cool and pour over nuts. Leave to soak for about 5 days and swish around the nuts every day. Replace the brine and soak for another 5 days or so. Drain, spread on a tray and dry for up to three days when they will have turned dark brown to black. Boil and flavour the vinegar if desired. Place nuts in a clean jar, cover with hot vinegar and seal.

Store in a cool place. The pickled nuts are said to be ready anywhere from 2-8 weeks and may keep up to two years.

Action:
alterative, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, depurative
anticancer, diuretic, lithontripic, stimulant

May treat:
constipation, chronic coughs, asthma, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, skin ailments
internal: cancer, low back pain, frequent urination, chronic cough, asthma, constipation, stones in the urinary tract; external (poultice): dermatitis, eczema

yellow and brown dye, pesticide, herbicide, insect repellent
(trunk) timber - a fine cabinet timber, also used for gun stocks
dye (no mordant required): yellow (unripe husk); brown (ripe husk); black if iron implement is used; source of tannin, hair colourant,
wood polish, non-yellowing glossy paint medium

Collection
The seed is ripe when the fruit falls to the ground and splits open. Remove the outer case as soon as possible. Wear rubber or similar gloves as the flesh will stain skin (and other things too!). Wash the nuts in a bucket of water which will also sort the rotten from the good. Good walnuts will sink. To remove hulls which have not split open step on them on a hard surface. Beware that everything which comes into contact with the juice or flying debris will be stained.
Walnuts can be harvested unripe from June for pickling when the inner shell is still soft.
Collect leaves singly.

Preserving and Storing
Walnuts should be carefully stored as they are susceptible to mould which can produce the highly toxic aflatoxin, a potent carcinogen. Nuts without shells will also go rancid quickly as they are exposed to air. They are best eaten fresh or stored in their shell until eaten. If there are any mouldy nuts in a batch of cracked nuts, the entire batch should be discarded. Stored in the shell they can keep up to a year. Pickled they may keep up to two years.
Leaves and bark can be dried to store. Spread out thinly on a tray.

Note
Walnuts bear seed after about 10 years, grafted cultivars possibly sooner

Plant parts:
leaf
stem or trunk
sap
root, bulb, tuber and other below ground parts
flower
fruit
seed

Parts with black and white icons in the availability section are for non-culinary use

Use:
culinary use
medicinal use
household use

Other:
caution

General Glossary

• palmate: having lobes or leaflets like spread fingers

Glossary of Medicinal Terms and Nutritive Substances

• anthelmintic: expels parasites from the gut (see also Vermifuge)
• anticancer: used in the treatment of cancer
• anti-inflammatory: reduces inflammation of joints, injuries etc. (see also demulcent, emollient)
• astringent: causes localised contraction of blood vessels and tissue, reducing the flow of blood, mucus, diarrhoea etc.
• depurative: eliminates toxins and purifies the system, especially the blood
• diuretic: increases secretion and elimination of urine
• ellagic acid: an antioxidant which may be beneficial against cancer, heart disease and other medical problems
• lithontripic: helps prevent and removes stones from kidneys, bladder etc.
• melatonin: Melatonin is hormone produced by the brain's pineal gland during hours of darkness (and is suppressed by light) and helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle. It also acts as a powerful antioxidant, is said to protect against cancer, ionising radiation and more. It may help tinnitus sufferers, promotes dreams and may have anti-ageing properties.
  
  It can also be found in plants. It is not established whether dietary melatonin has a significant effect on the body. For best effects get a good night's sleep in a totally dark room.
  
  For more information on this beneficial hormone read the Wikipedia article via the pop-up browser (requires internet connection).
• stimulant: enlivens physiological functions of the body, without giving a false sense of well-being