Nuts! Long term storing ideas and stacking functions

[@edibleacres]

Please consider subscribing and hitting like if you found this video useful!

[@SB-mo7tq]

Easily my favorite channel on KZbin, what a wealth of knowledge and innovation!

[@edibleacres]

Wow, thank you!

[@interestedperson7073]

Built some of these this year thanks to your other Black Walnut processing videos. They’re doing great so far.

[@brajboro]

Just love this. We've been wanting to make some air prune boxes. Stacking functions, literally. Thanks crew.

[@slaplapdog]

Love your use of the file cabinets, I use them in my kitchen to keep the mice out of everything. Seeing the multiple uses of the racks is inspiring me to make my own.

[@TriggaTreDay]

I never thought to use them for food storage. I always see them for free in my city so I will have to pick up a few next time I see them. Do they do well with air flow and keeping stuff dry? Could you store like potatoes 🥔 in them?

[@TriggaTreDay]

I’ll for sure be building a few of these boxes. I have the large plastic industry kitchen crates that I use to do my initial drying of the nuts, the squirrels are a pain to keep away, so I had to cover the crates with mesh fabric so that it could deter them from trying to get through the side handle slits.

[@edibleacres]

Simple, modular and replicable is the way to go.

[@joe4324]

This is SO much more efficient than most any other type of hunting/foraging.

[@edibleacres]

It feels like a critical base layer to food security, with gardening, wild foraging and hunting as additional layers of benefit.

[@heterodox3487]

The mice assumed you were wonderful beings sharing your nuts. I'm sure there were some high 5's when they found your stash. Excellent storage solution!

[@Nick-ow7th]

This is such a cute image in my head! Love it :)

[@lisahoche4017]

Thanks for another inspiring and educational video. Love how resourceful you are. Grace and peace to you and Sasha. May you continue to prosper and grow.

[@peterellis5626]

Stacking functions in the most literal sense ;)

[@edibleacres]

Yep!

[@farmerjones5479]

Thank you. I have just delved into nut forage. I left s 5 gallon bucket out for a minute and then green husks for an hour and the local squirrels went insane 😅. I can see my onion sack idea is bust. I got some wooden wine crates from the olden days will rig with hardware cloth. My carpenter skills are just ok. Amazing! My stash drying in my basement in 2 liter soda plastic crate. I will burn an insence. I spied a chestnut tree too I watched an old man feverishly picking something. He sold his house and was gathering before new owners came.. I though walnut but no the rare chestnut...in PA many killed by disease. You must look to see. 🙏🏽

[@dancingcedar]

Thank you. Very useful info. Brilliant ideas, as usual, well explained. A friend of mine used to work in the shipyard, where they had to figure out how not to allow access to mice. The shipyard standard for mouseproofing was that the holes had to have no larger a diameter than 1/4 inch. So I use 1/4 inch hardware cloth, and have never seen mice get through..Good luck! I have had English Walnuts in the shell stored in a cool first floor go rancid after 1 year of storage. Now I only keep them, in the shell, in air tight plastc jars, in the freezer and they store for at least a year that way without going rancid. They get eaten after 1 year, so I do not know how long you can keep that going. What a sweet, sweet house!!!!! I love it!!!! I love the curtain and chair revealing honorable history, and the radiantly healthy plants :) Blessings :)

[@edibleacres]

Our english walnuts get funky after a bit, so we try to prioritize enjoying them first. 1/4" hardware cloth is probably most safe. So far we've been lucky but I think our cats help a lot :)

[@edifying]

With all the nut trees I purchased from you this fall I will need to start constructing some of these. I will use them for all our black walnuts while the other nut trees are growing.

[@edibleacres]

Great idea!

[@fallenangelwi25]

I absolutely love and appreciate your how to video on cleaning the nuts. We went to do ours and our neighbor had taken them from our property in our woods. Hopefully they are as hungry as we get and can use them more.

[@edibleacres]

Hoping for massive abundance for you for next year!

[@fallenangelwi25]

@@edibleacres thank you and most definitely!!!! We gladly would have shared just wish they would have asked and saved some for us lol.

[@rosedoucet2188]

Great information. I just acquired butternut seeds I planted in a nursery bed. Hopefully, I'll have 6 or 7 seedlings in the spring. You could also re-purpose discarded dresser drawers...hmmm, I'll have to watch for them during spring cleanup.

[@MySliceOfHeavenoutdoors]

You are a wealth of information, Glad I found your channel

[@Rytoast99]

Excellent idea! Btw this is a random thought but if you are looking to heat a pipe or small space outside, consider a flat fresnel lenses. I put one on a frame and I have melted steel nails with it

[@edibleacres]

I have fresnel lenses and have thought about how to use it to accumulate heat. I'd have to figure out a way to diffuse it so it doesn't set everything on fire!

[@BoldlyGrowHomestead]

Our 16yr old small black walnut tree doesn't produce much but I haven't quite figured out the timing on harvest... I wait until they drop but a lot of them come out rotted already. The best I have had fell out of the outer husk while the husk was still attached to the tree.

[@jameskniskern2261]

I built an entire "corn crib" up in my barn for nut, corn, and other seed storage. :) Rock on and permaculture rules!

[@edibleacres]

I bet thats a sight to behold!

[@jameskniskern2261]

It is! It has 2 levels, is 6 foot tall, 8 feet wide, and has 2 massive doors on the front, all enclosed with 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

[@McCoysOakHillFarm]

This is really great way to store nuts too. I would have done the same as you with the mesh bags. Thanks for sharing! :)

[@GFD472]

How do you deal with moisture in the basement during the Summer months? I would think the nuts would start to mold over time. Do you run a dehumidifier or use another method to keep the damp away?

[@conradhomestead4518]

GFD472 good question. I’m wondering also

[@edibleacres]

We do have a dehumidifier that runs down there as needed.

[@yking333]

Love your channel, and have been following along for a while now. Do you have more details on how these are constructed? In particular, I’m wondering a) the thickness of boards you used, b) did you do anything to make the boxes/frames stack more securely c) did you paint or treat the wood w oil etc? I know this is an old video, but I’m hoping to build a few myself this year! Thanks for sharing all of your knowledge.

[@edibleacres]

I don't remember exactly, but I recall the wood being 1" thick stock, probably hemlock or another lighter and easy to work wood, no painting or treatment. Uniform building of each one so they stack together nicely... Easy stuff, don't over think it!

[@kristilisakleiner9384]

Great color for you to wear, thanks for the information

[@kevinosborn7714]

Thank you for such a good video!

[@larryroberts8607]

Thanks for the vedio! Chipmunk s and mice are always a challenge. Could you suggest a large individual bare root packaging method on distribution of chestnut seedlings to neighbors? Thanks again !

[@edibleacres]

We wrap larger trees in offcuts of plastic wrapped around the roots with moist sawdust

[@elmerdink]

I'm new to chestnuts. I have 4 very mature trees with a large harvest. What do I do once I've picked them up off the ground? I'm going out to the barn right now to get all the "stuff" to build the boxes in your video.

[@edibleacres]

You can dry them over a wood stove for a longer lasting dried product to grind and cook later, or store them in moist sawdust protected from rodents to enjoy fresh in the winter.

[@elmerdink]

Thank you!

[@michiganhay7844]

I had all the same problems I had Indian moths coming out of those walnuts all winter though that caused me a lot of problems so now I developed a high capacity cracking system I let them air dry outside for about a month and then crack them all at once

[@edibleacres]

Glad you've found a good system for yourself!

[@guttersnipechum]

Hi, this is a great video and you seem quite knowledgeable! My husband and I harvested our shellbark and shagbark hickory nuts this year for the first time and after leaving them to dry, the shellbark nuts developed hairline cracks. I don't undestand why, as the shagbark nuts didn't, but my question to you is, have you experienced this happening with some of your nuts after drying and also, can you store them with hairline cracks or will they mold and/or go stale?

[@christineortmann359]

Thanks for sharing we are growing 2?pecan trees and hopefully will get some nuts this year.

[@edibleacres]

I hope so too!

[@shaneswing2016]

I'm curious what type of nut cracker you used in the video. Looks like a commercial grade machine.

[@edibleacres]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYXKp5qne8t4rKM - great tool, although I don'tknow if they sell them anymore :(

[@lazybee9011]

These are some clever ideas! But I would use 1/4 inch hardware cloth to keep mice out.

[@JarvisJensen]

What are the limits for temperature and humidity that you could store nuts in shell for years? Wondering if a shed without any sort of temperature controls could be suitable. Thanks!

[@edibleacres]

I can't say for sure, but I know of some folks who store them in protected spaces out in garages, etc. I don't know how well they last though.

[@lynxacres1293]

I was wondering...with the air pruning beds, do you prefer the 1’x2’, or the 2’x4’? And why? What do you find is the best height/depth? Is it different for different trees? Is there a resource to figure out best depths for different trees? I know you used risers on some. Do you ever use raw 2x6s from pallets for this kind of projects (or even for other projects like bird houses?). Thanks! And I really enjoyed this video.

[@edibleacres]

1x2' are great if they need to move / be portable. 6" or 8" is deepest you'd want to go since it would be super heavy deeper than that. 2x4' is great if you want it to be in one place for the whole season. They can have the 'riser' I mention in my videos to get them 14" deep or more. The more tap rooted the tree the more the air pruned beds are helpful. Experiment, you'll find a nice balance I"m sure. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZuxY6OAhqpjrNE - Has details on what we're trying, how it was working etc...

[@lynxacres1293]

EdibleAcres thank you!

[@deborahmeijer9697]

You should build a simpel frame for those boxes so you could use those boxes as drawers. Sould save you some time checking the nuts for bad ones and could help the airflow.

[@thenextpoetician6328]

Great system. Off topic, if that's a bit of a crack in the drywall above the top right corner of the doorway, fyi, one should never put a drywall joint there. Should be offset to the next stud. VOE, ahem. Happy Gregorian calendar New Year and have an awesome time prepping for spring. :)

[@ponypetedm]

Awesome you’ve just solved my biggest dilemma.

[@conradhomestead4518]

Another great video 😁👍

[@schatzihall6572]

I have nuts stored outside in a side porch in onion sacks. I’m in a tiny house, so space is an issue. Is it ok if they freeze? These are black walnuts. Thanks.

[@edibleacres]

Still worth trying to grow, but full force winter cold can be quite rough on tree seeds. Consider buckets with holes drilled and storing in the earth with media next winter. Definitely still plant these and see what happens!

[@Animegypsy]

I heard you had to keep chestnuts damp to prevent mold. How do you dry yours?

[@edibleacres]

We put them on racks over our wood stove and let them rest there for a number of weeks.

[@terrynoraturner1848]

Will you have any shag bark hickory and butter nuts available this year? Would you be willing to sell any viable nuts for planting? Only 10" of rain here, I need small trees with no tap root damage to survive in this area of Oklahoma. So far I have had better survival starting my own trees and grafting them when needed my self.

[@edibleacres]

We may... We are going to be growing out seed if they survive our winter storage method, and would hope to have them available for fall 2020.

[@argentvixen]

what do you do with the shells? do they compost super slowly? about the same time as wood chips or slower?

[@edibleacres]

I forgot to include a shot about it, but we make biochar with them in our woodstove...

[@morjulies]

@@edibleacres Does that mean that you burn them then put out the fire when only carbon remains?

[@forgottenforest1]

My friend I want to plant nut trees is my yard.. please can you list a few nut trees I could plant. I’m in zone 7a

[@edibleacres]

So many! Northern Pecans, Carpathian Walnut, Chestnut, Hican, Hazelnut, on and on!

[@tracybruring8440]

I made mine this way and the bottom fell out when I filled with soil and nuts as an air prune bed; I had to wrap my wire around the outside and staple on the side; what did I do wrong?

[@edibleacres]

I normally use wooden 'battons' to screw down to hold the wire on the bottom, that is incredibly strong. If just using staples you'd want to use a good staple gun with long staples and put in a minimum of 30-40 per box.

[@beckyjohnson3153]

Great idea!

[@wildedibles819]

Very cool thanks

[@Gringanica]

Do you sell your wooden frames?

[@edibleacres]

We do not, they are incredibly easy for anyone to build though.

[@joecombs7468]

👍

[@glenfaughtjr1663]

Do you have radon mitigation in place?

[@connorwestgate]

why would you need it, i doubt nuts put out any real amounts of radioactivity

[@edibleacres]

We don't, maybe we should check that out.

[@sueyoung2115]

@@nMystic-333 I think it's not any problem as long as it's at pretty low level. I also think it's a way to make money for the heat and electric company as well as inspectors and equipment providers. The gas supposedly sinks and the venting draws it up and out!?

[@pokeweed10k15]

That kind of nut production would be great in conjuction with hogs. Why dont you and Sasha eat pork?

[@edibleacres]

Sasha feels really uncomfortable about eating pork, and I'm not a huge fan (although bacon can be lovely sometimes). Overall it just doesn't feel like the right fit for our life.

[@russsherwood5978]

ai jist got my roll o wire in this morning its the 1/8th. in. wire ai,m not taken any chances with these little hudinis, wish ai had this video last fall fer the massive wild hazel nut harvest thet them rodents got already, next year ai,m ginna be better prepared ta save the harvest with this video,s help,, thank ya thank ya, 10 thumbs-up on this video

[@edibleacres]

Be careful that if the mesh is too too tight it might not work for air prune bed purposes. But a tight mesh is probably quite safe. Good luck!