Wisconsin officials are gathering public input on how to guide the state’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Wisconsin’s rooftops could support enough solar panels to meet two thirds of the state’s electricity needs, generating more electricity than all fossil fuel sources combined last year.
People are also reading…
Photos: From tree to yard to table, the journey of local black walnuts
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson uses the Nut Wizard, a rolling wire ball, to harvest fallen black walnuts from the yard of Chris Gill in Fitchburg. Peterson hopes to collect 50,000 walnuts this fall, all of which come from property owners thankful to have someone remove the pool ball-sized fruit from their yards. Peterson, founder of J's Black Walnuts, sells the meat from the nuts online and at area farmers markets.
J's Black Walnuts
The basket of the Nut Wizard is rolled along the ground and quickly and easily collects black walnuts.
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson harvests fallen black walnuts from the yard of Chris Gill in Fitchburg.
J's Black Walnuts
A cluster of black walnuts hang from a tree in Fitchburg.
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson harvests fallen black walnuts from the yard of Chris Gill along Syene Road in Fitchburg. The property has about 20 black walnut trees that drop thousands of black walnuts.
J's Black Walnuts
The bed of Jesse Peterson's pickup truck is filled with buckets of black walnuts. Peterson travels throughout southern Wisconsin collecting the nuts from the yards of home owners.
J's Black Walnuts
Buckets of black walnuts await processing at Jesse Peterson's town of Milddleton home. Peterson will spend the winter removing the meat from the hard shells.
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson spent 30 years in manufacturing and is using that experience in his J's Black Walnuts processing facility located in his town of Middleton garage. He began harvesting black walnuts from his backyard in 2013 before starting his commercial operation in 2015.
J's Black Walnuts
After the husks are removed by a home-built machine, the black walnuts are placed in a trough of water. The nuts that sink are then pulled from the bottom of the tank and then washed, dried and cured for six weeks. Peterson will spend much of the winter using a vice and wire cutter to remove the meat from the nuts.
J's Black Walnuts
After rinsing the black walnuts for a few minutes Jesse Peterson prepares to dry the black walnuts on screens in his driveway.
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson displays the nut meat of a cracked black walnut. It takes about 50,000 walnuts to get 300 pounds of nut meat.
J's Black Walnuts
Jesse Peterson spreads out freshly rinsed black walnuts on a drying screen in his driveway in the town of Middleton. After they are washed, the nuts dry for a few days before being placed in onion bags and hung to cure for six weeks.
J's Black Walnuts
Black walnuts air dry in the driveway of Jesse Peterson's town of Middleton home.
Redmond
