I am interested in all your seeds as well. Please look at my list for what you might like. Thank you! http://members.gardenweb.com/members/exch/bumblebee1?6245

I sent you an email (Pam Burgess).

Ahh, cracking. The next phase. Often fraught with frustration - but it doesn't have to be. I did forget one point on the husk removal - after you've gotten the bulk of the husk material off manually(and stained your fingers/hands), you really need to wash them to get as much of the remaining husk off as is possible. The big boys just pitch 'em in a cement mixer with some rough rocks or chunks of broken bricks - and I've got a friend who used an old clothes dryer - with the heating element removed - to roll 'em around for a while with water & rocks/bricks to get them almost squeaky clean. I don't have either, so I just put 'em in a 5-gallon bucket, fill it with water, and stir vigorously with a stick, pouring off the black water and adding more, until it comes off fairly clean. After the BWs have cured for a couple of weeks or more, then it's time for a session of cracking. A good heavy duty hard-shell nutcracker(not one designed for cracking pecans) is really helpful, but a bench-mounted vise is quite serviceable. Here's my main tip for BWs and hickory nuts - soak them in a pan/pot of warm water for an hour or two before you begin a session of cracking. The shells will absorb enough moisture that they will bend, buckle, and split, rather than explode into pieces when you reach 'critical pressure'. With a vise or nut cracker, a pair of diagonal wire-cutting pliers(for making a snip here and there in the nutshell to release nutmeats) and a nut pick, I can usually extract intact halves/quarters from the most inhospitable walnut or shellbark/shagbark hickory. A vote for the 'improved' nut varieties with thinner shells and open central cavities is in order. Emma Kay, Clermont, Thomas Myers, Neel #1, etc. are primo black walnuts, with thin shells and kernel % 2-4 times greater than the typical wild-type BW. Hickories - I'm still waiting for mine to bear, but I've had occasion to sample a few named varieties, and I have a local shagbark selection that won 1st place at the KY State Fair several years back. J.Yoder #1 and Grainger are probably two of the top shagbarks. Fred Blankenship's KY discovery, 'Simpson #1', may be the best shellbark to come down the pike.

Im not far from you. I'm in Huntington Beach and assume you are in Pendelton, right? I had one that I kept in alive in a large pot for about 4 years. It got about 6 feet tall with mature leaves. I brought it inside and kept in front of my brightest window everytime the overnight low was going to be less than 60F, and every day it was above 60F I took it back outside to get it bright light. It worked well because it seldomly gets that low of a temp, but it was a LOT of daily work from Jan-March, and I finally got a little lazy, hence, it died. ONE NIGHT, I was drinking and didnt feel like taking it in. The low got to about 55F and within days all the leaves started browning and over the next few weeks all died. It's not impossible, I know of one locally that is in a heated greenhouse and is about 15 feet tall, but other than that I think it is a crazy amount of work. If you are going to try it, make sure to get the Malaysian Coconut (Cocos nucifera). It is the most cold hardy of all the coconuts. Check you local Home Depot in their interrior plant section. They usually sell them there as a novelty plant. Look at the price label and if you see that label is from "The Plant Stand" (which is usually our local Home Depots' supplier) it is most likely a Malaysian Coconut, thats usually the kind of seed they use. The rine of the leaves should be a deep yellow almost with a tint of orange. Good luck Jerod@ SurfCityPalms.com