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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT gmail.com>]

 I have an American Chestnut that is about 7 or 8 years old now.  It 
produces nuts, but only a few.  I can't explain how it is pollinated, 
unless somewhere in the forest there is still a living chestnut.  Last 
year, I planted the nuts, and right now I have two small trees that I 
will plant in the late fall.  These trees grow really fast.
I remember Tvo telling us that chestnuts were often used to feed and 
fatten pigs, that often their pens were placed under chestnut trees for 
that reason.  I planted my first one near the creek in the back, but I 
intend to plant one of these new trees in an area that would be easy to 
build a pen under, and the other one along the creekbed further 
upstream.   I may never see them large enough to feed pigs, but maybe my 
son will.
As for cooking with them other than just eating them, the only thing I 
can think of is a stuffing or dressing, but I haven't done that.  The 
quality of the nuts so far hasn't been great.  I don't know if that is 
because the trees are young or perhaps due to genetics or pollination or 
what.  Perhaps I should find a Chinese Chestnut and hope that cross 
pollinating will increase nut size, but I want to give these trees a few 
more years first.

B

On 9/20/2010 12:55 PM, Lisa Kae Van Meter Perry wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I spent time this morning learning about chestnuts. I learned more than I
> needed, but it was all interesting and new (to me).
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut
>
> On a walk that I take with my husband, we pass two chestnut trees and I
> began collecting nuts. Lots of us are familiar with roasting chestnuts, but
> I wondered what else could be done with them.
>
> I didn't know that they lost moisture almost immediately, like fruit. To
> keep them longer (without refrigeration), they should be soaked in water for
> a day and dried.
>
> Do any of you harvest chestnuts, and if so, do you use them other than for
> roasting? Dried and ground into flour? Or?
>
> Just wondering....
>
> Lisa
> sw VA
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--
EarthNSky Farm  34.498N 85.076W
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determination, stubbornness, perseverance, hardiness, stamina, go, do,
nerve, spunk, pluck, and grit.  It's like "Just Do It!"&  "Go for It!")