May Lotito wrote: The black walnuts are not easy to separate from shells like English walnuts do.
I'm so glad you said that! After attempting to shell some black walnuts given to me by a friend, I was about ready to give up on the idea of ever growing walnuts. Interestingly, when I finally was able to get a nut out in a big enough piece to see the overall shape of the nut, it appeared to be a heartnut, which is supposed to be easy to shell. Let me tell you, it was not! Perhaps commercial heartnuts are more thin shelled and easier to remove, I don't know. But that's helpful to know that English walnuts at least are not as difficult to shell as those black walnuts were.