My dad had a dream: to have a small black walnut orchard for nuts and, eventually, lumber. Sadly, he passed before his walnut (or castle) dream came to pass, but he did instil a similar dream in me.

Why Black Walnuts?

There are a few reasons that I would like to grow black walnuts up at the cabin. First is as a food crop. Black walnuts are just damned tasty. Sure they may be harder to crack than your standard run of the mill english walnut, but they are quite worth it. Humans aren't the only ones who love black walnuts either. Squirrels, chipmunks, and other animals have quite a taste for them as well! One of my long-term goals for the cabin is to provide a good environment for the local wildlife and walnuts will help that goal along nicely.

Second is as a dye crop. Black walnut makes a lovely dye for natural fibers and can also be used for ink. Though I don't do any fiber work myself, I have many friends who do. A bucket of walnuts will be my gift to them every year!

Third is as a cash crop. For both of the reasons above, I should be able to sell a decent number of walnuts and husks via an online store or through a distributor. If not, well, I suppose my friends will be getting more than a small bucket a year!

Finally, I love the look of black walnut wood: there are few finer woods, in my mind. Prices on straight trees can be several thousand dollars each with top examples fetching $30,000+ for veneer. Though I doubt they will be ready for a harvest in my lifetime, they may provide a college education to one or two grandkids should I ever be so lucky. And if not, maybe I'll use them for my own fine furniture. Smaller projects can be done using prunings while larger projects can be done as the trees mature. 

Difficulties with Black Walnuts

Black walnuts are allelopathic and secrete a toxin known as juglone. Many plants don't like juglone and won't grow anywhere near a black walnut. In fact, some plants are so sensitive that they won't grow anywhere near where a black walnut was 20 years ago! This presents some real difficulties when you want to plant black walnuts using permaculture and guild practices. Thankfully, there are some techniques that should prevent these issues from coming up.

Basic Guild Ideas

Preliminary thoughts are based on an email to the permaculture mailing list (archived here) and the following: Walnut Hackberry Guilds (permaculture.org, pdf), Black Walnut Guild (cubits.org), Black Walnut Guild (Midwest Permaculture Forum), and the links in the Links section. 

• Walnuts: 90% black, 5% Carpathian, 5% Butternut (White Walnut). Hey, variety is good and I might as well keep all the juglone in the same area. 
• Hackberry
• Currant
• Russian Olive
• Mullberry

Links

• Growing Black Walnut for Nut Production (pdf)
• Notes on walnut cultivars (pdf)
• Growing and Harvesting Black Walnuts
• Black Walnut Toxicity to Plants, Humans, and Horses (Ohio State Extension Fact Sheet)
• Alleopathic Effects fo Juglone on Germination and Growth... (pdf)