• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me
Bex Hall > Creative Education > Black walnut harvest is fun adventure

Black walnut harvest is fun adventure

October 19, 2021

Ellie gathering walnuts.

Part of our property has an abundance of black walnut trees and my husband suggested we check if anyone in our area buys the nuts.

Turns out a company called Hammons has a buying station nearby. I called and they pay $18 for 100 pounds. I envisioned how this would be a great teachable exercise for Ellie, who’s almost-eight. She would learn the value of being paid for work, about saving money, and basic math. It would be fun for the family.

My husband, Charlie, in response to my vision, says, “I just want to walk through here without turning my ankle.” 

It’s okay to have different dreams.

So, to get an idea of the project, I grabbed a 2-gallon bucket and timed myself as I filled it. Five minutes. I weighed it on the bathroom scale. Ten pounds. So ten buckets = 100 pounds in less than an hour – easy.

Even the dogs helped.

Then Charlie mentions they might weigh them AFTER they’re hulled. This is something I hadn’t considered. 

I called and confirmed it was true. I did some research and learned it takes 220 pounds of walnuts in their hulls to get 100 pounds in the shell. It was going to be more work.

And it was. Four of us spent a few hours gathering nuts in buckets and bags. Our backs became weary and even though we wore gloves, our fingers became stained black from the overripe walnuts. 

Black walnut stain.

We filled the back of the car with the fruits of our labor and headed to the farm store. The hulling machine chugged to life, and we dumped bagfuls of walnuts into its bin. A conveyor carried them up and into a covered area which separated the nut from its hull. It conveyed the remnants in the opposite direction and dumped into a wagon, and the hulled nuts deposited into a mesh bag on the other side.

At the hulling machine.
Ellie and Sarah dumping walnuts

The final weight was 75 pounds. $13.50. Divided by four. $3.38 per person. 

Which was exactly how much Ellie needed to buy a tiny pumpkin and some cat treats from the farm store.

We didn’t have conversations about savings, nor did we have lessons in math. We had little money to show for our efforts. But what we had, though, was time spent together. And that was priceless.

See a short video below.

Filed Under: Creative Education, Miscellany Tagged With: nature

Primary Sidebar

About Bex

 

Bex Hall

Her writing has appeared in various online and print publications, most recently in Kerning, a literary magazine, and in the Stories of Hope Collection in Transplant Living. Her artwork has appeared and sold through the Grayson Gallery. She blogs here about creative life and creates in Studio BE overlooking the Ohio River. Her work in progress is a memoir about the secret life of objects.

Notes

  • The 100 Day Project

    50 short stories in 100 days.

Subscribe to my newsletter

Secondary Sidebar

Notes

  • Creative practice goals:

    Show up every day behind the pen, the brush, or the lens and share my work.

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Gratitude, grief, and getting through
  • I’d like to ask a favor
  • No selvedge on my fabric heart
  • Answers lead to more questions
  • You can’t always get what you want

Inspiration & Craft

Quotes on Creativity

Recommended Books

Art & Writing Supplies

Galleries

Photo Gallery

Connect on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Pinterest

Copyright © 2023 · Bex Hall

  • Blog
  • The Memoir
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Contact me