Black Walnut Festival 2023
As has become almost a habit this fall, we quit work early enough on Saturday to steal away for some autumnal fun -- this time visiting the final day of Stockton's Black Walnut Festival. Stockton is the home of Hammons Black Walnuts -- the worlds largest supplier of black walnuts. Due to Hammons, Stockton has been called the black walnut capitol of the world.
My own relationship with black walnuts is always tied up in memories of my grandmother -- my Memaw -- who loved them, especially in ice cream. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we didn't find them often in stores. I have a particular memory of coming across some black walnut ice cream at one point, which we ate while Memaw was visiting. I found the strong flavor utterly delicious.
I was delighted during one of the first hikes around our property to find that our place has dozens of black walnut trees. I know the nuts are notoriously difficult to harvest, but I still would love to do it. We could also take our crop to one of Hammons local buying stations and contribute to the annual harvest . To quote Hammons' website, "black Walnuts are the only all-wild tree nut in the United States." Unlike English walnuts, black walnuts are gathered by hand from wild trees each year. I doubt we will have time for any black walnut harvesting this year, but in the meantime, it was fun to participate in a local festival celebrating our Ozark treat.
Due to a busy day, we arrived to the festival later than we planned. Still, we found Stockton bustling as we caught part of the parade. Grace unpacked her camera and got to work documenting the festivity.
We walked along the parade route on our way to Stockton's City Park, where the festival proper was being held. We spent the next hour window shopping at the various booths from local vendors. The selection and variety of goods and organizations represented was really quite impressive. As the afternoon progressed toward evening, the carnival rides began operation, casting a fair-like quality to the event.
While exploring the booths, we took advantage of the festival food. Our brother Jeremiah treated us to pasties from London Calling, a Springfield food truck. The pasties were delicious, as were the unique Fentimans bottled drinks.
We finished our excursion with a stop at the Hammons Black Walnut Emporium, where we picked up a bag of black walnuts. My siblings were thrilled to see affogato (espresso over ice cream) on the menu, and they had to take advantage.
According to a "Black Walnut Facts" sign at the event, October 1 is the first day of Hammons' harvest. So, we celebrated at home by making black walnut ice cream. Of course, I thought of my Memaw. She would have loved the festival, as well as the ice cream.
