December 2025 • Nebraskaland 35
other nuts while they were cracked with another stone.
Some tribes boiled the walnut meats and skimmed the oil
for cooking or ate them raw, roasted or ground into meal for
breads and porridges. In Nebraska, the Pawnee, Omaha and
Ponca ate them raw, mixed with honey or stirred into soups.
Among Euro-American settlers, nutting parties were both a
social event and a way to fill the pantry. On pleasant autumn
days, neighbors and friends gathered in walnut stands,
the adults collecting nuts while visiting, and the children
playing beneath the yellowing trees. Many nuts were eaten
on the spot, while the rest were taken home, likely in bushel
baskets on the back of a wagon, and stored to be savored in
cakes, pies and candies over the coming winter.
I usually gather walnuts about a month after they fall,
giving the husks time to dry and darken. This is a gamble: If
the crop is small, squirrels may leave
few behind. To husk them, I place
the nuts on a brick or concrete and
give the dried husks a few light taps
with a hammer to loosen them
before peeling them away. Then I
crack the shell with firmer blows
and pick out the nutmeats. It is
slow work, but I find it relaxing
and a bit nostalgic.
In "Wild Seasons: Gathering
and Cooking Wild Plants of
the Great Plains," author Kay
Young notes that the husk's
strong, pungent juice can seep
In early autumn, walnuts ripen in thick green husks that fall to the ground and split open to release the nuts.
