Stomp Time

I’ve only read about the stomping of grapes; however, in the near future I really want to experience the feeling  of juicy grapes between my toes and the stomping of fruit into wine.  What an amazing experience it must be to toss off your socks and shoes and leap into a vat of grapes.   Dancing around and around in a circle as you contemplate the fact that you are actually accomplishing something and not just making a mess!

If grapes were to fall from their vine you may hear a pitter patter;  but at the farm we’ve been hearing a louder sound.  THUNK, THUNK, THUNK.   It kinda sounds like a tennis game, and if you look all over the ground it looks like a deserted tennis court.  However, these are not grapes falling from their vines, nor are they tennis balls on the court.  They are black walnuts falling from their branches.

Maybe one day we will grow our own grapes and enjoy the experience, but this fall we took advantage of the walnuts that have fallen in abundance from the trees.  So, at the farm, we recently had our own kind of stomp.

SHAKE . . RATTLE. . . ROLL

 

At first, the walnuts fell naturally, but we soon discovered the art of shaking the fruit from the trees!

Now that we had all these walnuts it was time to stomp!  So, stomp we did.

Until they looked like these pictures below.

Collecting the pile of walnuts on the ground left very stained hands!  My boys didn’t think twice about grabbing the husks and crushing them with their bare hands!  Even two weeks later the remains are still visible.

After they were collected in this bucket, they were power washed and laid to rest. Of course the best spot in the house was the ping-pong table.

Several weeks later, the walnuts were dry and ready to crack!

I tasted a piece of the meat and the Black walnut has a very intense bold earthy flavor.   Almost medicinal.  If you desire to take the time to crack them, for the walnut lover, they are worth the work.

♥ Meghan