What is the easiest and cheapest nut to gather? Walnuts, of course! When my kids were in grade school, I would drive along country roads looking for walnut trees that had dropped their nuts. I figured if the nuts fell between the farmer's fence and the roadway, they were fair game. Most of the time I was right. Other times, with the farmer screaming and running after us, I hurriedly loaded my kids in the truck and sped off.

Picking them up was just the start of the walnut process. Next, the outer husk must be removed for the shell to dry properly. I prefer to husk them with a hammer. Then I dry the nuts on window screens placed at the edge of the garden. The occasional rain cleans them a bit, too. Then, when dry, they're bagged in brown grocery bags and set on a shelf in a warm dry place. I tried putting them in our barn, but squirrels gleaned every nut, leaving the bag in its original shape. I let them dry about a year. (That was when I was doing nuts every year.) You can crack them in late winter. They will be ready.

Next, I set up a cracking station in the basement, using the piece of narrow gauge railroad rail my father-in-law gave me years ago. With story disc in the CD player, I cracked away. When there was a big pan full, the operation moved to the table, where I sorted out the big pieces of shell and sifted out the dusty stuff with a colander. It was time to can. If this seems like a lot of work, maybe it is, but it's worth it.

The Knoxville News Sentinel did a story on my nut cracking and baking operations in November of 2005. You can find the story in their archives. I have those pages framed and on my wall.

OVEN CANNED WALNUTS

When ready to can, put about 2 cups of nutmeats in a colander at a time and shake away the dust and tiny bits of shell. Don't wash them. But do wash and dry pint jars and lids. Add cleaned walnut meats up to the shoulders of the jar. Don't shake to compact the nuts. They will expand during baking. Apply lids, tightening just until snug. Be careful not to over-tighten. But if lid is too loose, the jar will not seal. Place jars on rack centered in oven, leaving at least 2 inches between jars. Turn oven to 250 F. When oven reaches that temperature, start timing. Bake 1 hour. The jars and nuts will be sterilized during the baking process. Remove from oven. Don't further tighten lids. Beads of moisture may have formed inside the jars. That's OK. It will be absorbed as they cool. Turn upside down on newspapers on the counter. Label with date and store in a place where the nut lovers in your house can't find them. They will keep like fresh for years.