Chestnut Trees

Description

Many Americans have heard of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, but few have experienced that joy for themselves. Just a century ago, American forests were filled with chestnut trees, providing an abundant, delicious food source – until a devastating blight nearly wiped them out.

I’ll never forget walking through a chestnut forest on a mountain in Italy near my family’s hometown, where we filled a bucket within minutes – there was more food on the forest floor than the entire town could eat. The chestnuts were delicious raw, and of course, they were incredible roasted. It was amazing to think of how much food the community could gather freely, with so little effort.

The experience left me wondering: Why can’t we bring this abundance back to America? Thankfully, many are working to restore chestnut trees, and you can be a part of it too.

Chestnut trees are long-lived, with the potential to thrive for thousands of years while producing abundant nut harvests annually. These resilient trees can grow 30 to 60 feet tall and require at least two trees for proper pollination.

Seedling trees will be at least 1 foot tall, with those labeled b-grade under a foot to 6 inches. First-year seedlings are ready for their final home and often establish better than older trees.

To keep your shipping costs low, we ship our trees bare root. If you’re not already familiar with caring for bare root plants and chestnut trees, we recommend doing a bit of research beforehand to ensure your trees get the best start possible.

Most of these varieties are hybrids, each bred from a specific combination of American, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and/or European chestnut species.

• Ace: American, Chinese, and European hybrid; hardy tree with medium-large, easy-peeling nuts and good flavor.
• Eaton: Hybrid of Chinese, Japanese, and American chestnuts; large, delicious nuts (30/lb) with early ripening and attractive foliage.
• Kyoto: Very large nuts from Kyoto, Japan, with robust flavor.
• Pandora: Complex hybrid with American, European, and Japanese genetics; medium-sized, easy-to-peel nuts with great flavor and some blight resistance.
• Tianjins: Chinese chestnut variety from the Tianjin area, offering mild sweetness and a nutty taste.
• Tojong: Korean chestnut cultivar with sweet, nutty taste.
• West Danby: Blight-resistant hybrid chestnuts from Brian Caldwell’s renowned Upstate NY orchard; hardy in Zone 4-5 with large, beautiful nuts and genetics from American, Chinese, European, and Japanese cultivars.
• Stehli Seedlings of Bob Stehli’s Wintergreen Tree and Chestnut Farm:
  • Stehli ‘HR11-72 Seedling’: A Sleeping Giant Seedling
  • Stehli ‘Gellatly Sweet’: Layeroka seedling. Consistent produxer of XL nuts, exceptionally sweet whether cooked or eaten raw. Different flavor than Qing.
  • Stehli ‘HR3T12’:  A Qing Seedling