Hunting Pine Nuts

The sun beat high in the autumn sky and the deer were no longer moving around. The dirt road we traveled on was miles from anywhere, the mesa stretching far on either side with its pungent sage brush and sappy pinyon pines. We decided it was a good time to take a break and start hunting pine nuts.

Dad stopped the truck right in the middle of the two-rut path and we all jumped out, garbed in full camouflaged clothing, hunting knives, and possible bags on our belts. I pulled a wide blue tarpaulin from the back of the truck and we went to work.

None of us were experts at collecting pinyon nuts. Usually there isn't much of a harvest, but every few years the trees become full of seed-bearing nuts. This was one of those years.

We found a large pinyon tree, heavy with woody brown cones. Its branches spread wide enough over the ground for me to spread the tarp directly beneath it.

Once the tarp was flattened end to end, thirteen year old Josh climbed halfway up the tree, just to the point where he could reach out and grab the branch that over-hung directly above the tarp. With both hands he shook the branch as vigorously as he could. For five seconds, pine nuts, pine cones, pines needles, and twigs fell from the tree, most landing on the tarp, but some landing just outside. Others hit the tarp and bounced off.

We gathered the tarp up at the corners and carefully funneled our booty into a plastic bag. We would sort through it later.

Now that I look back on it, it is ironic that Josh was the one to shake the branch. He is half-Navajo. Although Navajo culture is big on gathering pine nuts, it is taboo to shake the branch and force the nuts to fall. They believe this will create an early winter, thus shortening the opportunity to harvest the nuts.

Many people don't bother shaking the tree and just collect the nuts that have naturally fallen to the ground. The darker brown the shell is, the more likely there will be a nut inside.

Sometimes, the better nuts will not come loose from the cones, so a person must pick up an entire cone and knock the nuts out, or use a twig to pry them free. This usually proves to be a sticky proposition, resulting in sap all over the hands—but nothing that a good washing with peanut butter won't cure.

We spent about an hour collecting pine nuts during that warm September afternoon of the deer hunt. I took my plastic bag home where I separated the nuts from the debris.

After washing, I sprinkled them with salt and other seasonings, then roasted them in the oven on a cookie sheet.

Now, a bowl of tasty pine nuts sits on my kitchen bar for the kids to pick at. They love it when they crack open a shell and find a perfect white nut inside.

Next time, I hope to bring them with me.