Walnut trees

About twenty five years ago, my father and I planted twenty small walnut twigs from the Missouri Conservation Department.
Two of these twigs developed into tall walnut trees in the old orchard at the farm. This year they were loaded with walnuts.
At $11 per hundred pounds of hulled nuts, I ascertained that our crop was probably valued at less than $5 total. But I picked up a couple of buckets full, spread them in our driveway to be hulled by frequent hits by the car and truck, then we carefully shelled them with a special heavy duty nutcracker. Enough to make the Apple Walnut Relish in the above mentioned recipe.

A connection to the earth and to harvest - be it ever so small!

Alexander McCall Smith

Thinking about her home in Africa, Precious Ramotswe says in the book, "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies": ". . . there is no point in throwing up one's hands in despair. People have always done that - the throwing up of hands, the shrug - but one got nowhere doing so. The world might have changed for the worse in some respects, but in others it is a much better place and it is important to remember this."