The walnut is a tasty nut - it’s good enough to eat -
And drowned in maple syrup becomes a special treat.
But eating nuts is one thing, growing nut trees is another,
So why on earth should anyone with any senses bother?
This verse is not a farming screed but let me share with you
A little of the heavy work that walnut growers do.
Apart from buying land in a climate which is right
And working hard from dawn until the middle of the night
Preparing the good soil for the planting to take place
Growers must pick the cultivars - a massive task to face:
There is Chandler and Chico, Howard, Payne and Red
Buccaneer and Sparrow, all of which it’s said
Have really good crack out rates but however even so
Are they any better than Franquette and than Pedro,
Plovdiski, Rita, Danube, Livermore or Wigg
Also with good crack out rates and walnuts that are big?
Not to mention Vina, Wilsons Wonder, Sauber 1
Daniels, Eureka, Serr and Rex - we’re just partly done!
Let’s not go on for ever only do the best we can
But not forgetting Tulare, Soleze and Stan.
The cultivars for Wellwood planted nearly twenty years ago
I show without attempt at rhyming in the list below:
Chandler, Chico, Serr, Franquette, Wilsons Wonder, Vina, Vibalina,
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Our blogging team
A blog about walnuts, walnut oil and even walnut wood!
Erich and Peta
Our blogging team
3 comments:
Thanks for the great poem Daddy! I never knew there were so many different varieties. Is there much variation in elements such as flavour or amount of oil?
Green walnuts are best picked at Wellwood in early to mid December.
The different varities have different properties, eg:
CHANDLER - also from the University of California at Davis, this is one of the most important commercial nuts. Chandler crops heavily, as it bears on laterals (80% of lateral buds are female) as well as terminals. Chandler is self fertile. The harvest is in the middle of the walnut season. The tree is a standard large walnut tree, growing to around 12 metres/40 feet, moderate vigor, and somewhat upright growing (rather than spreading). 700 hours winter chilling needed, and Chandler is late leafing, leafing out about 3 weeks after the early leafing varieties such as Payne, Serr, Ashley, Sunland, Chico and Vina It is not as susceptible to walnut blight as most other Californian varieties. The nuts are large (kernel weight 6.3 grams, crackout 49%), smooth, well sealed, and almost all kernels have a light colored skin. Pollenized by Cisco and Franquette. US, NZ.
WILSONS WONDER - the nuts are very large, but the percentage crackout is not high (30-40%). Nevertheless, altho the large nuts are not exceptionally well filled, the kernels are still large - around 6-8 grams. The nuts don't always seal well, and the kernels can be affected by blight in wet and humid areas. AU, NZ
There have been many seedlings of Wilson's Wonder planted, and some of these have been selected for particular attributes, such as blight resistance, or good crackout. Selections from one specialist nursery include-
Wigg - 37% crackout, large kernels at 8 grams. NZ
Frahm - 34% crackout, medium kernels at 5 grams NZ
Roadside 12 - 40% crackout, large kernels at 8 grams NZ
Roadside 6 - Large blocky nut and about 54mm long x 40 mm wide; 36% crackout, medium large kernels at 7 grams. Late ripening, nuts tend to be retained in the husk.. Late set nuts tend to be much smaller. NZ
For descriptions of some walnut varieties see
ww.treecrops.org.nz/knowl/archives/tcropper/walname.html
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