Question
I have a black walnut tree growing on my property, it is actually in a very heavily wooded part, I am not sure how old it is but I am sure it has some age on it, we discovered it at the beginning of the year and now I see the green husks falling. My question is... I see that they are infested with maggots, are the nuts safe to eat even with the maggots eating the husk? I noticed some of the husks are turning black and the getting pretty mushy but people have told me that the nuts are still edible. Just wanting to know if that is true. Thanks so much!

Answer
The husks do turn black and decay leaving the nut inside. The insects are just feeding on the husks and should not be a problem with the nuts themselves. You will need to let the nuts dry out before you try to crack them --it makes it so much easier to get into the hard shell.

Hickory nuts must be completely dried out before you crack them open. Give them several weeks in a dry, cool place.

When you're ready to start cracking, Mother Earth News suggests assembling a nutpick, a brick and a pan. (Don't try to use a lever-type nutcracker - it will simply crush the meats into fragments.)

Place the brick on a hard, level surface (such as concrete) and set the pan next to it. Then grasp a nut between your left thumb and forefinger, with its stem end pointing toward the right. Balance the hickory on top of the brick (narrow edge downward) and aim the hammer at a spot about one-third of the way down from the stem.

Whack that spot with a short, sharp blow. The nut will pop open, though the shells may not split into perfect halves every time.

"The single most important factor will be the weight and striking force of the hammer blow . . . which you'll have to learn by experience," says Mother Earth News.

Once you've cracked a fair number of hickories, use the pick to remove the meats. The shell fragments can be thrown into the bird feeder or added to the coals while grilling to impart a hickory smoked flavor

The key is letting them dry before cracking.

I woould wear gloves when getting the nuts out of the husks--the husks have a dye in them that is hard to get off your hands.