Showing posts with label Chestnuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chestnuts. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

First Taste of Maraval hybrid (European X Japanese) Chestnut. 10.16.18

 There was one other burr on the fledgling chestnut tree.  This notified me of its ripeness, by falling off.

Those needles really are sharp like needles!

So with a grand yield of 4 chestnuts, we made an X cut in the flat sides, roasted them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, and ate them.

With peaches, plums, apples, and cherries, I look at the first year of bearing as just enough for a taste, and I'm happy with that.  The next year, most of my fruit trees have made about five to ten times what they did the first year.
If that's the case with these chestnuts, that will be a nice crop next year.  If not, then I'm happy these trees are growing to become nice shade trees



Tuesday, April 04, 2017

Planting Two Grafted Chestnut Saplings. 4.4.17

Grafted Chestnut Saplings.  4.4.17
The two grafted chestnut trees from Raintree arrived yesterday, so I planted them.  The smaller one doesn't look like much.  The larger one is OK although the pruning was kind of harsh.  I guess that is needed for shipping.  The varieties are Maraval and Marigoule, Euro/Japanese hybrids.  They have deer fencing, and I will add the vole barrier tomorrow.

It's always amazing to me that bare root trees can survive, take off and grow.  I hope these do the same.

This completes the various things I wanted to do with the huge area of blackberries that I spent a year clearing.  Now there are 3 chestnut trees planted, and a dawn redwood.  The forest edge has perennials that I salvaged / rescued from the old yard, and the Hawthorn trees have grafts of Chinese Haw, Quince, and Asian pears, for fun/.  The back is planted with a row of Cypress, for privacy, reduce invasion from wild blackberries, and to prevent erosion.

Sunday, March 05, 2017

About Chestnut Trees. 3.5.17

Source:  Athens Science Observer.
Chestnut trees have been part of agriculture for centuries, native to Asia, North America, and Europe.  The American Chestnut trees dominated forests in the American Northeast and Appalacia, some eliciting the same sense of awe and wonder of the West coast's redwoods.  The trees were the keystone species, providing nuts for wildlife and humans.  Our generation does not remember them, because they were wiped out by chestnut blight during the first half of the 20th century.  Of the billions of trees that died, a few appeared to have genetic resistance to chestnut blight, and are part of the source for new trees being planted to begin restoration of the species.  Sources of new strains of blight resistant, or blight tolerant, chestnut trees include, progeny of the American chestnut trees that survived; hybrids with resistant Asian species, and their progeny via selected breeding, and genetic engineering.  There is also a virus disease that attacks the blight fungus, and may prove helpful.

In addition to the American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) There are 8 or 9 species, including species from Europe (Castanea sativa), Japan and South Korea  (Castanea crenata), and several from China as well as other American species.  Only the Asian species, which evolved in association with chestnut blight, are widely resistant to the disease.  Some species of chestnut make for trees in much smaller sizes, compared to American chestnut, although there are exceptions, including the massive millenia-old "One Hundred Horse Chestnut Tree" on Sicily, which is not a horse chestnut but rather a chestnut tree that could shelter horses.   The European and Asian chestnuts have larger nuts, compared to American chestnut, but the American chestnut is reported to have the best flavor.
Source:  Phys.org

As a food crop, chestnuts are more like a grain, or potato, compared to most other nuts.  That comparison is based on flavor and the much higher amount of carbohydrates, with much less fat and protein.  Depending on the variety, they are starchy, sweet, and a good source of carbohydrates.  Chestnuts are rich in folic acid, minerals, and mono-unsaturated fats.  Because they were lost to the American psyche, we don't have a lot of tradition with chestnuts in our diet, but in Asia and Europe chestnuts are a staple.  Chinese chestnuts are making a foray into the European market after European chestnuts trees are also seeing damage from a predatory wasp, also from Asia.  US chestnut production is only 1% of world production, but may grow as Americans learn to enjoy them.   One barrier is that chestnuts don't keep as well as other nuts, lose flavor or develop off flavor in storage.  Therefore, like many foods, home grown or local chestnuts are more likely to taste best.

Image source:  Vintageprintable.com
After I cleared a few thousand feet of blackberry brambles from my property, I was left with a significant amount of barren soil.  I've broadcast grass seed to hold soil and allow mowing, to prevent return of blackberries.  However, this area is ideal for addition of potentially large - growing trees.  I wanted trees that might bear in my lifetime, preferably within 5 years.  It's said that we plant trees for those who follow, but my experience is that a lot of people just love cutting trees down, so I want to experience some of what I plant regardless of what future people do.

Walnuts, butternuts, hickories, pecans may all produce nuts here, but take longer to bear, compared to chestnuts.  Filberts bear younger, have more compact, bushy trees.  I have a few filbert trees, including some wild ones near the cleared area.

With a permaculture bent, I decided to add some chestnut trees.  Grafted hybrids may start bearing in 3 to 5 years, and seedlings may start bearing a few years later.  They are fast growing.  I did not see estimates of growth per year, but I suspect in the more than three foot-per-year category, similar to some maples.  I've had some maples put on 5 feet in a year, so possibly that much.

Source:  German botanical image, 1903.
I already reviewed some considerations in a post yesterday, but here are some again, and some additional thoughts.

1.  At least two different pollen-bearing varieties are needed, if you want chestnuts.   They can not be the same variety.  Each will provide pollen for the other.
2.  Watch for pollen-sterile or pollen-free varieties, which will not pollenize another tree.  OK if they are just a shade tree, or if you have several varieties.  But I would not plant one as one of a pair.
3.  Chestnut trees are large, in the shade tree category.  Websites generally state they need to be at least 20 feet apart, some stating 30 feet, but no more than 50 to 100 feet from the nearest pollen producing chestnut.  I would not worry about the redwood size trees in photos.  Most modern ones will never grow any where near that big, although some of the newer American chestnut trees might one day rival their ancestors.
4.  Even in blight free areas, there is risk for future blight infestation.  I prefer choosing disease resistant cultivars for what protection can be given for future generations.  Most will either be an Asian species or hybrid with Asian species
5.  Grafted varieties will bear sooner, and are more predictable as far a s quality, compared to seedlings.    Since these are a long-term commitment, I think it's wise for the average person to invest in the grafted varieties for your pair of trees, then possibly a seedling if you want another wild card tree.
6.  Deer and rodents can kill the young trees, same as for many other species.  They will need a vole-sleeve of hardware cloth for a few years, and a deer cage until too tall for deer browsing.

Possibly one day I will be able to follow up this blog post with photos of my growing trees, and later with photos and descriptions of the chestnuts.


Saturday, March 04, 2017

Planting a New Chestnut Sapling. 3.4.18

Bareroot Hybrid Chestnut Seedling.  3.4.17

Chestnut Sapling Root System.  3.4.17
 I'm working on a separate post about chestnut trees.  Meanwhile, this one arrived today from Burnt Tree Ridge Nursery.  I confused myself a little when I placed the order, but that's my fault and the sapling itself looks very nice.

Chestnut orders in catalogs are confusing.  There are some points to remember.

Important points about ordering nursery Chestnut trees.

1.  Aim for disease resistant varieties.  There are lots of disease resistant varieties.  Chestnuts are subject to a few diseases that can kill the trees.  Even in a chestnut blight - free area, such as Pacific NW where I live, someone could unknowingly bring the disease here, and start an epidemic.  Best to use disease resistant varieties, if possible.

2.  Seedling vs.Graft.  They are not the same.  There are many named varieties.  It's confusing in catalogs, because some are sold as grafts, and some are sold as seedlings from those varieties.  Chestnuts are not self pollinating, so the seedling is only genetically 1/2 the named variety, and is 1/2 something else.  You don't know what the paternal, pollen half would be.  It could be a related variety, or an entirely different species.  For example, the seedling that I bought was a Japanese X European hybrid.  If the pollen parent is another Japanese X European hybrid, then the seedling MIGHT grow up to be similar to the named parent.  On the other hand, the pollen parent could be an American Chestnut, a Chinese Chestnut, a European, or a Japanese species.  Since it's not labeled, it's a gamble.  Grafted varieties are not the same kind of gamble.
Label.  3.4.17

3.  Chestnuts are not self pollinating.  So, at least 2 trees are needed not more than 100 feet apart.  Some websites state not more than 50 feet apart.  The pollinating tree does not have to be the same species.  Some hybrids do not produce pollen.  It's important to check the description.  It's not much use getting a chestnut tree without a pollinizing companion tree, unless you just want it as a shade tree.

In this case, I bought the seedling, thinking it might pollenize the two grafted hybrids that I bought from a different nursery.  The seedling was much cheaper.  The label states it  is not a pollenizer - oops, ,my fault for not reading the catalog description more thoroughly - but how do we know, not knowing who was the pollen parent?  Maybe the named variety is not a pollenizer, but this offspring via different paternity is.  I don't know.   I may graft a branch or two with one of the other trees,  next year.  That could solve that problem.

4.  Seedlings take a few years longer to start producing nuts, compared to grafted trees.  That works the same way for fruits.

That's about all for this post.  I am thinking about putting together a more detailed post about Chestnut trees, in general, regarding why they are highly desirable for permaculture and heritage trees, and more about their biology and history.