The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Gardens => Topic started by: dan_golding on October 03, 2008, 05:02:38 pm

Title: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: dan_golding on October 03, 2008, 05:02:38 pm: Apart from teaching the local French kids how to play the good ol' game, does anyone have any practical uses for the thousands of conkers that have started to fall in my garden?

Are they safe for pigs to eat (actually, I did offer them some today, but they weren't that interested)
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Rosemary on October 03, 2008, 08:17:43 pm: Christmas tree decorations. Not very practical though.
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: garden cottage on October 05, 2008, 09:09:53 pm: If you boil the living life from them and changed the water about 5 times that has been "Tanned" or poisoned, then you are left eventually with a nut type item.
This can then be crushed and used in a Bannock "Bread type substance" or as a Coffee substitue such as chicory.
found this on internet obviously try at your own risk!
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Rosemary on October 06, 2008, 07:42:54 pm: I think I'd stick to Chrsitmas decorations :)
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Fluffywelshsheep on January 12, 2009, 06:48:25 pm: http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3433&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a (http://selfsufficientish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3433&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a)
just found on the ish site for you (just read used for spider replentant)
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Hardfeather on January 13, 2009, 11:21:48 am: If all that fails, they are excellent for growing chestnut trees....... ;) ;D ;D
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: MrRee on January 13, 2009, 05:33:21 pm: Been thinking about this one all day,and the only thing I can come up with is.........
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How good are you are knitting conkers?
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: rustyme on January 13, 2009, 05:41:57 pm: eh what was that Linz ?

you found a shite site ...?

can't be that bad surely ? ::) ;D

Russ
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: chickens on January 13, 2009, 08:19:08 pm: Put them in the corners of your rooms and they keep the spiders away.
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: woodsman on January 21, 2009, 06:10:06 pm: hi , not sure about this , but i think there was a company wanting to buy conkers for some sort of fandango cosmic hippy hair shampoo ? And ,on the other side of the coin , were they trialled during 2nd ww as a part of dat explosive stuff ?
Really don't know where i get this from , could have been a dream .
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Guy on January 21, 2009, 06:19:57 pm: Quote from: chickens on January 13, 2009, 08:19:08 pm
Put them in the corners of your rooms and they keep the spiders away.

isnt that for vampires ?? :D
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: garden cottage on January 29, 2009, 05:39:44 pm: cant stop laughing..........rusty
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: Carolinajim on April 14, 2009, 12:23:47 am: OK I will change my name to the baffled yank. Are conkers horse chestnuts or some other thing...

The horse chestnuts here are the fruit of the Osage Orange (a big fragrant grapefruit sized thing)...are we talking about something else?

Translation :farmer:?

I imagine it is this
(http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:Iy7HOH378qdqSM:http://www.dermaxime.com)
not this
(http://www.google.com/images?q=tbn:M6LBmhJOQ8CitM::upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Osage_orange_1.jpg)?
Title: Re: Any practical uses for conkers?
Post by: doganjo on April 14, 2009, 01:50:32 pm: Yes, you are right - it's the smaller fruit of these two pictures. The nuts inside are strung on pieces of string and the kids have 'conker' games, hitting each others conkers. There is another variety called Sweet Chestnut and the fruits of these can be cooked and eaten.