What are these Tools?

[mart]

The house I used to own in the next town has an old pecan tree that is loaded each year !! Only reason I hated to sell that house was losing the pecan tree !! But my ex son-in-law bought it so I can still get all the pecans I want !!   Only problem with pecan trees is they usually only produce well every few years or so depending on climate and weather !!  Where did you get that nutcracker ?? I haven`t seen one like that !! 
Few years back I worked on a rehab house for my brother !! The town is in Texas hill country and is nothing but pecan trees !! I picked up probably three hundred pounds while I was there !! Could have sure used your nut cracker then !!   Gave pecans to everyone I knew and a bunch I didn`t !!  I just couldn`t stand to see them lay there and eventually ruin !!
They are so plentiful there that few even bother to pick them up !!

[bigwull]

take yer pick.....all the nutcrackers you,ll ever need.....oh, and you were correct...about said lobster/crab crackers...if you look closely for a pic of a walnut cracker on the left of images..you,ll see the one thats listed here...therefore you deserve ...an little something....

https://www.google.co.uk/search?newwindow=1&biw=1198&bih=665&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=cracking+nuts&oq=cracking+nuts&gs_l=img.12..0j0i5l2j0i24l3.63566.73002.0.87858.22.15.0.2.2.0.343.1838.1j11j0j1.13.0....0...1c.1.26.img..7.15.1876.K-n8MggCS1Y#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=ylhuc0jNP7PSVM%3A%3BohBBeyIckgdScM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252F4.bp.blogspot.com%252F-jiSCOfFM5Xs%252FUP-6ALQqzFI%252FAAAAAAAABWE%252Ftuzc4DYdLIQ%252Fs320%252Fcrackingnutdarling.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fchrysmassociates.blogspot.com%252F%3B362%3B400

[mart]

Well,, Greenacres said they are multi-purpose tools !!

[KC]

The wild pecan trees around us have the best tasting pecans around!  Several stores around here have electric pecan crackers that you can crack the massive gatherings....but the pecan trees around us produce very small pecans and they are too small!!  We only have 2 papershells and have to fight the squirrels for them!

What is a butternut? 

My grandmother had a black hickory nut tree and you could beat the heck out of them without hardly making a mark sometimes.  Boy did they taste good when you finally got through that thick shell!  One time we ran a half-track over them and most didn't crack! 

[mart]

The little ones are native pecans !! Tiny but they have the best flavor of all !!  If you are ever in the area this fall KC, go to Clifton, Texas !! That where my brother lives,, I have never seen so many pecan trees in one spot !! And most are the large ones !! Find the Police Dept and there are pecan trees you can pick up all you want !! There are so many trees there that no one cares about them !!  The house I reworked was about a half block from the police dept !! I used to walk down there and pick them up !!

[cogar]

What is a butternut? 

My grandmother had a black hickory nut tree and you could beat the heck out of them without hardly making a mark sometimes.  Boy did they taste good when you finally got through that thick shell!  One time we ran a half-track over them and most didn't crack! 

KC, the Butternut is a member of the Walnut family and native from Canada to North Carolina. It has two names, Butternut and White Walnut.

The Black Walnut gets its name from the color of the wood ..... and so does the White Walnut.

The nut meat of the Black Walnut is still called Black Walnut kernels but the nut meat of the White Walnut is so great tasting that they “melt in your mouth” so to speak and thus the name Butternut. It is a longer nut than the Black Walnut but not as big around. And they are really hard to “crack” and get the nut meat out ….. but the taste is worth it. See picture below and link for more info. It is a beautiful wood and easy to work with.



http://clearstreamwood.com/wood/butternut.html

And KC, I’ve never heard of one being called a “black hickory nut tree” but that’s not unusual because the “locals” oftentimes have their own names for “local” tree species. Like my Botany professor said, “You all go check out that Horse Chestnut tree that’s in bloom and don’t argueing with the “locals” when they tell you its a Mexican Horse Chestnut”.   

Anyway, KC, there are several varieties of Hickory nuts, from a wee small bitter tasting one called a Pig nut, then several medium size (1/2” to ¾” long) nuts with some thick and some thin shelled, then the Shellbark Hickory nut (3/4” to 1 ½” long) and then one that is like 2” long. 

The best thing when gathering Hickory nuts in the wild is to “crack” one open and iffen it don’t suit you, ...... go to the next tree.

[cogar]

 Where did you get that nutcracker ?? I haven`t seen one like that !! 

Mart, I almost forgot about you question. I was going to take a full-view picture of it and uh ..... oh well.

Mart, that nutcracker was in a local Saturday morning auction .... but grimy dirty and no paint on it and looking like junk. I had stopped by just to see what was being sold but couldn't stay. When I spotted it I told my good friend ... "Dick, I want you to buy that for me and I'll pay you when I see you next".

And he said "What if I want to buy it for myself, I like it too".

And I says "That's fine, you just be sure to buy for whatever it costs you, ... mark it up for your profit, ... then I will buy it from you". Dick was a dealer also and I knew he didn't want to buy it to keep.

Mart, I don't know its exact origin or it age but I'm sure it came from a farm house or outbuilding within the local area. And I'm sure its pre-1950, maybe even 20's or 30's.

And I say that because there use to be lots of "country folk" in this area that earned household money by gathering nuts, cracking them out and sellin the nut meats "by-the-quart". Sorta like "egg money", ya know.

Like that song goes …. “a country boy can survive” … by selling nut meats, May Apple root, Ginseng, animal pelts, etc. Of course now days they have a more lucrative “cash crop” with far less work involved.

[mart]

Yes I know that well,, we had cows and chickens !!  If you decide to sell the nutcracker,,let me know !!  I don`t have a lot of pecans to do each year but if reasonable I would certainly be interested !!

[Rauville]

All this talk of nuts reminded me of a quote by an old sheep herder / philosopher / author by the name of Archie Gilfillan.

Archie wrote:
“Thousands of us hurl ourselves into cities like nuts into a hopper and there, by grinding and rubbing against one another, we lose our natural form and acquire a superficial polish and a more or less standardized appearance.
In the country, the nuts are not subjected to the grinding process, so they retain their original character.”

Therefore,  I can only believe the “country nuts” here are the best!

[mariok54]

All this talk of nuts reminded me of a quote by an old sheep herder / philosopher / author by the name of Archie Gilfillan.

Archie wrote:
“Thousands of us hurl ourselves into cities like nuts into a hopper and there, by grinding and rubbing against one another, we lose our natural form and acquire a superficial polish and a more or less standardized appearance.
In the country, the nuts are not subjected to the grinding process, so they retain their original character.”

Therefore,  I can only believe the “country nuts” here are the best!

And country nuts this side of the pond!

I've never heard of Butternuts either ... I wonder if we can get them over here?

[mart]

I will take that as a compliment Rauville !!  Us country nuts thank you !!

[KC]

Nice quote Rauville!

Mart, we have over 35 trees in our neighborhood...the squirrels and I are the only ones who gather the native pecans.  I get more than I need.  I generally wash them and bag them (unshelled) as Thanksgiving tokens to friends/family/businesses we deal with all year long!  The flavor on them is AMAZING!!!

I would love to try a butternut!!!  Will have to search them out.

Never hear of a white walnut!  Does it taste different than a black walnut?  Is it harder to crack?

[bigwull]

Nice quote Rauville!

Mart, we have over 35 trees in our neighborhood...the squirrels and I are the only ones who gather the native pecans.  I get more than I need.  I generally wash them and bag them (unshelled) as Thanksgiving tokens to friends/family/businesses we deal with all year long!  The flavor on them is AMAZING!!!

I would love to try a butternut!!!  Will have to search them out.

Never hear of a white walnut!  Does it taste different than a black walnut?  Is it harder to crack?

look no further.butternut sweets were common when i was young....which was eons ago....

http://www.henleysweets.com/loose-sweets/boiled/butternut-%28200g%29/c-26/c-77/p-469

[mart]

Nice quote Rauville!

Mart, we have over 35 trees in our neighborhood...the squirrels and I are the only ones who gather the native pecans.  I get more than I need.  I generally wash them and bag them (unshelled) as Thanksgiving tokens to friends/family/businesses we deal with all year long!  The flavor on them is AMAZING!!!

I would love to try a butternut!!!  Will have to search them out.

Never hear of a white walnut!  Does it taste different than a black walnut?  Is it harder to crack?

Don`t think concrete is as hard as a black walnut !!

[KC]

You would be surprised Mart.  Those at my Grannie Annie's would chip concrete!