Black Walnut

Spent my weekend smashing through the bounty of walnuts from my backyard (after beating the squirrels to them, washing them, and curing them).

Generally considered a huge annoyance - tennis ball sized nuts falling from the sky, denting cars, and squirrels leaving a mess of walnut carnage everywhere. They are actually incredibly useful and so tasty.

Black walnuts (Juglans nigra) have thick green hulls that contain the medicinal component juglone. It is responsible for the black walnuts anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, and anti-bacterial properties, making it an effective topical treatment for athlete’s foot, ringworm, and cradle cap, and internally for intestinal parasites.

The nuts themselves taste very different from the traditional English walnut. More earthy and floral. They are also more nutritionally dense, having 75% more protein, and are rich in antioxidants, omega-3, and are a great source of minerals including manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and copper.

Definitely worth all the effort.

Next flush of walnuts is going to be for making nocino, an aromatic, bittersweet liqueur that originated from Northern Italy.

Dr. Cristina Allen ND