Ginkgos are gorgeous trees, most appreciated for their unusual leaf shape and brilliant yellow fall foliage. But how many of you have enjoyed the flavor of ginkgo nuts? These trees are dioecious, meaning that trees are either male or female. Without DNA analysis it’s impossible to determine the sex of a tree before it reaches bearing age, which can be about ten years. Most gardeners prefer male trees, but not me. I want the ginkgo nuts! If you’re lucky enough to come across a female in your wanderings, the reward can be great.
How do you know if you’ve found a female ginkgo? If it’s fall, your nose will know. The flesh surrounding each ginkgo nut (actually a seed) smells awful. Like cheesy vomit. Really.
How to Harvest Ginkgo Nuts
Wait until the fruit (technically, fleshy cones) falls to the ground in autumn, then, wearing latex gloves, pick up the fruit and squeeze the seed into a plastic bag, leaving the smelly flesh behind. I wear gloves to keep the stink off my hands, but I’ve read reports of ginkgo flesh causing a skin rash. That being said, I’ve harvested bare-handed and never had a problem, nor have any of my foraging friends reported issues. But I feel it’s my duty to inform you that rumor has it, a rash is possible. Now you can proceed with the level of caution appropriate to your personality.
Wash away any fleshy remnants clinging to the seeds. The seeds can then be frozen, in their shells, for later use. Ginkgo nuts should only be eaten cooked, not raw.
Lazy Forager’s Tip: Wait until ginkgo fruit has been on the ground for a few months, then harvest the seeds once the stinky flesh has been worn away by wind and time. It’s not unusual to find naked seeds in February or March, still on the ground under the trees.
how to use Ginkgo nuts
Bake the cleaned ginkgo seeds at 350°F for about fifteen minutes, then shell them. Ginkgo nut shells aren’t super tough, like black walnuts or pignuts, so you can crack them with a hammer or rubber mallet. Place them between layers of dish towels to avoid smashing the nut meats and having the shells fly all over the room. Then, rub off any papery skins that cling to the nut meats.
Cooked nuts turn green, adding both visual interest and flavor to soups, rice, and noodle dishes. To fully appreciate the unadulterated taste and unique (dense and velvety) texture of ginkgo nuts, fry them briefly in oil and sprinkle with salt. These make an excellent snack with beer, sake, or wine. Ginkgo nuts are also used in traditional Asian desserts. For sweet recipes, boil shelled nuts, then add them to puddings, cakes, and sweet soups.
Public Pleas and Public Service: I was astonished to learn that the Urban Forestry Administration of the District of Columbia actually sprays female ginkgos with pesticides to prevent fruit development. If this doesn’t satisfy smell-sensitive inhabitants, they will remove and replace female ginkgo trees if 60% of the neighborhood agrees. Cutting down a beautiful, mature tree that provides nutrition and deliciousness just because it smells bad for a few weeks in fall? Crime against nature, if you ask me.
ahhh, the smell is NOT a few weeks in the fall in Minneapolis. You can smell them starting in September when the first berries fall and all the way through April or so when the last of the flesh has rotted away. I have picked up the nuts for others who want them but after some 15 years of that stench for 4-6 months a year, I’m not too interested in a taste, thanks. Our cold preserves the flesh until the next winter thaw, when I defrosts and we can smell it. Then it gets cold again and then it thaws again. You can’t even get the stench off the soles of your shoes or boots.
I’m surprised it’s so different in Minneapolis! In Concord, NH (formerly zone 4, and that’s still how I think of it!) the flesh is gone by the time the snow melts in April, and I’ve never been able to smell the fruit when covered by snow. Honestly, I don’t usually wait to harvest. I just wear my latex gloves to squeeze out the seeds, and avoid bringing the flesh inside. I throw away the gloves and the smell goes with them!
If anyone knows what you can spray it with to stop the fruit, I would love to know. Beautiful tree but I hate the fruit
Sorry Ed, I LOVE the fruit! It is stinky, I admit, but so tasty that to me, it’s worth it.
It’s likely a growth regulator. They aren’t cheap.
I have a female gingko tree in my backyard. The first year that I picked the fruit up, my hands did not get a rash, but they got VERY swollen and itchy! I have no real allergies, so this was a very scary reaction for me, Google informed me about what was going on and I have worn gloves ever since.
I guess some people are more sensitive to it than others.
I always wear gloves because of the smell of the fruit. I’m sorry you had the allergic reaction, but it’s not unusual to have the first encounter with an allergen to be mild and for the second to be much stronger.
I have a female gingko tree in my backyard. The first year that I picked the fruit up, my hands did not get a rash, but they got VERY swollen and itchy! I have no real allergies, so this was a very scary reaction for me, Google informed me about what was going on and I have worn gloves ever since.
I guess some people are more sensitive to it than others.
I always wear gloves because of the smell of the fruit. I’m sorry you had the allergic reaction, but it’s not unusual to have the first encounter with an allergen to be mild and for the second to be much stronger.
The gingko is the plant symbol of Tokyo. This ancient species is very resistant to pollution. I remember seeing old ladies stooping over to collect the fruit in the autumn in downtown Tokyo.. They then appear on seasonal menus across Japan. I like the nut flesh cooked in rice…
I think I have a tree in my backyard, the leaves match and the fruit looks the same. The smell is not as bad as everyone says. Will deer and animals eat the fruit.?
The ginkgo is one of the easiest trees to identify; no other tree has a leaf with that shape. I’m surprised you don’t think it smells bad, but smell is a subjective thing. I can’t speak to whether deer and other animals will eat the fruit, because I don’t grow the tree and can’t watch who comes to graze. I wouldn’t be surprised if animals other than humans eat the seeds, but it’s not something I’ve researched.
Thank you for the information! I loved the look of the trees in New York in the fall and I noticed the smell but I just ate the nuts while in Japan and… I LOVE them. Am totally going to plant this tree and hope for a female.
Good luck, I hope you succeed!
I planted two saplings in 2005. They’re slowly getting bigger, but no signs of their sex. They were grown from seed, so I don’t know if they’re male or female. Every Spring I examine the trees for signs of pollen or seeds, but none so far.
In 2006 I bought a 15 foot tall Gingko for my backyard. It was supposedly a male cultivar. It’s now spectacular in the Autumn with its bright yellow color. This Summer we had a bad storm. When I was cleaning up branches and leaves from my back yard, I discovered an immature Gingko seed capsule under it. It’s a freaking female! Of course the nursery I purchased it from is long out of business. I looked for other seed capsules on the tree, but didn’t see any. It’s months later and many have dropped to the ground. I squished one and couldn’t find a seed. I squished a few more, same thing, no seeds inside. Last week my spouse made me clean them up. I used a picker upper to grab them and placed in a plastic bag. I’ll do that weekly until the tree is empty.
This was my first experience with actual Gingko seed capsules, I knew to use surgeon gloves to touch them. When I had a full bag I decided to do a sniff to see if they actually smell like vomit. I’m happy to say that they don’t smell like vomit, to me they smelled like rancid butter – bad, but not vomit inducing.
Anyway, I’m glad in a way. As a trained botanist, the Gingko tree has long been a favorite of mine.
Hi Ken, Like you, I’d be thrilled if a ginkgo I’d planted turned out to be a female. And I’m glad you found the smell slightly less offensive than I do! But I’m wondering about the capsule with no seed inside. I’ve never heard of this before. Were the capsules all still green? If so, maybe the interior part of the seed (what we’re calling the seed/nut) hadn’t developed yet. But if they’re yellow/orange (indicating ripeness) and still don’t have the nut inside, then I don’t know what to suggest. I know ginkgos have to be a certain age for the females to produce fruit (yes I know it’s not really a fruit), but I don’t know if younger trees (like yours) would produce an incompletely formed fruit. Please keep me posted. I find this fascinating.
on a whim, I purchased a bag of ginkgo nuts at a market. Don’t believe these are cooked/roasted, but I ate a few.
What happens when one eats the nut raw? I’ll soon learn!
You might insert a sentence or two of warning . . .
Hi Pat, If you suffer any adverse effects from eating the raw nuts, please send me the details and I’ll post an appropriate warning.