The Blacker the Walnut

...the darker the ink. These have a way to go although they get bumpier and blotchier every day, but they haven't nearly decayed enough yet to be a good base for a batch of ink. And of course, I only have three, since a scalliwag dumped the rest on the ground over on Governor's Island. Perhaps I'll find a way to replenish my stores? Too bad they dredged the Buttermilk Channel.

Turns out the smell of the nuts, enjoyed by few, reflects a compound called Juglone, an inhibitor of the growth of competing plants, just one of the many poisons in various plants' chemical warfare arsenals. They just want to carve out a little space for themselves, what with life seeded so thickly in the earth's womby substrate. When not on herbicidal duty, the compound becomes C.I. Natural Brown 7 or C.I. 75500 because of its rich brown orange stain. The juice of the husks, boiled and fermented, once known as "student's ink," is dark with warm undertones. If only I had the rest of those nuts I'd give this recipe a try. I'd especially look forward to the part where you have to skim off the mold every month or so. No wonder some ink smells funky!