Walnut Dodgeball

It's that time of year again -here's our 150 year old walnut tree (it may be older than that). There are several different kind of walnut trees - this one is a black walnut tree - the nuts have a particular oil in them that can cause allergies in some people, and that same oil gives the nuts a little sharper taste than the English walnuts found on store shelves.

This is what a loaded walnut tree looks like.

Each walnut is 3-4" in diameter. They are hard as rocks. Hard enough so when you have children, you spend the first 13 years of their lives randomly yelling: "*DO*NOT*THROW*THE*WALNUTS*AT*EACH*OTHER*."

But then comes fall, in more ways than one, since there is no Mother Walnut to tell the tree itself Not To Throw The Walnuts.

And the only way to pick the walnuts up, is to stand under the tree.

Yep. Picking up 33 bags worth of black walnuts, dodging that rustle that tells you are about to be IT, cleaning up the loose branches that fell with the walnuts, then finishing up the last mowing of the season....

Until the wind picks up again.