A small tree, in a warm spot, will shower you with walnuts within five years – if the squirrels don’t get there first
Squirrels are bastards. How else can you explain every single walnut on the tree gnawed through to its bitter green husks, the unripe nut cracked open only for the thief to discover that the flavour is not to his liking. There is not much to salvage from such nibbled nuts in terms of eating, but the fleshy outer husks make an excellent dye that ranges from yellow to pinkish grey to deep brown, depending on the age of the husk and what fixer is used. It is easily extracted in water brought to the boil.
So, to the soundtrack of mocking squirrels, I picked up the spoiled nuts and cooked up a vast vat of dye. We may end up looking like medieval monks by the time I have finished dyeing all our faded white T-shirts, but I feel, at least, that I have honoured the harvest, for it has been a bumper year for walnuts.
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