How to de-husk the Black Walnut without machines, the EASIEST way! 

Totally. I should mention that it's great to pour where you don't want things to grow ;)

I always pour my black walnut water out at the same place, a flower bed near my hose outlet. That flower bed is thick, lush and blooms like crazy

Thank you for sharing!

I tried that very thing years back and even recorded for a video, but my hard drive crashed losing tons of footage :( That technique has lots of potential! My trouble was the husk were still too tough and there wasn't enough friction to clean them off. Also the mixer was on loan, otherwise I'd of modified it with holes below the rim and a fixed sprayer inside to constantly rinse out the debris.

@@TheNorthwestForager I just made a batch, Rubbed them against a cleaned one and it grit and perfect almondish shape let me clean the rest. You have to let it ripen unsubmerged of any liquids for like a week or so like letting a peach full of tannins go fully bad equivalent of mushy woody peaches. I just think of them as the squid ink black potato peaches that for some reason you actually eat the pit. Guess what thought, not using any wormy ones are technically just fermented and dried. If you wash as much black out of the pulp as possible, you have the ultimate tolerable insoluble fiber refined in your hand. Add it to anything if you simply need quick fiber in its best possible form I've found. From making my tree in my backyard basically do what I tell it, I get mushrooms of all kinds which chase out bad ones actively changing up the natural pesticides in the soil and only a fraction of nuts are still a lot for just one house so a bunch of the wormy pits will be buried to hopefully become future truffles. Already have some black ones blooming interlaced with the local edibles that tolerate each other like fish species in a tank.

What about a old wood chipper...replace the metal "things" that thrash limbs with rubber....They are bolted on...on my 80's model .....

Thanks for watching!

That's part of the trick. If you wait long enough the husks will rot and it makes removing them much easier.

​@@TheNorthwestForager Very nice, that's probably the easiest way. I used the paint mixer drill in water method to speed things up but I cracked a few. I'm competing with a squirrel this year!

Literally just step on them, they come right off.

Feel free to let them sit as long as you want! The shell is extremely tough so you dont have to worry it rotting. I've let mine sit for weeks in buckets before till most of the husk just falls off.

@@TheNorthwestForager - Awesome! Thank you so much for answering. I look forward to trying this out.

I just saw one video that said if they get slimy it affects the taste, is that true? I guess I’ll find out. We hulled and cleaned two wheel barrels full today.

Thats a good question and certainly worth a try, maybe on a small scale first. I will say, however, there's a lot of comments about all the dangers of composting the husk because they'll kill plants. In my experience even piling the husks directly onto weeds has a limited effect. The inhibiting compounds are strongest around the shell, and typically the killing effect is most under the tree where husk/shells have concentrated over many years.

Of course I cant speak for everyone but that hasn't been the case in my experience. And every time I've de-husked them they were mostly mushy, even with worms eating the husk. Like you said the shell is way too tough for anything to penetrate it. With that said however it may be completely different with the English walnut or the Eastern black walnut.

​@@TheNorthwestForager www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/info_walnut_toxicity.htm "Husks of fallen walnuts can become toxic to livestock, and lethal to dogs if ingested due to a mycotoxin called 'Penitrim A', which is produced by Penicillium mould. Therefore, walnut nuts showing symptoms of decomposition, such as a brown or black rotten appearance in the husks, may leak toxin into the kernels and are not fit for human consumption." I just want to be sure I understand correctly:on your video your pulling off the rotten husks but in the husk there is no rotten appearance,right? So no risk with that toxin?

That is totally false...Hammons the largest walnut buyer and seller...just Google them....I've seen one of their buyers.,I took 1600 lbs..to...buy black n gooey..maggot filled....watched them processed...ev one brought nuts there had black, brown,gooey maggots.... bagged up the nuts...and shipped them to Hammons in Missouri

@@thomasalley4944 Sounds to me that you agree with me.

No, drying them is good enough. They'll last a couple years in the shell too, if stored properly.

With that in mind I wonder how well they would do for paths to help keep the weeds down...?

Now that's a brilliant idea

I'm fairly certain the trees themselves release that very same toxin (i believe it's called juglone) from their roots in order to kill the roots of other plants, trees and potential competition so that it can grow unimpeded and without difficulty. Juglone also ends up saturating the soil and seeping down into the groundwater.

"The roots of the black walnut tree produce an organic compound called juglone. Juglone has an allelopathic effect on some other plants, meaning it can stunt their growth or even prevent them from growing. Juglone has its effect by disrupting a plant’s ability to exchange carbon dioxide and oxygen. Not all species of plants are negatively affected by this compound: pasture and turf grasses will grow in the presence of juglone, but many flowers, vegetables, and some species of trees and shrubs will not. Juglone is present in the leaves, roots, husks, and fruit and can be found in the soil throughout the tree’s entire root zone (on average 50 to 80 feet in diameter for a mature tree). Allelopathic effects are not usually observed until the tree is at least seven years old. Juglone does not pose any threat of toxicity to humans, but gardeners should be aware of its effects and plan accordingly. Using raised beds lined with gardening fabric may make it possible to grow susceptible plants in closer proximity to black walnut trees. Juglone does break down when composted. If black walnut leaves, twigs, or nuts are used in compost to be spread in a garden, the compost should be aged at least one year before being applied. Horses can be affected by black walnut if shavings made from the tree are used in bedding. As little as 20% black walnut in shavings or sawdust can cause clinical signs within hours of contact. Effects of exposure primarily affect the lower limb and include stocking up, stiff gait, and reluctance to move. If untreated, toxicosis can progress and cause colic, swelling of the neck and chest, elevated heart and respiratory rate, and even laminitis and founder. Clinical signs usually disappear once the bedding is removed. The best way to prevent problems is to ensure that bedding does not contain black walnut. Black walnut shavings are quite dark and easily contrast against light-colored pine shavings. Other livestock species are not affected."

When I husk my black walnuts I soak the empty husks overnight. Meanwhile I pour the water from shell cleaning all over my gravel driveway. The following day I use the water from the soaked husks (after filtering it through an old colander) in my sprayer to spot spray where weeds are poking through my gravel. Since I started doing this I have had far fewer issues with weed growth tearing up the gravel driveway.

Hahah I thought I blinked and missed something

You can see in the video that there really isnt anything to de-husking them once theyre all black, besides mushing it off.

:D Thank you for sharing

Yes, makes an excellent fabric or wood dye.

I see your point. Although my focus in this video was the complete cleaning of the husk from the shell, I see the need to add the claus 'without machines' in the title. 👌 TY