Perigord, France
Walnuts, as with all nuts, have a huge spectrum of flavour. Most commonly found in shops is the Chandler variety; a tree unbeatable in its reliability and high yields. Planted widely for that reason, the drawback comes with a lack of flavour.
These Perigord walnuts derive from the franquette variety, producing the best possible flavour of all the walnut family
Walnut trees provide a good accompanying crop for alley cropping systems. Aligned north to south, with 30 metre wide alleys, both crops can flourish whilst simultaneously sequestering carbon, decreasing soil erosion, and increasing farm productivity.
More protein per hectare than a cattle ranch?
A metric called “land equivalent ratio” is a tool used to assess the productivity of a landscape. It is a useful way to decide how best to maximise productivity. Assessing the combination of walnut trees, with cereal crops, the benefits to yield, as well as the environment, become clear
Alley cropping produces the equivalent of 0.8 hectares of pure cereal farming
Alley cropping produces the equivalent of 0.6 hectare of pure nut/fruit farming
Producing a total equivalent of 1.4 hectares; a 40% increase in productivity than standard monoculture farming.*
*source Guidelines: land evaluation for irrigated agriculture. Food and Agricultization of the United Nations. pp. Glossary. ISBN 92-5-102243-7.
Perigord Walnuts
