Ready for Jack Frost to start nipping at my nose....

Native Hunter

Native Hunter

Well-Known Member
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Very nice. I always figured with 100+ apple trees and all the oak trees, chestnut plantings were likely to be not worth the effort, at least in my lifetime. I have often wondered how long the deer would take to recognize them as a food source. Thoughts?
 
Elkaddict said:
Very nice. I always figured with 100+ apple trees and all the oak trees, chestnut plantings were likely to be not worth the effort, at least in my lifetime. I have often wondered how long the deer would take to recognize them as a food source. Thoughts?
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My deer started eating them as soon as my trees started producing. However, I don't see them as magic as the tree vendors would like us to believe. Today when I picked these up, I didn't see where they had started eating them yet, but if this year is like others, they will start on them soon. With white oak acorns falling and temps around 95, a cool, deep hollow in the woods is going to be more appealing than my trees out in the hot sun.

I have an abundance of many kinds of food here. Because of that, you never see them really hammer any one single thing.
 
Native...still waiting on one of my 3 surviving chestnuts planted in 2014 to begin producing nuts. Pears were a bust again this year. Got apple trees grafted in 2016 that are doing great along with some smaller chestnut n sawtooth whips that LLC provided a few years back. I look forward to the day I can actually post pics of something we've planted that is producing fruit/nuts.
 
Triple C said:
Native...still waiting on one of my 3 surviving chestnuts planted in 2014 to begin producing nuts. Pears were a bust again this year. Got apple trees grafted in 2016 that are doing great along with some smaller chestnut n sawtooth whips that LLC provided a few years back. I look forward to the day I can actually post pics of something we've planted that is producing fruit/nuts.
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Hang in there TC. The waiting is the hardest part!!
 
The deer have started hammering down on them since the last time I was there.

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I have too. This is how I spread them out in a pan in the warm oven to eliminate the weevils: (170 degrees for 30 min, and doesn't affect taste).

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Are those dunstan or chinese chestnuts? Both of mine finally produced this year for the first time. Chinese produced 2-3 years earlier than dunstans. I picked one off a dunstan tree, just couldn't wait for it to fall, and it did have 3 nice size chestnuts in it. Good to see. I used your recipe, 30 min at 170. Tasted somewhat sweet and a little bland. Any suggestions to add flavor? Finally seeing the results of all the work, bumper crops of pears, scattered chestnuts, and apples were, once again, a bust. Starting to see the logic of pears, going to add more of those, even though I already have at least 10 or so scattered around. Do you fertilize your chestnut trees to get bumper crops like that?
 
TheOldOak said:
Are those dunstan or chinese chestnuts? Both of mine finally produced this year for the first time. Chinese produced 2-3 years earlier than dunstans. I picked one off a dunstan tree, just couldn't wait for it to fall, and it did have 3 nice size chestnuts in it. Good to see. I used your recipe, 30 min at 170. Tasted somewhat sweet and a little bland. Any suggestions to add flavor? Finally seeing the results of all the work, bumper crops of pears, scattered chestnuts, and apples were, once again, a bust. Starting to see the logic of pears, going to add more of those, even though I already have at least 10 or so scattered around. Do you fertilize your chestnut trees to get bumper crops like that?
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All of the ones you see in these pictures are Chinese. I do have just a few Dunstans, but they are still small. I have never fertilized a chestnut tree. They seem to do quite well without it on my land.

The flavor develops after a few days as the nuts continue to lose moisture. I agree that when they first fall, they are a little bland, but in just a few days they will develop a nice, sweet taste. Start trying them when you can push on the outside and it caves in quite a bit. Some people really like them roasted, but I've tried it and don't care for them prepared that way. The 170 for 30 minutes won't do anything to improve the taste - that is just for killing the weevil eggs.

Yes, as a general rule, pears are easier to grow and much more forgiving than most apples. However, I've found that choosing the right apple cultivars is more important than most people realize. This was a great apple year for me as well.
 
This is the pulverized ground below my chestnut trees. The deer have literally had a feast. I have one tree that is still dropping just a few nuts, but they are mostly done now.

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Triple C said:
Native...still waiting on one of my 3 surviving chestnuts planted in 2014 to begin producing nuts. Pears were a bust again this year. Got apple trees grafted in 2016 that are doing great along with some smaller chestnut n sawtooth whips that LLC provided a few years back. I look forward to the day I can actually post pics of something we've planted that is producing fruit/nuts.
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Triple C I know the feeling, I found the old site back in 2015 that got me started in habitat. Its kind of funny because it was your land tour that lead me to the site. I started planting trees on my place in 2016. This year I had 1 Dunstan chestnut bur out of 20 something trees, 1 pear and 1 crabapple. Hang in there they are sure to start producing soon.
 
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