Walnut is a real treasure, a favorite delicacy and a leader among all the nuts of the planet in terms of its relevance and useful qualities.
Walnut - a beneficial gift from nature
When to collect walnuts - fruits used in many cuisines of the world and rich in healthy vitamins, lots of protein and minerals?
Walnuts give strength in vegetarian nutrition, are powerful antioxidants and increase potency; the green peel is rich in iodine, has an anti-inflammatory and healing effect. Ten pieces of walnut fruit per day is the recommended norm for an adult; a child can eat from 5 to 7 pieces.
Autumn - Walnuts Harvest Time
When to collect walnuts? The ripening period of such valuable fruits falls in the fall. It is this time that is rich in the harvest of various crops. By the way, the average life expectancy of a walnut is 400 years. Depending on the variety, the fruits have a different shape: round, oval, ovoid, and are enclosed in a pericarp of green color, which gradually, as the ripe, blackens and cracks. The surface of the shell is often smooth, large and small wrinkled, sometimes tuberous and has numerous cells. Walnut is a thermophilic culture, requires a lot of sun and a high average annual temperature.
Signs of ripeness
When can walnuts be harvested? Often, the tree itself lets you know that the fruits are ripe and ready to eat. The plant generously shares the crop, simply dropping it to the ground. This eliminates the need for nature to collect nuts at a height that, by the way, can reach 35 meters. Therefore, everything is simple: you just have to bend over and collect nuts from the ground.
Many may wonder how and when to pick walnuts. The ripeness of the fruits can be judged not only by the fact that they showered on the ground; chopped green shells are another sign of fruit ripening, the collection of which is best done with gloves, because the released nut juice leaves persistent dark spots on the skin. If the green peel is not fully opened, then a small knife can be taken to help. There is another tricky way to release nuts; To do this, it is recommended to immerse them in water: the fruits will remain at the bottom, and the green peel will float.
Features of harvesting walnuts
How to determine the ripeness of the fruits, it seems to be clear, it remains to find out when you need to collect walnuts. The term for their mass collection falls on September-October, one tree can produce from 100 to 300 kilograms. Walnut blossoms in April-May, begins to bear fruit from 7-10 years of age, some varieties are pleased with the harvest for 3-4 years of planting. After collecting, the nuts need to be spread in a thin layer and dried, periodically turning over. The yield of dry raw materials that can be collected in a bag and determined for storage will be approximately 25%. The attic is quite suitable as a room; in any case, the place intended for storage should be dry and cool.
If there is an intention to preserve nuts for 2-3 years, then several manipulations should be performed. The fruits need to be immersed for 7-8 hours in salted boiling water, dried and put in a bag. Heavily dried nuts can be revived by soaking them in salted water for 5-6 days. To get a good harvest, the walnut tree must be fed with organic fertilizers.
When to collect walnuts in their milk stage
Green walnuts are known for their beneficial properties. It was during this period that an unripe fruit with an unhardened kernel, which was in a gelatinous state, and a shell that was not formed into a strong shell, soft, juicy and easily cut with a knife - is most recommended for harvesting. When to collect green walnuts in order to best use their beneficial properties? On the eve of the holiday of Ivan Kupala (July 7) - the most optimal time for harvesting healthy raw materials.
Green nuts should be easily pierced with a large needle, while there is abundant leakage of juice from the hole. Vitamin C in green fruits contains 50 times more than in oranges, and 8 times more than in black currant. When you can collect green walnuts - it is clear: this is the beginning of July.
The collected raw materials must be washed, dried, cut into slices and placed in dry jars, pouring sugar in a ratio of 1 to 2. Next, the glass containers must be covered with clean lids, placed in the refrigerator. As the liquid appears, the latter must be drained and used throughout the year, adding to drinks, but no more than a tablespoon. Such an extract is an effective treatment for intestinal infections accompanied by diarrhea. Dosage for an adult - 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day, for children - a teaspoon.
Recipe for alcohol tincture of green nuts
Cut 30 unripe fruits into a bottle, add alcohol and insist on the sun for 14 days. After this time, strain, add sugar to taste to the remaining squeezed fruit, add alcohol (or vodka), insist for another month and strain. For taste, you can add cinnamon or cloves. Take after a meal of 30 grams.
Medicinal properties of walnut leaves
When to harvest walnuts? Autumn is the time of the year that generously rewards with such useful and beloved fruits. It is worth knowing that in the walnut tree its leaves are also useful, whose decoctions well help with skin, gastrointestinal and female diseases. As a therapeutic raw material, bright green young leaves are selected, pinching them from the central petiole. The collection is recommended in dry weather, the month of harvesting is June.
Drying is required in the shade, under a canopy or in a ventilated area. Store dried raw materials in a cool, dry place in paper bags. The smell of walnut leaves drives flies away. It is precisely because of this peculiarity that nuts were planted in places where it was planned to gather important people, discuss plans, and wait a long time. In small doses, the smell of walnut leaves is pleasant for a person, to a large extent causes headaches and sleep disturbance.
Walnut leaf decoction
To prepare a healthy decoction, 250 grams of dried leaves need to be poured with a liter of hot water and boiled in a water bath for 20 minutes, then cooled, filtered and added to the bath or used for skin diseases in the form of lotions. Infusion of walnut leaves is an effective means of general strengthening action, it is recommended for loss of strength, irregular menstruation, gastroenteritis, atherosclerosis. Often used in combination with other medicinal plants.
It is recommended to use walnuts for everyone, especially people of advanced age, because fatty oils that are not saturated with acids are useful for atherosclerosis. Walnuts are useful for people experiencing significant physical exertion.
The benefits of walnut pericarp
The collection of pericarp is made after harvesting the fruits. They need to be cut in half, and then dried in a warm room or in a dryer at a temperature of 30-40 degrees. The yield of dry raw materials is 20%. Dried leaves and pericarp, a decoction of which is characterized by anti-inflammatory and wound healing effects, are successfully exported. They treat ulcers, boils, stomatitis, tonsillitis, frostbite. A tablespoon of raw materials must be poured with a glass of water, boiled for a minute, insisted for half an hour, filtered and taken a quarter cup before meals 3 times a day. The infusion of nut pericarp is recommended for menstrual irregularities, whitening and bleeding, especially uterine. For preparation, you need to fill in 5 tablespoons of raw materials with a half liter of water, boil for a quarter of an hour, insist for about 30 minutes, strain and use as a wound healing agent.
Autumn is the time when picking walnuts is a very useful and exciting activity. In combination with physical activity, it is the key to maintaining health, because walnuts are a storehouse of useful trace elements. The main thing is to timely examine it underfoot among the thick walnut foliage.