SewHooked

Cute . . . "​shake the "L" out of 'em!

Battle Axe

Make sure you have enough bees in the spring to pollinate those nuts.

I majored in bees at UCD. Once on a field trip our bus got lost in the almond orchards. What a glorious day.

Charleen DiSante

Almonds are one of my favorites too! We moved to North Carolina and I have a pecan tree in my yard. It is fun to gather them and use in so many ways. My grandmother had black walnuts in her yard and we helped my grand dad shell them by putting the green nuts in a burlap bag and walking on them to loosen the outer husks. Then you had to get a good strong hammer to open the shells. Lots of work but I remember the taste in brownies and cookies. Good idea/planning or you to plant the trees! Not may people even know about the taste any more.

maviskw

How did you shell them? I would like to know. I have two black walnut trees which seem to have nuts every other year. My tenant says she has shelled some, but I know it is not easy. I've tried a hammer or a vice but it is not a fun job.

tropit

Oh fun! I think I know where you were. The Sacramento Valley has miles and miles of almond orchards.

As for bees, yes, we do have a lot of what I believe are native bees. We didn't have many bees when we first moved on to the land, but I have been planting tons of veggies, fruits and flowers, so we've attracted many different kinds of bees. We live so far away from any other places, or neighbors, so I believe that most of the bees are natives and not European, but I'm not an expert, so who knows. There's a nest of some type of ground bees that have made their home right smack dab in the middle of my veggie garden. I just try to give them a wide berth, leave the weeds and plant around them. My husband has tried to set up hives and attract the honey bees to come live in them, but so far, no luck.

~ C

Tartan

Sounds like you have a lot of nice plantings! How about adding some native PawPaw trees? They like to be planted in partial shade and do better with more then I plant .They produce a banana tasting fruit for a couple of weeks in the fall after the second or third year (if you buy a decent size saplings.)

katiebear1

I do the same thing. And you can use them straight out of the freezer . No need to defrost.

Iceblossom

For those with lots of walnuts (also works some on pecans but better on walnuts) the old timey trick was to find a good sized knothole in a piece of wood that was just slightly smaller than the average nut diameter. You position the nut in the knothole and whack it down with something, personally I like a heavy shoe! Good hand size for me, good whack sound. You can also use a hammer.

In these modern days, maybe you could drill a hole in a board (I'd say at least 1" thick) that's the right size for your crop. Different years you might need different holes.

Typically you sit down, put a bowl in your lap/between your legs and the board across your lap. Yes, shells will go flying and there will be clean up both in the bowl and the general area. Good thing to do in an old wooden rocker on the porch. Watch those shell shards, they can be sharp!

Onebyone

My friend just sent me this recipe. Said it was delicious and only need a little slice as it was so rich. She said it was at her guild's potluck and not one crumb was left.


Almond Coffee Cake

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp real almond extract
1 package slivered almonds

Melt butter and add sugar. Beat in egg one at a time. Add flour and almond extract and mix well.
Pour batter into round baking pan. Sprinkle almonds on top of batter. Bake @350 for 35 -40 min. Let cool and wrap with foil to keep.