Greetings from San Francisco! I’m here for the Food Buzz Festival which starts tomorrow. But I came in a day early because I got a very special invitation to attend a walnut harvest.
It’s not often I get invited to a walnut harvest. So, when the folks from the California Walnut Commission invited me to tour the Mariani Nut Company’s orchards, I was pretty darn excited.
Myself and about a dozen other bloggers headed out to the orchard. I was struck by how large the orchard was. Row after row of trees full of nuts and a ton of nuts already on the ground.
Apparently some of the nuts had already been shaken off their branches and were awaiting pick up.
We all tried to not step on them. Each time I did, I dropped to the ground to find the shell I violated, cracked it the rest of the way open and popped the meat into my mouth. Waste not, want not, as the say.
We watched as the machines came down the rows. With a gripper arm, the machine would shake the trees so violently that the earth trembled beneath our feet. My teeth even chattered. Walnuts flew off the trees like fireworks, going every which way and had me ducking my head more than a few times.
We were encouraged to eat the freshly harvested walnuts which were so buttery and satisfying.
I’ve always enjoyed walnuts. Besides tasting good, they are good for you. The American Heart Association has certified walnuts as a heart healthy food. Foods that receive this distinction need to meet certain nutritional standards.
High in antioxidants, protein, vitamins, fiber and a significant amount of omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts are not only delicious, but an excellent choice to fuel and sustain your body.
For lunch we had recipes that featured the star of the show. Roasted veggies with penne and walnuts, butternut squash soup with a walnut garnish and a killer fruit tart sprinkled with, you guessed it, walnuts.
So incredibly delicious!
After lunch we toured the Mariani processing plant to see the nuts go from whole in the shell to packaged for sale. I learned so much about how much work goes into processing walnuts. The goal is to cleanly split the nut in half to collect to complete halves. When that doesn’t happen, those crushed and broken pieces are used for baking nuts.
Pieces that can’t be used as baking nuts are ground into walnut meal. Even the shells are sent off to be used by another industry. Absolutely nothing goes to waste.
It was a great day. There is something quite satisfying about tasting something straight off the branch. It certainly made me appreciate it much more.
The way it tasted. How hard it was to open. Especially what a production it was to harvest.
It was a very delicious experience. And now I’m highly inspired to use walnuts more often after listening to all of the health benefits. Food that tastes good and that is good for you is a real win-win proposition.
The folks at California Walnuts want to inspire you too. On their website, they have recipes developed by acclaimed chefs that will help you create restaurant quality, walnut based dishes in your own home. If you enjoy walnuts as much as I do, definitely check it out!
This is not a sponsored post. The California Walnut Commission did provide lunch. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Wow Melanie! I am very jealous! I love walnuts but really want to visit San Francisco! You are in San Fran and attending a food blogging event, oh my, sounds like nirvana!! I will check out the links to the recipes and I can’t wait to try them myself. Have a great time in SF and I wish I was there too!
Thank you! This is really such a beautiful place. A few days just isn’t enough to really see all that this city has to offer. I could use a week at least!
I have never seen how a walnut grows on a tree till now! What a cool thing to get to be a part of, Melanie. Enjoy your stay in San Franciso.
Thanks Krista! I too had never seen a walnut on a tree. Cool stuff. A squirrel could be very happy there.
Glad you are having a great time!!
Thank you Jennifer!
Very interesting eh!
Hi Melanie. Welcome to my neck of the woods. Today’s much MUCH cooler in SF than it was yesterday. I hope you go home with a “I <3 SF" shirt. It's mandatory.
Enjoy!
Welcome to CA! Hope you enjoy your time here. SF is one of my favorite places to be. I’m so lucky to only live about 30 minutes away.
Go Giants!
Were you at the orchards in Winters? I live in Davis which is about 15 miles away! Looks like a fun trip!
Hope you have a wonderful time in San Francisco; I hope to get there some day, too. It looks as though walnuts grow the same way as chestnuts do. I remember picking chestnuts as a kid, but never walnuts. They are so delicious and used in a lot of Greek food, like baklava. Luckily I have some walnuts in my freezer because now I am drooling for walnut and pumpkin ravioli.
Thanks for sharing the great pictures. I think they use the ground up shells in some exfoliating face washes and in foot scrubs.
Awesome! I so enjoyed your post! Have a great trip in SF!
All these pictures are wonderful,ı really like them.As a walnut orchard owner,ı have been spending all my time to make them grow and become fertile trees.
Thanks for sharing. I never seen a walnut on a tree…didn’t know that the shell had an outer shell. Amazing pictures!!!
Was nice to meet you at the venue – great fun in the walnut fields!