Walnuts are amazing things ! Every part of the tree is useful. We've got a mature one a couple of gardens over, and every year the squirrels give us a few more. Two of the saplings are in places where I've been able to let them grow, although both are young and have only made a few walnuts so far (most of which the squirrels promptly took back....)
If you haven't tried it yet, the green husks make amazing black-brown or brownish-yellow dye, but wear rubber gloves or your hands will be stained black for weeks even before you use a mordant !
Oh, and useless information for the day; the name comes from Saxon. "Wal" is Saxon for foreign, so it literally means "foreign nut". It is the same root as gives us the name of Wales (it's not what the Welsh called themselves !) town names like Walton on Thames, and the person's name Walter.
so much fun information here!! I have heard about the dye and want to try it very soon, thanks for the encouragement. The Saxon meaning behind wal is so interesting!! I cant wait to tell someone else about the foreign roots of this nuts name!