Growing Manchurian Nuts Near St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Manchurian walnut bears fruit near St. Petersburg

The appearance of the Manchu walnut in our garden was facilitated by a strong desire to have a wide variety of crops of various garden plants on the site.

Growing a nut at home seemed like something outlandish, and especially a nut with such an intriguing sonorous name - doubly tempting. The case also presented itself.

At a time when the Internet was not yet so widespread, and it was not so easy to find a plant of interest, we accidentally saw an advertisement for the sale of Manchurian nut seedlings by an experimental garden of the St. Petersburg Agrarian University. Our aspiration and opportunities coincided. Two seedlings were purchased and planted.

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Although it is believed that the Manchu nut loves well-moistened, drained fertile soils, prefers well-lit places, does not tolerate drought, I, based on my experience of growing it, can say that in general the Manchu nut is generally undemanding to growing conditions. Here it grows very close to an old-growth apple tree and a tall pear in the shade of a neighbor's house, which is located on the south side. There is a small groove nearby for water drainage.

Our walnut has been growing for about ten years, and now it is a tall tree that has reached nine meters, with a wide-rounded, high-raised openwork crown, a straight, even trunk and very decorative large leaves that change color in autumn from bright green to golden yellow. Therefore, it looks very impressive against the background of ordinary garden trees.

First of all, the Manchu walnut surprised us with its fast growth and excellent ability to form new branches. For 4-5 years, we had unstable winters followed by late spring return frosts. And the leaves of the Manchurian walnut are very sensitive to frost, so they turned black, and every spring it seemed to us that the nut froze and died. Indeed, many branches froze, but, surprisingly, literally on one or two branches new green leaves appeared, and the nut came to life again.

Our walnut tree bifurcated into two trunks of the same diameter. But after one or two frosty winters on one of the trunks, significant flaws appeared in the form of a small crack and two depressions (hollows). And since the tree was developing rapidly and was already shading the pear and apple tree, it was decided to cut the trunk with a flaw.

A final cut was made on the ring, which we processed with putty. Observations showed that all previous cuts, both smaller in diameter, and the last saw cut (10 cm in diameter), were very quickly overgrown with kalyus. Kalus literally covered the entire cut, which meant that the tree has good vitality and the ability to resist.

Subsequent observations showed that the tree has adapted to our northern climate. In confirmation of this, two years ago, the remaining trunk gave a bountiful harvest of nuts resembling walnuts, only more elongated and ribbed. In the fall, we collected a small basket of nuts from the ground. Unlike walnuts, the shell of a Manchurian nut turned out to be very hard, so it is difficult to crack these nuts, but it is possible - with a hammer blow on the rib.

To do this, place the nut on a hard surface, such as a massive metal object. Unfortunately, the edible part of the nut makes up about 25% of the nut's mass and is found inside the nut in small compartments. Therefore, the already split nut had to be split into several smaller pieces in order to extract the oily kernel. These nuts taste almost indistinguishable from walnuts. And the oil from the kernels of the Manchurian walnut, as experts say, in its properties is not inferior to the valuable walnut oil.

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Use of Manchurian walnut in medicine

Not only the fruits of the Manchurian nut are useful, but also the leaves. They found many useful substances - ascorbic acid, tannins, essential oil, alkaloids, carotene and phytoncides.

The leaves have astringent, antimicrobial, wound healing and antiseptic properties. Both fresh and dried leaves are used. Leaves without petioles are harvested in June in dry weather. Dry quickly in the sun or in the shade, spreading out in a thin layer so as not to turn black. They are used as a bactericidal, restorative, anti-sclerotic agent (for sclerosis of the brain and cardiac vessels), improve metabolism, and reduce blood sugar. Infusion of pericarp and leaves increases the functional activity of the skin.

It is indicated for various skin diseases (purulent rashes, lichen, eczema, etc.), as well as as a wound healing agent in the form of lotions, baths, washing. Decoction of leaves gargle with sore throat. For internal consumption, prepare an infusion of 1 teaspoon of dry leaves per 1 cup of boiling water. Insist it in a thermos for 30 minutes. Apply a tablespoon 3-4 times a day. For rinsing and lotions (externally) - 1 tablespoon per glass of boiling water.

We also made a tincture of vodka from Manchurian nuts, which after 10 days turned dark and acquired a specific taste. The top surface of the tincture was covered with an oily film. Our experience has shown that this beautiful original tree can be successfully used on plots as a decorative one, since it has good energy, looks beautiful and grows quickly, and also gives a good harvest of fruits that have healing properties.