Of all the trees that grow in the northeast, the black walnut is the most highly-prized by cabinetmakers. The trees are scarce enough that a woodworker's quest for good walnut takes on aspects of the search for the Holy Grail. Bidding wars for black walnut trees are the forestry equivalent of an auction for a newly discovered Van Gogh.
Walnut has long been worked into stocks for firearms because it will not warp, shrink or splinter, is light in comparison to its strength, and has a very smooth, satiny finish. These same qualities make it ideal for making furniture, and a table or dresser made from walnut commands top dollar.
Black walnut is not native to Vermont, but it does grow here, both in pure stands and as single trees. The highest concentrations are in the southern Appalachians where frost is not as much of a problem as in the Green Mountain State. Frigid winter temperatures have thwarted many attempts at growing black walnuts in Vermont.
That historical precedent notwithstanding, Mark Heitzman of Barre Town planted 1500 black walnut seedlings on a five-acre plantation last spring. He secured good cold-hardy stock from nurseries in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan and the upstate New York town of Potsdam which boasts of "the hardiest walnut in the universe." Each seedling is being grown within a five-foot tall tree tube. "I was worried about deer browsing so I enclosed them in tubes, but the tree tubes do much more than keep animals off trees," Heitzman said.
The tubes act like individual greenhouses, and after two growing seasons, 10 percent of the 12-inch seedlings have topped the five-foot mark. Last fall, Heitzman raised the tubes a foot or so off the ground to let in cold air and to encourage the trees to harden off before a killing frost. The technique seemed to work well: "My mortality last winter was miniscule," he said. Heitzman is growing them for lumber, not for the nuts, and he acknowledges that it will take one hundred years or so. 'This is an experiment, and I wouldn't advise anybody to do this. It's expensive and it's very labor-intensive," Heitzman said.
Much of the labor involves controlling the vegetation around the base. "Black walnut doesn't do well even if it's only grass growing around the base," Heitzman said. He planted his trees on a 10 x 10 foot grid, so that he can maneuver a tractor between them for mowing. And in an attempt to keep the soil pH at walnut's preferred neutral, he has limed the plantation three times.
Three or four generations in the future, perhaps someone will be thanking Mark Heitzman for his labors.