Black Squirrel Farms turns the wild black walnuts that grow in the natural beauty of upstate and central New York into delicious or useful household products.
Anyone with access to black walnut trees is welcome to join our no-cost, no-obligation black walnut collection program. When our collection season is open, we lend burlap bags and nut rollers to program members who gather and drop off black walnuts.
Nut rollers make walnut gathering easier.
During black walnut season, collection program members can drop off gathered black walnuts at their convenience at our location at 590 State Route 14, Penn Yan, NY. Walnut gathering supplies will also be available to borrow, included a limited number of nut rollers and burlap. Please note that we do not require borrowed burlap bags to be returned full. They are easier to move and lift if they are partially full and we will have plenty. Please also note that we are currently running low on nut rollers and so we can't guarantee that there will be one to borrow on site at this time. Our program offers a payout rate of $10 per 100 pounds of raw walnuts or a gift card for our store worth $12.50 per 100 pounds of raw walnuts. Program members receive payouts after the season closes, generally before Thanksgiving. If you're still looking for more information, please check our FAQ page or message us.
2026 Black Walnut Collection Season will open on Saturday, September 19 and close on October 31.
Fill out the form below to become a program member. Responding to this survey will add you to our contact list, it does not obligate you to deliver walnuts. An email newsletter is the primary way we keep program members up to date so members are aware of participation options and can decide when and how they choose to participate. Please check all that apply.
New this year / 2026 only: Oak and Hickory Collection Pilot
We're exploring using our program to collect acorns and hickory nuts for use as tree seed! Unlike the black walnut program, where you register once as a collector, the oak/hickory pilot is organized around individual source trees, so each tree you would like to collect from needs to be registered before collecting. This year only, we'll pay $75 per 100 lbs collected for thin-husk hickories (like bitternut and pignut) and $50 per 100 lbs for thick-husked hickories (like shagbark). We'll pay $150 per 100 lbs for high-graded acorns while retaining the option to discount this rate according to average acorn quality received. If you have an oak or hickory tree(s) you are interested in collecting from, you can learn more and register a tree here. The oak and hickory pilot program and the black walnut collection program will have the same opening and closing dates in 2026.
Participation in the oak/hickory collection pilot is open to black walnut collection program members, so join the black walnut collection program first, even if you don't have black walnut trees, to participate in the pilot!