Walnuts

Twenty years ago my father gave me three walnut saplings for my new garden. He loved to grow things you could eat, free food.
They took their time to establish and I sometimes thought that they had no place up here in the north, although there is a mature specimen by Holme Park.
Around ten years ago, I was excited to spot the first catkins. It appears that the catkins open around three weeks before the female flowers, and so a patch of severe weather at the wrong moment means there is no pollination.
Roll forward another ten years, and all the trees are large enough to flower well, and we must have had some gentle breezes, as I have many large green nuts!
I don't imagine they will have a long enough summer to ripen, and so I am making pickled walnuts for our Christmas feast!
A long wait, and I hope they turn out well.