< That is why we planted over a hundred chestnuts 20 years ago. Some look as
if they might give some nuts one of these years. Those massive productive
trees must have been a hundred years old I think. No reason not to plant a
few more though.
John
According to literature the main species for forest gardens that have
supported whole villages for centuries -both in Sardinia and in
Switzerland- is the chestnut. 7 trees support a family they said (or
was it 7 trees per person? would have to read up on this old research
paper...), having had different varieties for different puropses, some
for fresh eating, some for storage in wet sand in the shade under a
roof, some for drying (and grinding them later to cook a kind of
porridge), some for sweet preserves, some to feed the goats with both
leaves and fruit, and propably some for timber production (and fruits
for goats and swine, I guess). I am afraid we have lost the varieties
a while ago...
Mit freundlichen Grüßen,
Georg Parlow
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