Blog
January 17, 2013
The Surprising Value of Walnuts
Walnuts add an immense amount of value to even small homesteads. They provide tall shade all summer. Plus, the crop they produce has many uses. Those uses include protein rich nuts, animal fodder from the husks, and even ink if you so choose to make it. Fallen branches also are packed with great hardwood. So it would seem they’re an ideal addition to any homestead. However, there are some negatives to consider.
Should we grow walnuts?
It’s not an easy question to answer. For us that’s partly because we have a reliable source of black walnuts. There are 3 nut producing trees my mothers house. That said, it’s not an easy question for lots of other people. Even if they don’t have access to other walnut trees there are some big concerns.
Walnuts are dangerous when ejected by a lawnmower. Plus, one of my mom’s tree killed a wind-blocking evergreen at the north-west of the yard with it’s toxic juglone* when it grew from a squirrel’s forgotten hiding place.
*Juga-what? Juglone.
Walnut trees are not fans of the Insane Clown Posse (or at least I can’t say that I’ve ever seen one wearing an ICP t-shirt) but they do contain Juglone. Juglone is a secreted toxin that will kill lots of things growing near them. Since we’re buying a 1/2 acre this shouldn’t be an issue for us. However, if we were building on an urban or typical suburban plot it could be an issue.
For those with large plots juglone isn’t a major concern since there are things that you can grow near walnut trees. The real problem is people wanting to grow whatever wherever in whatever climate, soil type, etc. they want. Damn if they’re not going to see that grapefruit tree produce an abundance of large juicy grapefruit. That’s despite the fact that they live in a north-facing cave, under an over-hang in the far north of Canada.
Juglone safe companion plants
There are lots of Juglone safe plants. Here are a few that thrive under walnuts including those in the Nightshade family like:
- tomato
- potato
- eggplant
- peppers
- mandrake (I don’t avoid women, Mandrake, I just deny them my walnuts)
- cape gooseberries
- petunias (if you’re not looking to grow things to eat)
And let’s not forget good ol’ tobacco! So if you’re a hipster with a penchant for addictions – fear not! Your friends will think you’re cool with that all natural, locally grown tobacco. It turns out that there are lots of juglone safe plants.
So if the juglone is not an issue what is stopping us? Like I said – we have access (for the foreseeable future) to a supply of them. However, we’re both bigger fans of Pecans. So the reason that I posted this (aside from wanting people to know we’re still around and have not abandoned the world of natural building, homesteading, permaculture, and so forth) is that I’d like to know what you all have to say!
What say you?
What do you say? What disadvantages would there be to us planting walnuts rather than pecan? Should we plant them both? We’ve probably got the space if we really finagle things but I’d also like to have enough sugar maple trees to get a bottle or so of maple syrup per year so we’ve got to be careful with how we place things. So leave a comment, or if you’re reading this and the comments are closed shoot me a message via the contact form and thank you for reading!