How to peel walnuts so that the kernels remain intact

We give you a business idea!

The idea of ​​such a business as growing nuts in Russia will not occur to everyone. By the way, this business is quite profitable. Let's list offhand all the advantages of this project: firstly, investments, of course, will be required, but they will not be completely unaffordable. The main and largest expense item is the acquisition of land. If this is an agricultural area, its price will not be too prohibitive.

Other smaller expenses include the purchase of harvesting equipment, fertilizers and, of course, seedlings. All this is no longer so expensive compared to land. If we consider the business idea as a whole, then growing a walnut orchard will cost an order of magnitude less than, say, setting up and promoting your own beauty salon.

If you live in a rural area and already have your own plot of land, you can start a nut business quite inexpensively. Sometimes village residents practice growing nuts at home for their own needs. This is done in the garden, in the garden or even in the summer cottage. In this case, it is possible to grow nuts from seeds or seedlings.

Pests and diseases: control measures

Compared to other trees, walnut is less often affected by pests and diseases. But nevertheless, some “friends of the garden” visit it:

• American white butterfly . It produces three generations over the summer, and the third is the most harmful. The butterfly caterpillars, having settled on the leaves, gradually move throughout the tree. To combat them, microbiological preparations or insecticides can be used.
• The walnut or apple moth brings 2 generations. The caterpillars crawl inside the nut, eating away its contents. Infected nuts fall off. The method of control is pheromone traps that attract males. Reproduction is reduced, and there are fewer caterpillars. They are treated with viral drugs that cause caterpillar disease and death. A mechanical method is also used: collecting caterpillars and affected fruits by hand.
• Aphids settle on young shoots and buds, forming colonies on the inner leaf surface. Chemicals are used for destruction.
• Sapwood is a beetle that lives under the bark, so it is difficult to detect. Gnawing out the bark of a tree, it leaves behind curved channels. Beetles settle on weak plants and cause abundant sap flow. Over the summer, 2 generations are formed. Control measures: spraying with insecticides. Prevention - sanitary cutting of damaged branches.

A tree can also get sick for physiological reasons: poor soil, lack of light, excess moisture, spring frosts, poor care.

Most often, walnuts are affected by brown leaf spot , fire blight , bacteriosis , and root canker .

Besides…

Another important advantage is that walnut trees are quite unpretentious. They begin to bear fruit five to seven years after planting. If you select the right variety, you can expect a good harvest and no special care hassle. Some varieties of nuts tolerate winter frost quite well, and birds, the scourge of orchards, can cause less damage to them. This is explained simply - the hard shell most often reliably protects the nuts from bird beaks.

In addition, nuts are easier to store than fruits or vegetables. The main requirement for a room allocated for storage is sufficient dryness. Even at a relatively low temperature in an isolated dry room, their shelf life will be at least a year.

An additional advantage is that the competition in this niche is not that great. Growing nuts at home is one thing, but business with them is not very widespread - mainly because of the long payback period. In addition, Russian farmers do not trust the domestic climate and are afraid to invest in such a long-term project in the conditions of our frosty winters. But this state of affairs will not prevent a savvy entrepreneur from establishing the cultivation of nuts - a business in which he may find himself a monopolist in his own region.

Nuts are always in high demand. Their deficit in European countries, where very little of them are grown, is about 100,000 tons every year. That is, there will always be buyers for such products.

Now about the disadvantages

Well, what are the disadvantages of the proposed business idea? As always and everywhere, the main one is the need to invest quite significant funds at the initial stage. Although a nut plantation is not an expensive boutique in the center of the capital, it will still require start-up expenses. You may have to take out a loan to purchase a plot of land or save for quite a long time.

Another serious drawback lies in the specifics of this type of product such as walnuts. Growing and caring for it will give the first results no earlier than after 4 years. Your plantation will reach its peak yield only after 10 years. Thus, this business refers to projects with a fairly long payback period. Not every entrepreneur agrees to wait such a considerable period of time.

To partially compensate for the costs, you can set up an apiary on the territory of the nut plantation or try to plant shade-tolerant varieties of cucumbers and tomatoes in the spaces between the trees.

Landing

The best method of propagation is to obtain a crop from seeds. In this case, you can be sure what fruits you will get in the end. Select a tree and collect several fruits from it. The seedling grown from such fruits will be well acclimatized to local conditions.

Attention! To grow a crop, it is worth planting more than one tree. The distance between seedlings is 5 m. Keep in mind that over time the crown will grow. On slopes, denser planting is permissible - every 3.5 m.

Walnuts should be planted in sunny, illuminated places. In relation to soils, the plant is unpretentious. It is “satisfied” with different types of soil and varied terrain. But it should not be planted in wet, sandy or poorly aerated areas. Close proximity to groundwater is undesirable.

The landing technology is as follows:

1. We plant in the spring, because autumn planting can lead to the death of poorly strengthened seedlings from frost.
2. Planting time is April (more specifically, the time is determined based on the region).
3. The planting hole (50x50 cm) is prepared in advance; a rich earthen mixture is poured into it. Mixture composition: compost + ash + superphosphate. You can add humus.
4. We straighten the roots, gradually sprinkling them with earthen mixture. We water it. We compact the soil around the seedling.
5. The root collar is covered with soil by 5 cm.

The first fruits should appear in 4 years.

What needs to be provided

You will need a warehouse where the nuts will be stored until they are sold. You will also need to take care of the vehicle for delivering the crop to the customer (buyer), harvesting equipment and drainage system.

If funds are seriously limited, all of the above costs can be minimized by taking some actions. For example, picking fruits is possible without special harvesting equipment - with your own hands. Renting a warehouse can be undertaken for a short period of time - if you can quickly sell off the entire harvest. As for transport, a supply contract can be concluded on a self-pickup basis.

Thus, you should think hard, calculate all the pros and cons and decide for yourself what outweighs.

Preparing fruits for splitting

First, a little advice. When purchasing whole nuts in a store or from private sellers, it is better to choose ones with darker shades of shell and a larger size without damage. It has been noticed that they are much easier to clean.

It is better not to buy nuts that are wet or that have been in the cold for a long time. And finally, the tastiest ones will be the ones that produce a louder sound when you knock your knees against each other. Those that produce a dull sound when struck often have poor taste.

Preparation for crushing differs for purchased fruits and those collected from your own garden.

Let's get down to business

In what area can walnuts be planted? Growing and caring for it for the purpose of sale requires a minimum area of ​​at least half a hectare. If the site is very modest, the meaning of the enterprise is lost, since it will not be possible to recoup the costs of rent, hiring labor and purchasing equipment.

If the target profit figure is $10,000 per hectare, the farmer should seriously consider calculating the amount he can afford to spend on the purchase of the plot and the costs of the first stage before receiving the initial profit.

Care

Walnut - planting and care

The plant does not require care. While it is small, you can grow vegetables between the trees.

Attention! Nitrogen fertilizers must be applied with great care, as they can cause the development of bacterial diseases. At the beginning of seedling growth, you should not add them at all.

Walnut: cultivation and care in different regions

Much, if not everything, depends on the choice of soil. Sandy or loamy varieties are not suitable for nuts; these plants prefer supersandy, light loamy or turf varieties. Growing them requires good lighting; if they are constantly in the shade, these plants may well die.

They also love warmth. Although some frost-resistant varieties are able to withstand short-term frosts reaching -30⁰. But still, breeding them in conditions, for example, Siberia, is a completely futile activity. But growing walnuts in the middle zone is a very real thing. Nowadays, quite a few frost-resistant varieties have appeared. Walnuts are no longer a curiosity in the Moscow region. The cultivation of varieties specially bred for the climate of the middle zone is successfully practiced by gardeners in this region. And not only in him.

Is it possible to plant, for example, walnuts in Belarus? Some gardeners strongly do not welcome growing it there - they say it is a hopeless undertaking. But actually it is not. It is important to choose the right variety. Breeders have bred several varieties adapted to local conditions, so this is no longer an exotic walnut in Belarus. Growing it only requires compliance with certain planting and care rules.

How to select and store walnuts?

The nuts begin to ripen at the end of August. Some fruits fall from the tree on their own, while others need to be removed. To collect nuts for storage, it is recommended to choose dry weather. The fruits are cleaned of any remaining peel and leaves and lined. They should dry within 4-6 days. If weather conditions do not allow drying outside, then they are laid out in the house. It is recommended to lay the fruits on a fabric or paper litter.

Drying is one of the important stages of storage. If you neglect it, the walnut fruits will quickly begin to mold. After drying, the shell is re-inspected. It should be free of chips, cracks, mold and other defects. It is recommended to store nuts in fabric bags or paper boxes at a temperature not lower than +10°C, but not higher than +15°C.

To make the right choice when purchasing, you need to pay attention to the absence of:

• mold;
• cracks;
• dried dark peel.

The fruits may be empty inside, so when purchasing, you should pay attention to their weight. A few nuts can be shaken near your ear. If the kernel clicks on the shell, it means the fruit was stored incorrectly.

Features of agricultural technology

Fertilizers are also an important issue. The soil for walnut trees must be saturated with minerals and salts, and it should be fed regularly. The quality of fertilizers directly affects its fertility and, as a consequence, productivity.

Growing walnuts requires the installation of a drainage system, which usually consists of laying a network of water ditches along the entire length of the site with an approach to each individual tree. Their trunks are surrounded by earthen ridges, each on a separate square with a side of about one and a half meters. Periodically, these areas should be moistened abundantly until completely flooded.

How do you collect nuts? This is seasonal work, and for it you can hire temporary workers whose task will be to collect all of them manually. Or you can purchase a cleaning mechanism for operation, which is similar in principle to a vacuum cleaner on wheels. Such a unit shakes off the trees, from which all the ripe nuts fall, then the fruits are collected from the ground according to the same principle as a conventional vacuum cleaner. Thanks to the hard shell, the nuts do not break or spoil when dropped.

You can sell the crop in the shell, but if the nuts are shelled, the profit will be much higher. For this procedure, you can also resort to hired force, or you can acquire special equipment.

Benefits of walnuts

Everyone talks about the benefits of walnuts, but not everyone can answer what exactly this benefit is.

1. Proper consumption of walnut kernels stimulates the brain and neurochemical processes, and also prevents the formation of cancer cells.
2. Widely used in weight loss processes, as well as in dietary and proper nutrition.
3. The nut contains substances that have an anti-inflammatory effect.
4. Eating nuts leads to an increase in male libido and a surge in testosterone.
5. Walnut helps detox the body and remove toxins, and also stabilizes the metabolic process.
6. Normalizes the functioning of the cardiovascular system, strengthens blood vessels in the brain, prevents the formation of cholesterol plaques and stabilizes blood pressure.
7. Strengthens the immune system.
8. Walnut infused with alcohol relieves toothache.
9. Treats thyroid diseases, helps with anemia.
10. Has a relaxing and calming effect on fatigue and stress.
11. Helps strengthen bones.
12. Reduces blood sugar levels.
13. Reduces the risk of varicose veins.

    

Growing nuts in the middle zone: what you need to know

The main questions are: how to choose the right variety? And what seedlings should I buy? When choosing, you should take into account the main factors, and the main one is frost resistance. In our climatic conditions, purchasing varieties that are contraindicated in cold weather means deliberately throwing money away.

You should inquire about the relative sizes of the kernels of the selected variety and the thickness of the shell. The thinner it is, the more space the useful core takes up. But if the shells are too fragile, birds with strong beaks can cause damage to the crop.

Another point to pay attention to is the ripening period. For individual varieties it can range from 3-4 to 7 years. If your business is growing nuts in the Moscow region, choose varieties that are always popular. These are “elegant” - quite resistant to drought, pests and other troubles, “dessert”, characterized by early ripening, “ideal” with large kernels weighing up to 20 grams, high-yielding and frost-resistant. In another variety - “giant” - the kernels can weigh 30 grams. The “Aurora” variety is distinguished by its rapid ripening rate, while the “harvest” variety is frost-resistant and able to bear fruit already in the third year.

Do not buy nut seedlings by hand or in markets from unverified sellers. When starting such a serious business as growing walnuts for sale, contact one of the specialized nurseries that provide services for selling the seedlings you need. Their products are provided with quality certificates.

Technology for growing nuts for sale

Having your own garden allows you to grow a wide variety of nuts. Popular options include hazelnuts or hazels, walnuts, and chestnuts.

It is worth remembering that nuts grow best in warm regions; in areas of risky farming, one cannot count on a good harvest.

1. Walnuts. Popular and tasty. Growing walnuts is quite profitable. From 1 hectare of plantings in a good year you can get up to 3 tons of unshelled nuts. The business is very long-term, the garden may well become a family business and be inherited. At the same time, it is worth preparing for a long wait; the first harvest can be obtained no earlier than in 5 years. Plants need bright sunlight and space; no more than 100 trees can be placed on 1 hectare. Young nuts are resistant to climatic changes and can withstand short-term drops in temperature; mature trees are more thermophilic; during prolonged cold weather they reduce yield. While the walnut is growing, other crops can be grown under it; this does not interfere with the development of the tree. When the plant reaches 4 years old, the soil under it needs to be cleared. The plant needs fertile but light soil with good drainage. Abundant watering is required without stagnation of moisture in the soil, as well as timely application of complex mineral fertilizers.
2. Hazel is an undemanding shrub. Hazel, or hazel, grows well not only in warm climates, but also in temperate climates. With proper care, the plantings consistently produce a good harvest, the plants do not degenerate for a long time and do not need renewal. The main requirement of hazelnuts is nutritious soil rich in phosphorus and nitrogen. Excess potassium significantly reduces yield. When planting, ash and humus are added to the soil; during the season, the bushes are fed several times with superphosphate and urea. The productivity of hazel depends on the variety. On 1 hectare you can place from 300 to 600 bushes. To prevent them from degenerating, it is recommended to plant different varieties and periodically renew the bushes. Cross-pollination will help maintain high yields and strong plant immunity.
3. Chestnut. Southern delicacy. Chestnuts are very common in Western and Eastern Europe. They can be baked or fried and then eaten as a light snack. Various dishes are prepared from ripe kernels, from soups to pastry creams. On 1 hectare there are 120-130 trees with a lush, dense crown. Chestnuts provide dense shade; it is almost impossible to grow other crops under them. Up to 150 kg of nuts are collected from 1 tree, and the chestnut begins to bear fruit 4-6 years after planting. Plants need well-drained soil, abundant but infrequent watering and complex mineral fertilizers, which are applied 3-4 times per season.

Landing technology

Growing nuts begins with planting, which requires preliminary preparation. This should be done several months in advance (preferably in the fall). For each of the seedlings, you should prepare a hole, the depth of which is from 60 to 100 centimeters, depending on the fertility of the soil. The poorer it is, the deeper the hole should be.

The earth that was taken out of the pit must be mixed with humus and peat, then potassium chloride (800 grams each), a kilogram of dolomite flour and three kilograms of superphosphate are added there. The hole is filled again with this mixture.

After waiting for planting time, the nutrient mixture should be removed from each hole and a seedling should be placed in the center, strengthened with a three-meter pole stuck into the ground. Then they fill in part of the mixture, water it generously, and, after waiting for good moisture, fill the hole completely. To ensure maximum illumination, rows should be planted in a direction from north to south.

Care and harvesting

How to care for trees? Growing nuts requires constant care. They need to be watered in the summer, fertilized in the spring, and plowed in the fall. The soil must remain fertile, breathable and moist in order for the harvest to be successful.

If you hire hired workers to collect nuts, random people may damage the trees if they are careless. That is why it is recommended to invest money in the purchase of special equipment. A sign of ripe nuts is the cracked green skin of the fruit. The familiar wrinkled nutshells should be visible through the cracks.

Where to sell what you grow?

Through what distribution channels can a farmer sell such a product? There is practically no oversupply on the walnut market. Therefore, there should be no problems with implementation. Among the wholesale buyers may be confectionery factories (they constantly need nut kernels for the production of cakes, chocolate and cookies). Another option is pharmaceutical sales. The production of prescription drugs requires the addition of ingredients obtained from walnuts.

Traditionally, nuts can be sold to grocery stores; there are also collection points from where nuts are exported abroad. But they are accepted there only in purified form.

From a sales point of view, it is most profitable to plant walnuts in the Moscow region. Growing it in other regions may require additional transportation costs, and the circle of consumers there is not so wide.

With a knife

One of the most used ways to open a walnut. It is as follows:

1. Take a small knife and insert it into the middle of the nut, between its halves.
2. Carefully rotate the knife around its axis.
3. The nut split into two halves. All that remains is to remove the kernel and remove the shell.

The disadvantage of this method is that the nut does not always crack. Sometimes parts of the shell simply break off, but the nut itself remains intact. In this case, further manipulations with the knife are no longer useful; you will have to look for other methods in which it is unlikely that you will be able to get the whole kernel.

Let's calculate income and expenses

What kind of profit can we talk about? Do the math: the price of a kilogram of shelled nuts is 4-5 dollars. From each hectare of land, the harvest size can be about two tons, but half of this weight comes from useless shells. Simple calculations allow you to reach a profit figure of up to $10,000 per hectare. Sounds impressive!

Now let's talk about the costs of growing nuts. As already mentioned, their biggest item is the acquisition of land. If you have the status of a farmer and purchase land for agricultural purposes, you can count on a discount from the state. Then there are the costs of purchasing seedlings. Each of them costs about 200 rubles. Having purchased 100 units of trees, you will accordingly pay 20,000 rubles.

Another significant expense item is the installation of a water supply and drainage system, as well as the purchase of fertilizers. You will also have to spend money on protection during the ripening and harvesting season. The collection equipment already mentioned above is a one-time cost.

According to preliminary calculations, the payback for this business occurs within 5 years after the first harvest. In the future, everything earned can be attributed to net profit, and this process will take place over many years and even decades, because walnuts bear fruit for 100 years or more.

Quick ways to clean walnuts

The fruit ripens at the end of summer on the walnut tree, during which time the green shell darkens and becomes damaged. The shell may be separated from the fruit that has fallen and broken on the ground. Green shells are difficult to clean, but get rid of them in the beginning. In order to quickly peel walnuts, get rid of the green peel, which contains a large amount of natural dye. If you neglect the rules of cleansing the fetus, then a person’s hands will turn brown. To avoid staining, peeling should be done with rubber gloves. You can break the product using different methods, either by damaging the core or leaving it intact. This can be done using the following tools:

• Knife;
• Pliers;
• Nutcracker;
• High temperature;
• Hammer;
• Boiling water.

Knife as a tool for preserving a whole kernel

By prying off the green peel with a knife, the product is peeled from the outer shell. After removing the green peel, the walnuts are placed in a dark, dry place so that the fruit kernels dry. After this, they proceed to clean the kernels from the shell.

When choosing a knife as a walnut peeling tool, preference is given to a medium-sized knife. The nut is unfolded so that its elongated tip points upward. The tip of the knife is inserted into the recess of the nut, located between the two halves of the shell. At this point the knife is turned while holding the nut firmly with the other hand.

After performing this manipulation, the shell cracks. The kernels are pryed with a knife and carefully removed from the shell.

Carefully!

When using this method of chopping nuts, there is a risk of injury due to the knife blade coming off.

This method is ideal for obtaining whole fruit kernels. Pay special attention not to injure the skin by breaking the product.

Removing the shell from a walnut using pliers

Pliers are used for quick cleaning. However, this method does not allow you to chop the product while keeping the core intact. The kernels remain intact only if you carefully break off small pieces from the shell.

When splitting with pliers, the nut is placed in them and squeezing movements are performed, as a result of which the shell cracks.

How to properly crack a walnut

Having strong hands, they are convinced that it is possible to crack walnuts with their hands without extraneous tools. To do this, place one fruit in each palm, cross your arms, as a result of which the shells of each nut are cracked. This method is only suitable for men who have strong, strong arms.

Nut cracker

To facilitate the process of peeling nuts, a nut cracker was invented. The device is an instrument that splits the shell of the fruit. In order to remove the shell from a walnut, the fruit is clamped with a nut cracker so that the teeth of the tool fit tightly to the shell. After squeezing the handles of the product, the fruit splits.

The positive aspect of using this method is that the shells do not fly apart in different directions. With a small pressing force it is possible to keep the kernels intact.

How to properly clean a product using an oven

Heat treatment allows you to quickly peel the shell from a walnut. To do this, the nuts are placed in the oven. The temperature is set to 200 degrees. In this way they undergo heat treatment for 10 minutes. After the fruit has completely cooled, the shells can be easily pricked.

Boiling water as one of the cleaning methods

Another way to soften the shell under high temperature is to immerse it in boiling water. The product is placed in boiling water for half an hour. During heat treatment, the skins become soaked to such an extent that they can simply be removed with a fork or knife. To do this, find it in a small hole, insert the cutlery with the sharp end and turn it easily. After which not a trace remains of the husk. Fruit skins should be removed quickly.

More about nuts

What other nuts, besides walnuts, can be grown? Their populations around the globe number up to 30-40. These include almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts with pine nuts, and even coconut. Not to mention many other species that are far from being so well known. People have been eating nuts since the Stone Age. One can talk endlessly about their beneficial properties. This is a real storehouse of vitamins, microelements, amino acids, light protein and carbohydrates.

Such a useful product has been and continues to be in great demand at all times. Its selling price is very, very decent. That is, this business can be quite profitable, and even if setting up a plantation and growing nuts with long-term care is beyond your means, then you can consider another version - wholesale purchase of various types, cleaning, followed by roasting, packaging in bright, elegant bags and subsequent sale .

The profitability of this type of business is at least 30%. In addition to the shops, pharmaceutical companies and confectionery shops mentioned above, nuts can be supplied to restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and markets. You can organize your own small retail outlet or online store. If you are planning a business on a larger scale, you may well consider the option of exporting this valuable product to European countries.

Peeling nuts from husks (skins, skins, films)

You can remove the bitter thin shell from the nut in different ways:

• keep the nuts in salted water (for 1 liter - 1.5 tablespoons of salt) for 12 hours, and then rinse and dry;
• put the fruits in a deep bowl and pour boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain the water, transfer the nuts to a hard towel and rub with your hands through the material;
• fry without oil over low heat for 5 minutes, wrap the fruit in a cloth and roll in your hands - the husk will come off during the frying process.

When soaking nuts in salted water, you will have to wait several hours, but the express method with boiling water can be used, especially in emergency cases. In addition, this way you can restore the taste of even slightly stale fruits. Experts agree that heat treatment is preferable, as it simplifies cleaning and reveals the quality of the nuts. If you smell rot or mold during processing, do not eat the product. Bad odors indicate a violation of storage rules. Even if the fruits look attractive, they are dangerous to health.

How to disinfect peeled fruits

There is no need to wash nuts purchased in shell again with water after cleaning. And if you purchased already peeled fruits, then you need to disinfect them in one of the following ways:

1. Rinse in warm water, but never boiling water, and dry on a towel. Remove the nuts from the water using a slotted spoon or ladle. Do not drain the water, otherwise dirt will rise from the bottom of the bowl and end up back on the nuts.
2. Rinse and dry in the oven.
3. Heat in a frying pan.

Nut business in the southern regions

In addition, you can purchase nuts at low prices from the population or collect wild ones. It is best for those who live in the southern regions of the country. Walnuts, which are not particularly frost-resistant, are easiest to both grow and harvest there. This business can also be developed in Central Asia or Ukraine.

Walnut trees in the southern regions of the country often grow on their own, in forests or along roads. Of course, one person cannot reap even the slightest decent harvest. But you can get things going by involving local residents. To do this, you will need to organize a collection point and place an advertisement in the local newspaper.

On average, unshelled nuts can be purchased in bulk for 50 rubles. per kilo, but this price can be much lower if this product is abundant in the region. By hiring people who want to earn extra money by shelling nuts, you will recoup the cost of paying them. It is quite possible to sell shelled nuts for an average of 250 rubles. per kilogram, and the product yield by weight will be equal to approximately half of the crude raw materials received for processing.

How and where walnuts grow in natural conditions

Based on archaeological excavations, it can be assumed that walnuts were consumed at least 9 thousand years ago. Ancient Greek writings indicate that the plant came to Greece from Asia Minor in the 7-4 centuries BC. But some finds by paleontologists indicate that nuts appeared in Europe even earlier.

Today the area of ​​distribution of culture is huge. Walnuts, both wild and cultivated, grow in northern China, India, Central Asia, and Europe. Real walnut forests are found in the mountainous regions of the Tien Shan, at an altitude of 1-2 km above sea level. This is the territory of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There are specimens there that are several hundred years old, with a trunk diameter of more than 1 m. Although the birthplace of the walnut is Central Asia, where there is enough heat and light for its growth, thanks to the work of breeders, cold-resistant varieties have been developed that are successfully grown in cool regions.

How profitable is this?

Here is an example of calculating the payback of such an activity: having purchased 50 rubles. per kilo of a hundred kilograms of nuts and paying 15 rubles for cleaning them. per kilo, you will spend about 7,000 rubles. (add here about 500 rubles for packaging). From 100 kilograms of unshelled nuts, the output is about 50 kg of kernels, which can be sold for 200 rubles. As you can see, the income from the mentioned 100 kilograms will be about 3,000 rubles. If you peel the nuts yourself, this figure will become even higher.

If you want to sell roasted nut kernels, you should note that a roasting oven will require additional costs. But at the same time, roasted nuts are much more expensive.

As a side income, you can consider selling membranes and shells to beauty salons and pharmaceutical companies.

Using a hammer

The most popular way to open a walnut. Our parents and grandfathers also used it. It consists of placing the nut on some surface and simply hitting it with a hammer. Unfortunately, this method has a lot of disadvantages:

1. It creates a lot of noise, so you can't use it in the evening.
2. You can hit your fingers when hit.
3. If you just hold the nut with your hand, you can get hurt by sharp shell fragments.
4. If you hit it too hard, you can break the nut into small fragments, damaging not only the shell, but also the kernel itself with the partitions. Then it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to eat nuts.

   

About the size of investments

But we digress from our main topic - growing nuts as a business. So, what could be the figures for income and expenses in this case? Let's try to roughly determine the investment per hectare of planted walnut orchard.

The procedure for plowing the land will cost you approximately 6,000 rubles. Add another 3000 to prepare the holes for planting. We buy seedlings for 200-300 rubles, a total of 100 pieces will cost us 30,000. Let’s add here two and a half thousand for transportation costs for their delivery and subsequent planting.

The cost of care with watering throughout the year will be from 15 to 20 thousand rubles. If a plot of land is leased, the cost for it also needs to be added here.

Do not forget that the garden will require protection. When the seedlings reach fruiting age (in about 5 years), they will no longer need to be constantly protected. Such expenses will only be needed for a couple of months during each year, when the garden bears fruit.

When is the harvest?

The first results can be expected within three to four years, but a full harvest - no earlier than the fifth or sixth year after planting. The estimated harvest from the same hundred seedlings is from 2 to 4 tons, taking into account the ripening conditions and the selected varieties. The yield of walnut trees increases annually by about 20%.

If your nut plantation is located not in the southern region with a warm climate, but in the middle zone, then some of the trees may die in the event of severe frosts.

Despite all the shortcomings and difficulties of growing and maintaining, a walnut orchard is capable of generating sustainable profits over a long period of time.

Note to Siberians

But what about those who live in the north? Imagine, the nut business is possible there too! In this case, you should forget about growing walnuts and focus on pine nuts. The expanses of the taiga are rich in such wild plants. The cedar trade has long been a good source of income for local residents, who collect pine cones from September until the deep snows.

The shelled nuts are then handed over to buyers, and up to 50 kg are allowed to be collected free of charge, and above this amount - for money. To engage in such activities, the purchase of special “forest tickets” is required.

Having decided to start a business on pine nuts, you can start purchasing pine cones with subsequent processing and selling wholesale quantities of pure nuts, or packing and selling roasted nuts or kernels.

Using a special device

There is probably not a single person who has not heard about the Nutcracker. But he really exists. More precisely, a device specially designed for those who are looking for how to easily open a walnut. This method is the simplest and most convenient. It allows you to chop a large number of nuts in a short period of time without unnecessary dirt and noise. A little practice and you will become a real Nutcracker.