Dr Gheorgheni's Science Lesson: Where Baby Walnuts Come From
Created | Updated Jun 11, 2017
Students, it's time we had The Talk.
Dr Gheorgheni's Science Lesson: Where Baby Walnuts Come From
Did your teacher ever give you a lima bean, a wet paper towel, and a jar? Did you set it in a window and watch the bean germinate? Then you know where babies come from. Baby plants, I mean.
Believe it or not, the same thing happens to walnuts, if conditions are right. Last fall, hundreds of the hard nuts bombarded the Gheorgheni backyard. (Ow!) They lay there all winter and spring, while the large, softer shells rotted away. Some of them were gathered up to feed the lady across the street's squirrel population. The rest are being gathered by the ones on this side of the road. Humans do not want. (They're bitter.) But one germinated.
The walnut's growing pretty well, using the nut as nourishment. If you look carefully, students, you'll see the rest of the baby plant all curled up inside, waiting to push its way out. Isn't nature amazing?
Elektra found this germinated baby walnut in the backyard, and set it on the porch to show to me. When I came out, it was gone. That enterprising grey squirrel had made off with it. He dropped it in mid-run, however: it's not good to eat any more. So we put it in a peat pot, and are letting it follow its biological imperative. When it is grown, it will become like its parent, a 'grät big ol' tree', in the parlance of my relatives. (Ask a Northern Irelander for pronunciation.)
Who will take this offspring? Elektra says, 'That big walnut tree is already a menace.' The Hoggetts mutter something about coals and Newcastle when it comes to walnut trees and their farm. We know: we'll take it to the church social on Sunday, and give it to someone who wants a walnut tree in their neighbourhood.
The squirrels will love them.
