with autumn comes the walnut harvest

As summer draws its end, the walnut harvest heralds the arrival of autumn. To inside, a whole world, sung in its time by Charles Trenet, and which opens up to whoever knows how to break its thick shell. For the past ten days, it has been raining on the farm of Sabine and Marie-Lise Matras, fifth generation of nut farmers, between Isère and Drôme. “We are going to have a relatively sweet fruit inside and a kernel skin which is relatively thick, which brings bitterness”describes Marie-Lise Matras, nuciculturist at “Noix et Compagnie”.

The walnut harvest lasts only one month, during which time the pickers and shakers work at full speed. And the hands are not spared. Fresh, the nuts can be eaten for a maximum of ten days. Once collected, they are therefore washed, sorted several times and dried, for conservation that can last for months. The PDO, protected designation of origin, also provides for drastic quality controls. In France, the consumption of walnuts, barely 500 grams per year and per inhabitant, is still very much associated with the end-of-year celebrations, and less part of our daily habits.