If you live in the Midwest, you are probably familiar with black walnut trees. Every fall they drop obtrusive, pesky nuts that plague homeowners everywhere. They clog gutters, stain sidewalks and driveways, and make a mess of the yard. The only purpose they seem to serve is food for the squirrels. Yet black walnuts at the grocery sell for an impressive amount. Did you know that most black walnuts sold at grocery stores are harvested by farmers and steaders just like you? It’s true. You can actually get paid for the black walnuts you collect out of your backyard! Hammons Products Company will pay $14 per 100 pounds of black walnuts collected in the fall between October 1 and November 1 every year. Seems too good to be true, right? Well, we decided to give it a try this year to find out.

Although we don’t currently have any black walnut trees here at Timberidge Farms, I still wanted to try my hand at selling walnuts. I collected walnuts from neighbors, coworkers, & friends. After a couple weeks of casual collecting, I amassed approximately 85 gallons of unhulled walnuts. Hammons purchases the walnuts based on the hulled weight, or the weight after removing the outer green covering. Because the hull will be removed, it can be in any condition: green, brown, or totally missing. I collected my walnuts by hand, but the process could be quickened with the use of a “Nut Wizard,” or similar product. One word of caution, the squirrels will love to feast on your gathered nuts.

After collecting the walnuts, I visited Hammon’s website and entered my zipcode to find the hulling location nearest to me. The closest location was about an hour away. I packed up my Honda Element with the 85 gallons of walnuts (which is about all it could hold!) and hit the road. Once I arrived, I dumped the nuts into the hopper of the large hulling machine. The machine removed the hull and spat the clean nuts into mesh bags. Once the all my walnuts were processed, the operator weighed the clean nuts and paid me for the total hulled weight. This year’s rate is $0.14 per pound of the hulled weight. My approx. 85 gallons of unhulled nuts amounted to 85lbs of hulled nuts, earning $12. It’s as simple as that. The way home I spent contemplating how to spend the small fortune I just made!

Overall it was a fun experience. It’s always nice to make use of our natural resources rather than throwing them away. It’s also cool to be able to see “your own” black walnuts sitting on the shelf at your local grocery store. However, based on our experience this fall, we aren’t inclined to grow our own walnut trees for nut production. The $12 I earned barely covered the gas it took to deliver the nuts. That being said, you may find that collecting black walnuts is a worthwhile venture for you.

 

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that at no additional cost to you we may make a small commission if you click on the link & make a purchase. Thank you for your support!