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It's difficult to trace the native home of the walnut
tree, but ancient Romans believe it originated in Persia. Early cultivation spanned
from southeastern Europe to Asia Minor to the Himalayas. Greek
usage of walnut oil dates back to the fourth century B.C., nearly a century before
the Romans. Franciscan priests brought the walnut to California, USA around 1770.
The oil of the nut has been used for centuries in the preparation of fine paints
for artists.
In ancient Persia, where their cultivation may have originated,
walnuts were the food of royalty. The “Persian” walnut became known
as the “English” walnut during the Middle Ages, when English sailors
carried and traded them throughout Europe and beyond. The term "English"
applied to the Persian nut is a misnomer. The name "English walnut"
refers to the English merchant marines whose ships transported the product for
trade around the world. Walnut groves existed around
2,000 B.C. in the Mesopotamian Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The ancient Greeks
and Romans actively traded walnuts and incorporated them into their mythology,
associating them with fertility. Walnuts are one of the oldest tree foods known
to man, dating back to 7000 B.C. Records indicate Persian nuts were known during
the reign of Tiberius.
Remains of this nut have also been unearthed in ancient
Roman villas. In ancient Rome, walnuts were considered food for the gods and called
"Jungians Regain" (origin of the English walnut’s approved Latin
scientific name) in honor of Jupiter. There are two
major commercial species of walnuts; the English walnut, which originated in Persia,
and the black walnut, which is native to the U.S. Virtually all walnuts sold commercially
in the U.S. are of the English variety; although regional marketing campaigns
are underway to promote black walnuts.
The first English walnuts were probably
brought to California by Spanish Franciscan missionaries around 1770. Joseph Sexton
planted the first commercial walnut orchard in California in 1867 near Goleta
in Santa Barbara County. In the 1870s, California walnut agriculture took off
with the establishment of large orchards in Southern California near Santa Barbara.
Later, large-scale production moved north to California’s Central Valley.
Walnut trees thrive in the hot, dry summers and mild winters of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin Valleys, which also boast deep rich soil ideal for walnut growing.
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