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Article on Chestnut Trees

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posted 10 years ago

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Hello Everyone, I just finished writing this 4 part article on chestnut trees. The parts are why grow them, americans, how to grow them, and how to eat them.
Enjoy if you love chestnuts, Happy Winter. Hopefully the link below works.
[url=http://www.twisted-tree.net/articles-links/chestnut-the-bread-tree-part-1/]

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Bill Erickson

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posted 10 years ago

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Akiva Silver wrote:Hello Everyone, I just finished writing this 4 part article on chestnut trees. The parts are why grow them, americans, how to grow them, and how to eat them.
Enjoy if you love chestnuts, Happy Winter. Hopefully the link below works.
Akiva's Article Linky Thing

That should work now, Akiva. You just needed to add some text and then a boxed in end url statement.

You might want to take a look at the ends of your installments. There's some text that could be removed on both 2 and 3. Those are some well written articles though. Lots of good information mixed in with pictures and all.

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Akiva Silver

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posted 10 years ago

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Thank you Bill

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Brian Cady

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Location: Colrain, MA, USA (5a - ~1,000' elev.)

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Akiva, I think that's a very good set of articles, quite through. Thanks.

Ed Sitko

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Location: Bitterroot

posted 10 years ago

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Akiva, very interesting writeup

btw: Minor error at the conclusion of part 3, there's no way to get to part 4.

Will Meginley

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Location: Campton, New Hampshire

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A lot of good info in there. Thanks! I, for one, wasn't aware that chestnut blight doesn't kill the roots so you can still at least coppice American chestnut. Does the new growth come into production faster because of the established root system, or do you have to wait 3-5 years again to get more crops?

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Akiva Silver

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posted 10 years ago

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American chestnuts typically take 8-10 years to begin fruiting. I don't know how fast the new growth after a coppice would fruit. I'm not that far along in growing them yet. It's a good question, I imagine that it would take less time for them to begin bearing again, but I really don't know for sure.

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Thomas Ziminski

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Location: Long Island

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posted 10 years ago

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Thanks for a great read, loved it. One of my dreams is to have blight-resistant American Chestnuts growing all over the place once again.

Dan Boone

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posted 8 years ago

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That link has moved, so I am updating it:

Part 1: http://www.twisted-tree.net/chestnut-the-bread-tree/
Part 2: http://www.twisted-tree.net/epic-saga-of-the-american-chestnut/
Part 3: http://www.twisted-tree.net/chestnut-part-3-how-to-grow-chestnuts/
Part 4: http://www.twisted-tree.net/chestnut-part-4/

Photo from the article:

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Troy Rhodes

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posted 8 years ago

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Thanks for the updated links. I enjoyed reading them again.

I see you are sold out of chestnut seed on you nursery site. Do you anticipate having plenty of seed for next year??

Dan Boone

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Troy I don't know if Akiva is still following this thread, so you might want to try a PM to be sure of getting an answer to your question.

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Akiva Silver

Posts: 175

posted 8 years ago

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I'm here.
I do anticipate having lots more seed and trees this year. It seems like no matter how much I offer, I always sell out. I'm sure there is a limit somewhere but it is good to know that so many folks are planting chestnut trees in this world.
Akiva

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Troy Rhodes

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Would it be best to order them this fall? When do you think they would be available.

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Finest regards,

troy

Akiva Silver

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Yes, best time for seed is in the fall, I start harvesting around the end of september.

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Mike Turner

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The problem with Cryphonectria parasitica is that it also infects, but usually doesn't kill, several native oak tree species. So even if there are no chestnut trees in your area or you are located outside of the native Castanea range, any American chestnut trees you plant can come down with the disease. Two years ago I planted 5 Dunstan chestnut trees here in Greenwood county, which is outside of the historic C. American range. So far one has been girdled by Cryphonectria parasitica cancer and has stump sprouted.

Akiva Silver

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chestnut blight has spread well beyond the original range of the chestnut. Unless you are on the west coast, I wouldn't dream of trying to escape it. That is why my focus has always been on disease resistant trees. I have never heard of Dunstan chestnuts being susceptible, they are generally a really great resistant tree.

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leila hamaya

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posted 8 years ago

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i was rather psyched to get a few american chestnut seeds a couple of years ago to plant, so now i have 3 young seedling american chestnuts. they are very healthy so far, and i am way outside of the native chestnut zone, deep in the mountains of nor cal.
i have wondered about that, hopefully i may be able to grow a healthy tree out here.

Akiva Silver

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I think that you could grow healthy American chestnuts out there Leila. I know that there are several trees in Oregon and Washington state that are healthy and mature trees. Currently there is no blight on the west coast. Its possible eventually that might change, but it could not be for a long time, if ever. Another tree you might consider is the Golden Chinquapin or Tanoak. It is a tree native to your area that makes a nut that looks like a cross between an acorn and a chestnut. They are not in the Castanea genus, but in the Castanopsis. Seems like a really interesting tree to grow.

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leila hamaya

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tanoak is one of the most common trees out here. at least in certain areas, theres some huge patches of mainly tanoak. i suppose it prefers certain niches, like other areas are mainly oaks, then another area might be predominantly conifers. then smaller niches have lot of maples or others... trees actually grow like weeds out here! its very cool. i do sometimes weed out feral trees just popping up randomly in the garden..., usually i transplant them though, especially the black oaks.

yes i think these american chestnuts will be happy here =).

Akiva Silver

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Have you ever tried eating the tanoak nuts?

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Adrien Lapointe

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Akiva, do you know what mix your chestnuts are? American x Japanese or American x Chinese ?

Akiva Silver

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They are complex hybrids, mostly Japanese and Chinese with some American and a little bit of European.
They've been working well here on my friends property since the 1970's. Blight is very prevalent here and winters typically see -15 or -20 f.

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leila hamaya

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Akiva Silver wrote:Have you ever tried eating the tanoak nuts?

no. i have burned through a lot of tanoak wood, because its abundantly available as firewood and one of the cheapest deals.

i also dont collect acorns either, but there are people who do here. i believe the natives favored tanoak as one of their favorites, and saw it as an oak.

the karuk even have cool workshops on acorn processing, identification, and acorn stories...they had a whole myth about how the acorns, before they were created by the creator in the more world...got to express themselves by each creating a different hat for themselves before they came to this world. its pretty neat, theres a lot of appreciation of the acorn here =)

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