An Autumn Foraging Walk for Chestnuts and Chequers

Just a lazy stroll out on a lovely autumn morning to pick Chestnuts and Chequers...
Followup video (tasting the ripened Chequers fruits) is now available here: • Chequers - Ancient Fru...
If you're interested in learning more about Chequers - here's an article on my website: atomicshrimp.com/post/2014/09/...

[@FJ_Beaujangles]

I love how much this man seems to just enjoy life, even the smaller things.

[@popejimbo1]

Cheers for sharing your walk

[@niallwildwoode7373]

Chequers! I sowed dozens of seeds several years ago, and have just got my first harvest this autumn. Retted and pushed through a sieve, it surely is like a tart, caramel-apple pudding.....gorgeous! We're stratifying the seeds and growing a load more trees when they germinate 2019/20. Well worth the harvesting and processing, but best left on the trees 'til late Oct-early Nov...the birds don't bother them.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Whereabouts are you located? Down here in Southern England, a lot of the traditional winter fruits ripen weirdly - for example I have heard people say to wait for the first frost before picking sloes, but in a typical year here, they will all have fully ripened and fallen off before frost.

[@niallwildwoode7373]

@@AtomicShrimp We're in Cumbria, N.E. of Penrith and near the foot of the Pennines. Our F.C. officer reckons we've the biggest copse of chequers north of Manchester, which is a miracle with the deer around here. We'll experiment with grafting chequers onto hawthorn too, as we've been successful with chequers' close relatives pear and medlar....won't do any more medlars though, as the fruit is nowhere near as tasty as chequers when retted.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Cool. I wonder if you might actually get some sort of weird chimaera if you graft onto hawthorn - certainly that can happen with medlar on hawthorn (details here: www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=358465&isprofile=0&cv=4 ) You might also graft onto Rowan (same genus) - might result in a faster-developing chequers tree - Rowan grows fast.

[@JehanineMelmoth]

I was taught to bake chestnuts by this method: prick all of them except one. When that one explodes, get the rest of them out of the oven quickly! Wear glasses to protect your eyes!

[@AtomicShrimp]

That's actually very clever. I love it!

[@omikronweapon]

very clear description of sweet chestnuts vs horse chestnuts. I've only ever seen horse chestnuts I think, my local park is always FILLED with them. From one of your other videos on sweet chestnuts, I was almost tempted to eat some of the local ones. Although I remember some distinction being clear to me even as a kid. because of this video I know now EXACTLY what to look for and which ones NOT to eat. I'm 99% urban though, so I'm not often in nature, making it not only unlikely for me to forage stuff for food, but I'm also not very knowledgeable about anything but the basics. However, I'm not dumb enough to just try out anything I find without making SURE I've got the right thing.

[@julierauthshaw8556]

If you are in the United States, there are no sweet chestnut trees left. There was a blight about 150 years ago, and they all died. The chestnuts you get at the supermarket are usually from Italy, of all places.

[@julierauthshaw8556]

Eva is so happy to run around, her little "skip" us probably from sheer happiness!

[@get6149]

@@julierauthshaw8556 i should be the next johnny apple seed just with chestnuts and bring them back

[@get6149]

@@julierauthshaw8556 so i just looked it up and it seems that it isnt a viable option to bring them back because the fungus that kills them is still around and will eventually kill any of them i plant

[@omikronweapon]

@@get6149 It's worth a try though? Certainly if you have some space and just plant a few on the off-chance. As long as you don't expect to own hundreds of acres and make millions of dollars, you can risk the limited time and effort. As far as Wikipedia informs me, the problem with the current cure is that is doesn't transmit from tree to tree, making large application an issue. But with a handful of trees, that shouldn't be as much of a problem.

[@Dunkelwald_]

In Germany we seem to only have horse chestnuts. Long time I didn't even knew that there was an edible version of those. Here in autumn we collect them (usually kindergarden children or young students do) and we build animals with them and toothpicks or matchsticks. Everyone here knows these.

[@chinkkat]

Cool, in the UK children pick Horse Chestnuts and then drill a hole in them and tie them to a piece of string. Then play ‘Conkers’ with them which is a game where you take it in turn to hit the others conker with your own and whoever’s conker survives is declared the winner.

[@AlissaSss23]

I used to do that as a child! In kindergarden and early school. I'm from Romania 🇷🇴

[@evelinharmannfan7191]

We do have the edible chestnuts (Edelkastanie oder Esskastanie, manchmal auch unter dem Namen Marone) in Germany, but not everywhere. Often you find them in parks or planted near to old castles. There used to be an entire alley of old maroni chestnut trees close to Schloss Lembeck by Dorsten in Nordrhein- Westfalen.

[@elvenatheart982]

I hope you dont mind Sir Shrimp but I have to say you are like a cure for bad moods for me! Such a relaxing video.

[@S7EVE_P]

It's sort of tradition in my family that every Christmas we make Chestnut Stuffing, essentially sausage meat and chestnuts, it's really delicious with the Christmas dinner and afterwards cold in white bread with Turkey and a little pickle

[@RochdChati]

England has some of the most beautiful farms and homesteads I've ever seen.

[@HoopleBogart]

I love watching you walk man, it's so peaceful.

[@joshcrofts2090]

when i was younger me and my dad used to go to the woods near my house and go chestnutting ,we had to wear jackets with hoods because they always hit us in the head and stabbed in the shoulders, painful but a lot of fun.

[@AlissaSss23]

Ouch

[@liquidatorcfc1621]

I’ve heard that bird laugh so many times thinking it was a raptor. Thanks for confirming that it is actually a green woodpecker- great vid

[@drayyvondrister]

The fact that this video has no dislikes makes me happy [edited]Of course ya'll had to ruin it

[@chrissyliberty8117]

Miserable people gunna always do miserable. I added a like to offset 😊

[@od1401]

It's a fact of life, there's no point lamenting it and why focus on the .001% bad

[@marcaber6367]

i actually hit it wrong too but corrected myself and hit the like button

[@countrystyle5076]

Well KZbin fixed it and took away the number by the dislike button so no one even knows now. I wonder if the dislikes have increased or decreased since no one knows other then the channel owner. 🤔

[@PlayaSinNombre]

@@countrystyle5076 there is a browser add-on that you can install, to show it. I cannot be bothered 😕

[@mariatracieb]

Beautiful video of around this time last year.... and Eva is just so gorgeous bless her the way she skips and jumps around is so funny and cute! 🥰😁👍

[@margm4]

Always so interesting...and very pretty countryside. Thanks for brightening our lives 🇦🇺

[@BellaRainDrops]

I am learning so much from your content, I found you when I was watching cooking vids and now have discovered you have content on everything!! your sweet nature, passion and calm manner are very appealing and I’m loving your stuff, a very inspirational way to live 🌸

[@rachelbarr6712]

In a world saturated by over-inflated egos (who speak a lot and say nothing), it’s so refreshing to listen to a gentle, clever man speak about his real life with some substance and intellect.

[@samhenwood5746]

Love the countryside beautiful & very charming. Makes me feel one with the world 🌍

[@steammachine3061]

I find a pair of rigger gloves are invaluable for chestnutting. If the tree is small enough. A good shake frees it of the majority of its loose nuts and you can come away with kilos from one small tree alone. Missus usually just roasts them. I like chopping them roughly and adding them with rehydrated dried fruit and spices in a sweet bread. Very similar to a hot cross bun. The spineless cased horse chestnuts are the indian horse chestnut. They have a different coloured blossom in the spring as well. Both types have a high sapporin content in the leaves and nut and are occasionally used as a soap substitute by the hippier element of the foraging community. Iv seen ray mears use the leaves to wash his hands

[@AtomicShrimp]

Good idea on the gloves. I have a couple of places where my fingers are sore today from the chestnut prickles (and the only one I handled was to put it in the basket for the thumbnail for this video)

[@miekekuppen9275]

We used to open the chestnut cases with our shoes as kids. Then eat the chestnuts raw. Still my favorite way to have them.

[@AlissaSss23]

I didn't know that, thank you for sharing!

[@AlissaSss23]

@@miekekuppen9275 I had no idea you can eat them raw!!! Thank you for sharing!

[@erinschloeffel]

Thanks so much for explaining the different chestnuts! Such an underrated tree/edible

[@NorthernLoki]

little tip for your chestnuts buddy ... when cooking them make a slice from the scar to the bottom of the nut ... there exploding because the nut swells within the case with the slit in place it will push its self out of the case itself making it easier to open, all the best

[@AlissaSss23]

Wow...you filming around quietly and focusing on that horse was so relaxing and calming. Now I'm off to check your jam making video

[@TheMouseMasterYT]

"Hopefully, we can find something else to tempt our pallet" >>>Camera focuses on a horse

[@chrissyliberty8117]

I love these longer informative videos of yours. Really enjoy this channel

[@theprofessor4914]

My rat terrier used to skip like that. Usually if there was dew or something on the ground she didn't like. Lol

[@ThePhoenix198]

2:07 "Got any carrots? No? Why not?" 😊

[@thepvporg]

My mates dog used to run on two opposite legs. The result of two incidents with vehicles, the front left paw and rear right paw got injured in two incidents a few years apart, the dog learned to run on two legs, really as fast as other dogs... it was a sight to see.

[@omikronweapon]

While I trust Atomic Shrimp when he says Eva is fine, I can't quite believe she simply started doing this without any cause. There must be sóme physiological reason.

[@charliethecairnterrier]

@@omikronweapon It's a pretty common thing for dogs to do who have luxating patellas. The knee 'locks' up thats why they sometimes skip. He should get those checked, they could need surgery. I hope not of course but it's a pretty common symptom.

[@lateepiphany]

So peaceful and enjoyable, thanks

[@chopin65]

Yours is glorious pastures green, sir. Long may you enjoy it! It's so lovely. I envy you.

[@its_just_seb]

while horse chestnuts aren't safe to eat, they do contain saponins, the same component that makes soap nuts so desireable as a laundry detergent substitute. you can cut them up (the saponins are on the inside flesh, not the skin as they are on soap nuts) and dry to store for longer periods of time. when you want to use them, just soak a few chestnuts' worth of granules/pieces in boiling water and let steep. you can also put the granules directly in a little baggie or sock to add to your laundry. i like to still steep them a little bit though to release the saponins from the start. this is by no means a comprehensive manual, so do your research, there's lots available online. All i'm saying is that these are a great free alternative that is also way more environmentally friendly than traditional laundry detergent and soap nuts (which have a big carbon footprint due to shipping, and the high demand in the west makes them unaffordable for the people in their native environment that have used them for centuries)

[@SUM1SLY83]

When I was a kid my dad use to chuck them on the open fire to cook them.

[@Qaz416]

I honestly love your foraging vids , really awesome content 😀 from Auckland NZ.

[@yankis.]

This is the most wholesome channel on KZbin.

[@lucas.s017]

I love these foraging videos!

[@QuiltingCrow]

I am ill at home since September, so I missed the last autumn completely, even though it's my favorite season. This video is so lovely. Thanks for sharing!

[@cherylT321]

Hope you’re better, now!

[@QuiltingCrow]

@@cherylT321 Thank you :) Unfortunately I'm not. I'm still ill and at home.

[@cherylT321]

@@QuiltingCrow Sorry to hear that!

[@maecarpenter6735]

Love this video for the natural feel and the critters. I am now roasting some commercial 🌰🌰🌰 from Italy. Yum! Wish I could forage them. Also starting to grow them in my fridge.

[@cosudu3002]

Oh I love the music at the end.

[@boboala1]

That's a good dog that doesn't F with or bark at horses! Chestnuts!? Nice! The tree - in its mature form - invasively blighted here in the US since 1905...the fungus making its way out west here to the Ozarks in the 1950s..finishing them off. Lewis & Clark described & drew massive chestnut trees/forest land that was an important source of sustenance for any animal in eastern N. America that eats! Meanwhile, we're breeding Chinese chestnut trees w American Castanea...the end result taking generations for a 13/15ths American DNA!

[@Jay_76]

According to another video, the dog likes to run with "tree-headed doggos".

[@GrandadsOtherChannel]

That time of year again already

[@TheWalrusWasDanny]

Great video...loved it...thanks for that!! Danny

[@sarahstrong7174]

Thankyou for sharing your wander.

[@thestrangegreenman]

I wish America was as walkable as this. Everywhere seems to be be housing developments, suburban sprawl, NO TRESPASSING signs, ticks, and poison ivy...

[@phillipneyman9338]

you obviously have a good eye for light... try painting.....

[@thewildempress5025]

Love chestnuts. I couldn't pick loads this year 😊

[@disembodiednarrator]

When you like a channel so much you watch all the ads

[@boatfodder7591]

Ah, nostalgia. Now I know what chestnuts look like and I can stop calling them "Those spiky green things that I liked throwing at other kids when I was little."

[@AlissaSss23]

Those are the conkers

[@boatfodder7591]

@@AlissaSss23 Even better

[@Rob88]

Nice scenery, thanks. Would you consider making Marron Glace (candied chestnuts) for a future video?

[@AtomicShrimp]

I'll have a go - I tried it once before and the chestnuts just dissolved into the syrup - I have a feeling it only really works properly with big, cultivated chestnuts.

[@Rob88]

@@AtomicShrimp thanks! Good luck.

[@Rob88]

@@AtomicShrimp I found a recipe that addresses the chestnuts breaking up. In short keep the heat to a minimum, bringing them up slowly and removing from heat as soon as it boils. Also placing the chestnuts in onion bags, cheesecloth can help as well. Some wrap them individually. I've got a link if you'd like. Good luck.

[@AlissaSss23]

I tried it a few years ago, they were so gard I almost broke my teeth

[@Paulamon92]

If you just nake a cross in them, they won't explode. Never ever ever had it happen in all the years I've cooked them. Never seen anyone pierce bith sides like that. Pierce and x on one side

[@JR-je7ce]

I used to love conker picking when I was a kid and stringing them for conker fights. I've tried getting my kids to a few times but because it's not a game with flashing colours they're not interested

[@vanillavalhalla4482]

Fun fact: "clay" pigeons are made from pitch. In the early days, when live passenger pigeons were just becoming extinct, which sadly were the original targets, sport shooters switched to glass globes filled with feathers. This was time and cost prohibitive. Then, for a short while, they were made of clay. Approximately post WWI. They've been made from pitch ever since, and even some biodegradable ones that are made from corn starch and cellulose.

[@BigMan-kp6ug]

corn startch lol Americans can make anything using corn

[@ZestyLimeStudios]

Well i never knew conquers can kill you, i always played with them at school as we would harden them, put a string through them & play the game with them.

[@LG-jb9zs]

verified wholesome content

[@sylviov8560]

My friend you are supposed to make a longer cut on one side only, take my Italian word on this.

[@youaintseenmeok]

My Jack Russel does the Eva skip as well ❤

[@RaunienTheFirst]

When I used to go picking chestnuts with my granddad, I'd always end up eating half of them raw on the way back. Delicious raw, very sweet and juicy.

[@patti441]

i came for the short slautervalley psa's and stayed for the food

[@squiblebib1353]

"Chestnuts - 👶" "Conkers - 👨"

[@thissmithymanga7119]

I love roasted chestnuts

[@lottatroublemaker6130]

Eva is skipping, just like kids do, LOL❗️❣️❗️☺️

[@jennyli7749]

I live in north of Scotland and had some friends who picked horse chestnuts and decided to eat them as a family without checking 🤦‍♀️ they were horribly bitter to eat so they didn’t eat much

[@AlissaSss23]

I tried it once as a child, they are horrid!!!

[@jennyli7749]

@@AlissaSss23 did you eat just off the tree? Lol…

[@AlissaSss23]

@@jennyli7749 yes, I was maybe 6, as children we ate all lind of leaves, berries, etc 🤣

[@tri99er_]

15:05 Horse chestnut unboxing

[@terryostype9099]

Once you've bletted the meddlers will they also need glarding?

[@dyslexiksteve]

I did use to harvest these most autumn's but recently have stopped. This was due to assign I saw in Black Park saying that they shouldn't be picked up as they are for wild animals. I do see a number of them going to waste as a lot of the wild animals don't seem interested in them but but I still will can't bring myself to pick them again. 😕.

[@AtomicShrimp]

It's important to respect wildlife, but at the same time, people in charge can be hopeless busybodies. I imagine the signs were probably a response to people throwing sticks up into the trees to knock down chestnuts (which is a thing that people should stop, because it's not even useful - chestnuts fall when they are ready)

[@dyslexiksteve]

@@AtomicShrimp I think I may have another go this year. I cut a clam shell round the edge of mine and I don't get may going bag. But still get some.

[@chaoticinflation5766]

Eva is so cute I’m 🥺

[@SteveLedger]

That looks like a wildlife crossing bridge to me.

[@coffee115]

I hate that I'll never be able to see a chestnut in the wild.

[@EELClove98]

fucking love this channel

[@awhite3747]

On the matter of blackberries past their best, I might be imagining it but I'm sure that my grandmother used to say that after a certain point "the Devil spat on them" and they weren't worth picking. Does that ring a bell?

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, I've heard that

[@richardhudson8980]

Do not know why the Chestnuts 'explode' in the oven, we used to spike these and cook on open fires when we were kids, they never exploded, we also used to skin them and cook them in a heavy skillet on an open fire, tasted lovely at the point where they were just about to burn!

[@DavidMarvin]

Would you say they are chestnut brown?

[@GetOfflineGetGood]

This is a really beautiful video, but I can't help thinking how if you walked near people's fences like this where I live you'd be in real danger of getting shot, even if you're not doing anything wrong. My friend used a stranger's driveway to turn his car around once and a man came out and aimed a gun at us. Arkansas is scary.

[@AtomicShrimp]

In the UK, we have a lot of public rights of way that have been established for centuries; landowners are allowed to dislike this fact, but they are not allowed to do anything about that emotion.

[@get6149]

Ive never actually tried chestnuts

[@phillipkeppinger4049]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@Vantarmy]

Would a toaster work too? The flapping one (like a book, no idea how it's called) , not the one where you put stuff from above with a timer.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah, I think it should work

[@NachaBeez]

“Toaster oven”!

[@MysteriumArcanum]

This video was uploaded three years ago today

[@muhammadzaidhussainshah8918]

Staring in the soul of that poor horse

[@mrmoth26]

15:06 Horse chesnut unboxing.

[@ghostladydarkling3250]

Are horse chestnuts the same as buckeyes

[@AtomicShrimp]

yes (well, same family and essentially the same thing)

[@peterripson]

Do you not have a tick (lyme disease) problem where you are?

[@AtomicShrimp]

Yeah we have those things here

[@AtomicShrimp]

I mean, that is, we have ticks and Lyme disease, but it's not a huge problem

[@boarbot7829]

Peter Ripson not a large problem at all, I. Live in the uk and have never myself, or heard of anyone else, being bitten by a tick hear. As for limes disease, I’m not sure they even carry it here.

[@sarahstrong7174]

@@boarbot7829 Ticks do carry Lyme disease here but people are very poorly educated about it. I know three people at least who have had it.

[@rayskitten78]

Are chestnuts and concors the same thing

[@AtomicShrimp]

No - they're different and conkers are toxic - the differences are explained in this video actually - at 12:12

[@PlayaSinNombre]

If you are walking the woods during pigeon season, make sure you wear an orange hat, or something.

[@andyroooo6329]

What are the trespassing rules where you live?

[@AtomicShrimp]

britishlocalfood.com/foraging-british-law/

[@andyroooo6329]

@@AtomicShrimp I appreciate the response, those rules are much different than the rules here in America. Love the videos by the way!

[@Clawdragoons]

The close up on the color-turning leaf made me a bit uncomfortable because, around here, around now, any leaves turning red like that are almost certainly poison oak, and I am highly allergic. Some day I'd like to live somewhere that doesn't have poison oak so that I don't have to scrub with detergent every time I go in the woods.

[@evelinharmannfan7191]

no poison oak in Europe....

[@fat_alsgaming]

would this e trespassing?

[@AtomicShrimp]

No - the place where I picked them is a public footpath

[@fat_alsgaming]

Atomic Shrimp ahh

[@loopiewho]

I love chestnuts but not roasted . i like them cut then put in to a dish with an egg cup of water put in the micro wave for 4 mins then pour out the water add a bout 2 oz of butter and some pepper then microwave for 3 mins stir them and leave them for 2 mins to cool down then scoff the lot . roasted chest nut are not nice and they taste burnt and are too dr

[@DuckAlertBeats]

Ridiculous looking walk from the dog at the start 😂

[@samuelbrown5253]

How do you tell the difference between a chestnut and a conker

[@AtomicShrimp]

12:25

[@samuelbrown5253]

@@AtomicShrimp Its good to know that you still reply to your older videos 👍

[@garrett3948]

Is it legal to just wander on everyones land? Here you would get shot at for tress-passing.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Here's a summary of UK law on the subject: britishlocalfood.com/foraging-british-law/

[@whoopsydaizy]

Are you Canadian?

[@AtomicShrimp]

Nope - English

[@equippedsteel3770]

God Save Our Queen! 🇬🇧

[@craigdavidson2278]

"Something to tempt ones pallet".... Nd you show lots of horses....my French wife agrees with your choice.....now just get some "frites"

[@ya00007]

You're lucky not to have parakeets destroying the sweet chestnuts. Come to East London and they're every where. I can't go foraging for chestnuts anymore. I'm really disappointed.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Do they also eat acorns? I'm wondering if they might get distracted by those this year as it's a Mast Year for oak trees

[@ya00007]

@@AtomicShrimp No, I don't think so, just sweet chestnuts. Have you managed to collect any sweet chestnuts this year?

[@AtomicShrimp]

@@ya00007 Yes - they are very abundant this year - picked half a basketful on the weekend

[@abject_sky1915]

I'm so mad! He is just rubbing chestnuts in our faces for eastern Americans

[@maecarpenter6735]

I know, right?? Wish I could go out and just pick them up off the ground like that! Just really frustrating to know these huge trees are now extinct when we had the best of them a couple hundred years ago. I hope that fungus dies in hell.

[@boboala1]

Chequers? Never heard of them...across the pond here. I would trade you some persimmons or gooseberries (you can't handle the gooseberry pie, don't even ask about it or try it alone at home! Same goes for strawberry/RHUBARB pie - you ain't gettin' none - you are NOT prepared for the tartness! I alone am!) for some chequers. As a consolation prize, you will receive a huge piece of warm chess pie with an Mt. Everest sized scoop of home-churned rich/thick/cold vanilla ice cream melting slowly over the top! Do I have your attention?

[@solistheonegod]

Gooseberry and rhubarb crumble was favourite pudding as a kid.

[@peterdavidasige8073]

We ate goosegogs very often in my early days. Never see them anymore. Yes they were bitter but us kids would enjoy everything in the 1950s. Mam used to make apple pie with cooking apples and we enjoyed chewing on the green skins.

[@boboala1]

@@solistheonegod Aw man - are you for real!? Yummmm! Now I'm salivating & belly rumbling just thinking about a 'crumble'! Only had like apple & blackberry though(!)

[@ronan_lapsley]

Eat your cereal.

[@kimvibk9242]

Don't feel bad about people taking the chestnuts - if people hadn't brought chestnut trees to Britain, there would be no chestnuts for either people or squirrels.

[@omikronweapon]

aren't humans just animals after all? Our ancestors ate the same things as squirrels. INCLUDING squirrels.

[@mikbubble8049]

"Look at the color on those leaves!" Dude, that's fungus. The plant isn't well.

[@AtomicShrimp]

It's a little of that, and a little of autumn doing its thing. It's all nature

[@barbaravoneitzen7729]

Who cares what is , its pretty color

[@jackdurston8073]

nitrogen deficiency