Howard is another walnut variety cultivated in California in the late 20th century. We harvest our Howards during the middle of the season. They produce a large, round smooth nut with a good seal. Tree size is small to medium and semi-upright with moderate vigour, which makes it a good candidate for high-density plantings.
Walnut history is rich and dates back thousands of years. The walnuts we eat today were introduced in the second half of the twentieth century and bear little resemblance to the species of old. From antiquity walnuts have been prized in food preparation as a basic ingredient especially in the middle and near East.
Walnuts seem to have originated in central Asia, where they can be found in both the wild and in a semi-cultivated state. From there it spread to the Caucasus, China, Persia, Europe and finally to the New World.
Babylon
The first documented account of walnuts being cultivated appeared in the ‘Code of Hammurabi’, which dates to 1754BC during the first Babylonian Dynasty. There is historical evidence in the artworks that walnuts trees were a prominent feature of the famous Hanging Garden of Babylon.
Persia - Greece
In Persia, walnuts were considered to be a “Royal Nut” and were only consumed by members of the Persian Royal court. Persians Royalty ate walnuts in desserts as far back at 1300’s and they are still enjoyed today in baklava. Although it is possible that the Greeks cultivated the walnut before encountering the Persians, they soon discovered that Persian walnuts were larger and superior to what they knew. As such they improved their variety by bringing Persian cultivars back to Greece. Alexander the Great was found of what he referred to as the “Persian Nut”. They were know as this until the arrival of the English traders a full millennium later.
Rome
The name juglans regia, the scientific name for the walnut, was coined by the Romans and is still in use today. In Latin it means “Glands of Jupiter”. The Romans thought so highly of walnuts that they called them the “Royal Nut of Jupiter”. They believed the walnut possessed aphrodisiac qualities. While we may laugh at the notion today, it is important to note that walnuts are still recommended as a food that can improve a man’s sperm count. It is entirely possible that the Romans were not mistaken.
In the first century Pliny the Elder, the Roman author of ‘Natural History’, wrote his version of walnut history. He stated that the tree originated from Persia and has many uses beyond just as a food. They were used for dying wool, to freshen breath after eating onions, and to protect oneself against poisons. He wrote how the groom would scatter walnuts among the other young people at weddings while they sang somewhat riské wedding songs to the happy couple.
Walnuts were found among other foods on a table in the Temple of Isis on that fateful day, August 24, 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the entire city of Pompeii.
In the first century Pliny the Elder, the Roman author of ‘Natural History’, wrote his version of walnut history. He stated that the tree originated from Persia and has many uses beyond just as a food. They were used for dying wool, to freshen breath after eating onions, and to protect oneself against poisons. He wrote how the groom would scatter walnuts among the other young people at weddings while they sang somewhat riské wedding songs to the happy couple.
Walnuts were found among other foods on a table in the Temple of Isis on that fateful day, August 24, 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the entire city of Pompeii.
Silk Road to China
Historians believe that from Kashmir the walnut was introduced to China during the Han Dynasty at some point between 206 BC to 220 AD. Walnuts and their seeds were traded all along the Silk Road. Genetic sampling of 39 walnut forests across Asia indicates that they could only have become established there as a result of human intervention.
Europe
Walnuts arrived in Europe by way of English merchant returning from trading expeditions to the east. Since in-shell walnuts were able to be conserved for longer than 6 months at room temperature, they were ideally suited for old world trade routes. No longer traded only over land, they began to appear in ports worldwide by way of the English. Ironically, walnuts have never been cultivated commercially in England, yet they became known as the English Nut from the middle of the 18th century onwards.
New World
Franciscans Monks introduced walnuts to the New World in the late 1700s. Walnuts thrived in their plantations scattered throughout what is now southern California. Large commercial orchards later spread to northern California and California’s Central Valley region, which is today responsible for most of the walnut production in the United States.
In the latter half of the 20th century, walnuts were brought from California to Chile and Argentina, where they thrived. Chile is now amongst the largest walnut producers in the world.
Africa
Walnuts were brought to Southern Africa by British settlers during the 1820’s, resulting in large walnut trees still alive today all over the Eastern high ground of the country where the climate is a bit cooler.
Trials on various cultivars of walnuts began during the 1970s, but production never took off resulting in most of that original material being lost. Walnut production, in effect, is a new and growing agricultural sector in South Africa.
After careful evaluation, the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa established Rotondo Walnuts in 1999. To date, Rotondo is the largest walnut producer in the country.