The eikels I binned, but I thought I would harvest the walnoten. Backbreaking work, but soon I had filled a pail. Washed and then dried in the oven, they look great in two large bowls. Alas, most are just an empty shell.

A pity, since they are about the best thing to keep you in good shape. With fridges more and more resembling medicine cabinets, noten, and walnoten in particular, really do you good: Die hebben bijzonder veel goede effecten - They have a great many good effects is what a recent article stated.

It surely must be a coincidence that the brain-shaped nut is good for the brains. Certainly, they are a godsend for the circulatory system: Walnoten bevatten beschermende vetten die de bloedvaten en het hart soepel en gezond houden - Walnuts contain protective fats that keep the blood vessels and the heart supple and healthy. In fact, unlike the neutral fats of olive oil, the oils of walnuts have a remarkable effect on a fatty diet: ze maken de schadelijke effecten ongedaan - they undo the damaging effects. And if you are a die-hard couch potato, there's one thing you can do for your health: vervang je zak chips door een handvol noten - replace your bags of crisps with a handful of nuts.

I'm looking again at all those nuts and wondering what got into me. I should just have left them where they were. We have hungry veldmuizen - fieldmice - in the garden, as the cats like to show. And every autumn we have visits from Vlaamse gaaien, Flemish jays, big jaunty birds that act as if they own the place, which collect the nuts they want. So I think I am going to return most of the nuts to the back of the garden and let the beasts work out which shells are worth opening.