Conkers! What Are They Good For? Why You Should Celebrate The Horse Chestnut

Conkers, horse chestnuts, buckeyes — whatever you call them, they are everywhere in the autumn and early winter time.

The non-edible cousin of the sweet chestnut may look like a beautiful, shiny herald of the colder months ahead, but if you can’t eat them then what’s the point?

What’s the point indeed? Their sticky bud casings get stuck to the bottom of shoes in the spring, then their large leaves and prolific fruits cover the ground, causing a lot of work for the gardeners amongst us, and on a windy day any one of us and maybe our car’s body work maybe in peril from the trees’ viciously spiky missiles plummeting to earth.

But the point is they are beautiful, and what childs’ eyes haven't lit up at the sight of a fresh conker gleaming on the ground like a highly polished antique?

They represent the seasons, nature, and despite their shortcomings are a fixed point of comfort in an ever-turning world.

So with that sentiment in mind, here are three little uses for those plethora of glossy brown seeds…

Warding Off Spiders

Legend has it that our eight-legged housemates turn their noses up at conkers and avoid them at all costs.

People have taken to leaving them on window ledges in an effort to prevent the arachnids from entering the home.

There is no proof it actually works but you can’t go wrong with some conkers as part of your autumnal decorations.

Another thing to remember is that very few house spiders actually enter your home from the outside. If you see a spider in your home then chances are that he was probably born there, as were his spidery ancestors going back to when your home was built.

Laundry Detergent

Yes, you heard correctly — conkers can be used as an earth-friendly laundry detergent!

This is due to their high levels of naturally occurring saponin, which is a completely natural substance that acts just like soap.

All you need to do is gather some of those precious seeds before cracking them open and discarding their shiny brown jackets.

Next you will need to roughly chop their innards and place into a suitable heatproof container or jug and pour over some boiling water. Roughly 50g of chopped conker innards to 500ml of water should do the trick.

Leave the mixture to soak for as long as you feel necessary but make sure it’s at least 30 minutes. On draining you should have a milky-looking liquid that is ready to clean your clothes.

You can store extra liquid in the fridge for a week and you can also add a few drops of essential oil for fragrant clothes.

A Game Of Conkers

The true winner of these three options is of course to use up those conkers you have lying around by stringing them up and challenging someone to a good old game of conkers.

What childhood wasn’t complete without seeking out the trees that had the plumpest conkers every autumn and coming up with utterly hair-brained schemes on how to make your weapon of choice indestructible?

Anyone bake their conkers in the oven? Soak them in vinegar? Me too!

Then there was the battle of putting a hole through your conker and stringing it. Sounds simple but how many times have you had a conker come flying off due to inadequate knot tying skills?

There was no better feeling than obliterating your opponent's prize conker into a million pieces in pursuit of horse chestnut-shaped glory.

The game of conkers as a countryside game was first mentioned in 1821 and had become a regular fixture in England, with the first properly recorded game taking place in 1848. It was also particularly popular on the east coast of the United States from the 1940s onwards.

Today it is still a right of passage for any young person with access to a selection of shiny fat conkers but there are also a few dedicated conker clubs out there.

There’s even a World Conker Championship in the UK that takes place annually with the winner taking home a trophy. But more importantly the event aims to raise money for charity. Over £420,000 has been raised since the championship launched in 1965.

Celebrate The Conker

Conkers may be mostly useless but let's celebrate them for what they are — bright-eyed and bushy-tailed little reminders of the joy of the turning seasons.

They represent the approaching winter, the gathering of friends and family, and the all-important chance to beat them at conkers.

Just don’t tell the spiders!