The Royal Nut

The Walnut, Juglans Regia has been around for millions of years and is thought to be the oldest tree food known to man. Early history indicates that walnuts came from ancient Persia, where they were reserved for royalty. The walnut is commonly known as the Persian Walnut. The Ancient Greeks transported the walnut around the old world and the nuts, were used as a food, and medicine and for dyes. The ancient Romans associated the walnut with the goddess of Jupiter and associated it with weddings and fertility. Legend has it that walnut were one of the foods presented to Jesus by the three wise men. In Mediaeval days Walnuts associated with English merchant sailors, as they were transported in ships around the world. Because of this: walnuts are sometimes referred to as the English Walnut.

The Walnut Trade
Walnuts have been spread to the far corners of the word as a word trade item. The outer shell provided a natural protective layer helping to maintain the quality of the nut. Walnuts were seen in some of the earliest European trade fairs, such as, Leipzig and Hanover. The listing for walnuts is found on cargo manifests of many ships between the old and new world. Today the nut trade continues to be a well established, ordered, and structured business, and the California walnut is well known as the top quality walnut for the world.

The California Walnut
Eventually, walnuts traveled from the Mediterranean area to European countries and finally to the New World. The earliest walnuts to enter California are known as “mission” walnuts. Unlike today’s walnuts these first entries were small with hard shells. The nuts were brought in by Franciscan missionaries and cultivated on mission lands. The trees flourished in the Mediterranean-like climate zones of California, and by the 1870s modern walnut production had begun with orchard plantings in southern California, near Santa Barbara. In the next 70 years the center of California’s walnut production shifted with successful plantings in the central and northern parts of the state. Many of today’s improved cultivars are descendents of early plantings.

The California Walnut Industry

The first commercial plantings began in 1867 when Joseph Sexton, an orchardist and nurseryman in the Santa Barbara County town of Goleta, planted English walnuts. For several years, walnuts were predominantly planted in the southern areas of California, accounting for 65% of all bearing acreage.

Some 70 years after Sexton’s first planting, the center of California walnut production moved northward to the Stockton area in one of the most dramatic horticultural moves in history. Better growing areas, improved irrigation, and better pest control methods in the north resulted in greater yields, which gradually increased each year.

The Central Valley of California is now the state’s prime walnut growing region. Its mild climate and deep fertile soils provide ideal growing conditions for the California walnut. California walnuts account for 99 percent of the commercial US supply and two-thirds of world supply