Midsummer is the time of year when I start looking at warts. With seven kids we have had our fair share of them. Warts are caused by various forms of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that enter the body through a break or cut in the skin. Those dry cracked hands in our northern Minnesota winters are a perfect entry point for these contagions. 

The question is how to get rid of them. Everyone seems to have their idea of how to remove them. Doctors will burn, freeze, cut, or possibly use a chemical ointment remove to them. Home remedies include, duct tape, potato, apple cider vinegar, banana peel, garlic, pineapple, oils, milkweed sap, and the list goes on. 

My wife and I have tried many options in our quest to quickly cleanse our kids of warts. Some things worked slowly, and only if you are very consistent with application. These more meticulous methods were not working on one particular 7-year-old. She did not care about the growing quantity of warts on her hand. The thought of a strict care regime didn’t interest her in the slightest. I was stumped.

One Sunday morning I was sitting in church next to my daughter. I could see her hand and my mind wandered back to the wart issue. Then an idea came to me, “Would black walnut help?”  We previously tried it internally to get rid of warts, but it didn’t have the strong effect I wanted. “What if I used the green hull of an unripe nut and rubbed on the warts until black?”  It was midsummer and the nuts were starting to get bigger. Right there in church I pulled a green hulled black walnut from my pocket (Herbalist). I took out my knife and cut a chunk off the outer hull. She rubbed it in until she had a good black spot. I made a matching one on my hand to be a good supportive Dad. After that it was just a matter of having her reapply anytime I saw the black spot. The juice of the green hulls is aggressive. At times she said it would sting when she rubbed it on too hard, but you could see the warts fading away. As an added bonus we gave her a capsule of black walnut and olive leaf every day to support the wart killing process internally. After a few weeks there was nothing but fresh clean unmarred skin, and she has been wart free ever since. 

Dan Hollenkamp, MH lives in Milaca, MN with his wife and seven children. He has been building a part time herbal practice for the past seven years. Life is full of love and chaos. Hobbies and interests come and go, but herbalism endures for generations to come. He can be contacted at dan@hollenkamp.us