If you visit the Frank Loyd Wright Studio in Oak Park, Illinois, there is a huge female ginkgo that Wright planted shortly after his trips to Japan. So the tree was planted before 1930. It is roughly 4 feet in diameter, give or take. It produces a huge crop of nuts every autumn, much to the distaste of the grounds staff. They sweep up the foul smelling fruit every morning. In autumn, right around middle to end of October, if you visit the grounds of the studio after they close at night, access to the tree is open and nobody will bother you while picking up the nuts that fell that day. I have done this more than one year. Soak the fruit in a bucket of water, scrub off the foul smelling flesh of the fruit. Change water and scrub a second time. The nuts free of the flesh of the fruit are pretty much odorless. I then put a portion with a wad of moist sphagnum moss in a plastic bag and into the refrigerator to be stratified for spring planting.
The other portion, I boil in water for about a half hour. Drain water, allow to cool, then peel off the hard shell and enjoy your boiled ginkgo nuts. Delicious. Meat of the nut is soft much like roasted or boiled chestnuts. Very good in soups, stews, or sliced and tossed into stir fry, or sliced into salads like one would an almond. A gourmet treat.
ginkgos are so nice.
