It sounds like you have everything under control with your walnut. Just make sure you store it with good air flow around the wood and don’t have it anywhere near direct heat or sunlight, as this will crack the wood. If you can have a fan running in the room where you’re storing the wood, this works well to prevent mold from growing. Or, if you can’t run a fan, make sure there’s some sort of air flow like a window. If you’re storing the wood outside, make sure that it’s out of direct sunlight and is stacked on stickers to allow for air flow.

Drying times vary. It’s best to check the wood with a moisture meter or you can also use the method of weighing the wood. Once the weight of the wood stops changing, you can assume the wood is dry (I would venture a guess that a year would be enough time to dry your wood since it’s cut into relatively small pieces, providing that you have proper air flow around the wood). The rule of thumb for our maple is 1 year of drying time for every inch of thickness.

I hope this helps.

Have fun
Christina