Today, I harvested my first walnuts!Which is really something for being in Sweden. Last year this old three in my garden did not render a single nut. But this year the tree is full of the green fruits.
I opened my very first one -and it tasted rather bitter, alas! I of course have nil experince of growing walnuts but a wild guess is they need a bit more time. However, fall is upon us and the nigts are getting frightfully cold so I wonder.. Anyway, I will bring a few nuts indoors to see if they will ripen. Feels a bit exotic though the very thought of picking walnuts up here in the far north.
What I didn´t know was that when picking walnuts: the husks should be handled wearing rubber gloves, to avoid dyeing one's fingers, as the dye does not require a mordant! The palms of my hands are now stained darkbrown and will be for along time! I learnt this too late from Wikipedia from where I got the picture above. Thus, walnut husks are often used to create a rich yellow-brown to dark brown dye that is used for dyeing fabric and for other purposes.
I have come to a point I don´t really know what to do with all the plums this year. Today I picked my 10th basket of these lovely purple fruits. It is difficult to see them rot away there on the ground. So, tonight, Friday night, I´ll divide my time between making plum marmelade and watching Swedish Idol and to browse the internet for any recipe on how to handle those voluptous goodies in alternative ways! Any great hints or ideas anyone?
