Black Walnut Syrup

Most people are familiar with the time-honored tradition of maple syrup production, however, tapping walnut trees is a relatively new phenomenon. The Eastern Black Walnut tree is valued for its dense, dark, straight-grained wood and the black walnuts which most everyone loves. However, did you know, this favorite nut producing tree is also a source of high-sugar sap that can be turned into delicious tasting syrup just about as readily as sap from sugar maples?  Black walnut syrup is very similar to maple syrup with an added taste of nuttiness and bitterness for a slightly more complex flavor.

So, while Canada and Vermont are known for their maple syrup production and produce the lion’s share of maple syrup, they do not have many black walnut trees.  In fact, black walnut trees are not common in Canada, and are generally only found in Manitoba and Quebec.  While Vermont has all but three walnut trees in the entire state!  Count them, one, two, three.

Black Walnut Trees are majestic trees, native to West Virginia…

Black Walnut Trees are majestic trees, native to West Virginia with open, arching crowns and light green attractive foliage.  These trees help to support wildlife as they play host to a variety of caterpillar species and the walnuts provide a much-needed source of protein, carbohydrates, and fats for wildlife of all kinds.  Squirrels of course love walnuts, but did you know, raccoons, turkeys and bears also enjoy this food source?  “Thanks to some enterprising squirrels who forgot where they buried their nuts, we are blessed with an abundance of black walnut trees on our property here at Stone Manor on Lake Haven.”

Walnut trees are generally fast-growing trees while sugar maples tend to grow slow.  The sugar content of walnuts mirrors that of maples, yet the amount of sap flow is significantly less. It takes approximately 7 times as many walnut trees as maples to produce an equal quantity of syrup.  The volume of sap per tap for a walnut tree is generally around 2 gallons per tap, whereas, with a maple tree, you can expect 10 to 20 gallons per tap and sometimes more.  For our very first year of production, we used tubing lines with a vacuum system to help improve sap flow.  The larger the diameter of the maple tree the better sap flow you expect, however, when it comes to walnut trees, younger trees may produce more than larger mature trees due to the thickness of the sap wood.  We plan to experiment to learn more about this going forward.  Additionally, walnut sap flow appears to have a longer season than maple.