2 things you might not know about walnuts

• Technically walnuts are not nuts but drupes. A drupe is a type of fruit in which the outer fleshy part surrounds a shell or ‘pit’ with a seed inside. Other examples of drupes are pecans and almonds, peaches, plums and cherries.

• Walnuts have a dastardly little trick to prevent any competitors stealing nutrients from around their roots. They are allelopathic, which means that all parts of the plant exude a chemical toxin called juglone that inhibits the growth of nearby plants.