Sustainable Chestnut Farming: A Low-Tech Organic Approach

[@OvermyerFarmForest]

Nice presentation, we have a 60 acre chestnut tree farm in Northern MI with a mixed variety of trees as well. We've tried some Dunstan but have a number of Hybrid American trees successfully growing as well as Bouche de Bétizac, Precoce Migoule, Colossal, and Chinese varieties.

[@crumb9cheese]

I just watched the video of him cooking chestnuts. So happy I found this one as well. SO interesting. i would love to spend the day here on his farm learning. Love people that want to have low impact on the environment and practice being sustainable farmers.

[@foodfarmerearth]

So glad you found it! I found it very interesting too and learned so much. =)

[@crumb9cheese]

Food Farmer Earth thanks. Ya it looked really cool to see the tree grove. lovely

[@turbinesafe9968]

crumb9chees

[@kingshawn738]

Hey than you. I moved from Houston to Tn, and have 6 chestnut trees, 3 black walnut trees, and this video has me motivated to plant many more chestnut trees! Thank You!

[@bluegrassdiggers9030]

I've heard black walnut is not good to have around chestnut?

[@kountryboyoutdoors5257]

Good Inspiration...I just started planting the Dunstan (AmericanXChinese) variety and some pure Americans on our 33 acre property. I have about 30 of the Dunstans ranging from 2.5 foot tall seedlings to over 12 foot trees producing a few nuts, and at least 21 pure Americans that I hope can survive the blight and make it to nut baring age. I also have over 100 Dunstan and American nuts that I plan to plant in the spring and transplant into the field around this time next year. I'll plant every year until I've filled up all the areas I intend to plant and as the trees grow I'll start to thin out over the years. I like the idea of planting a lot of trees close because these varieties will have more of a timber farm rather than that of an orchard tree.

[@bushwhackermo]

How are your Dunstan doing? I've planted 6 bareroot last year. Much like you, I plan on growing the nuts from these and planting out on my property. Curious if you have any do's and dont's from your experiences!?

[@celticwarrior777]

Facinating so glad to see someone care about selling organic produce.

[@nigelkay4210]

Awesome video on chestnuts. Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@tiffsaver]

GOD BLESS YOU, and all your efforts to save this glorious American tree. When these magnificent trees die, we do, too. Merry Christmas to you and yours:)

[@cyrusp100]

Those are not American trees - they are European chestnut varieties.

[@MrDieselmanblue]

Always thought it would be fun to have a grove of nut/chestnut type trees some day.

[@jksatte]

I want 30 acres of chestnuts as my retirement plan. I need to start now lol.

[@yedidyah-jedshlomoh1533]

@@jksatte I started 5 years ago. I have 2 acres planted. I have 2 Chinese chestnuts. I have mostly olive and Fuyu Persimmons. They are starting to produce. Don't wait. Buy an acre!

[@nj1639]

Grubs, no mention of the chestnut Weevil. What do you do for control?

[@jhcraddock]

Very well done. The orchard is beautiful.

[@foodfarmerearth]

Thank you!

[@azguitar]

Fantastic story. Keep up the great work!

[@nachiketa3629]

I’d buy from this man any day.

[@Zedoutdoors]

Amazing video once again and so thank you sincerely for sharing, keep these coming :)

[@foodfarmerearth]

thank you, Zed Outdoors!

[@ijustliketocook]

We grew up eating home grown chesnuts! Great video. Enjoyed it!

[@foodfarmerearth]

Lucky you!! They weren't available where I was so I didn't discover them (as a food) until I was an adult. Thanks for watching!

[@brodieworsencroft3296]

We all want to be good stewards of the land, but if all farming was done this way we' need twenty times as many farmers and a bigger chunk out of you pocketbook to feed yourself. However if he can make this model work hats off to him!

[@NicholasB79]

You'd be surprised. At 2500 lb/acre of chestnuts, you can get almost 3 million calories per acre, which is very close to the yield of a field of soybeans. Undercrop with shade-tolerant fruits like pawpaw and you'd get MORE calories per acre than soy. Run grazing livestock or poultry in the orchard, and you get even more output per acre.

[@mattcantrell5640]

Great video and beautiful chestnuts. Personally, I would be wary of planting a monoculture of them, though.

[@zerozilch]

Great north american cheasnut was majestic

[@Pelican2701]

This was great thank you! I bought some (for the first time) at the market a few weeks ago but left them hanging up in the pantry. I was looking up how to roast them but when I got them out the shells had gone soft and brittle - I guess there's not much I can do with them now! Looks like I should have kept them in the fridge!

[@foodfarmerearth]

I would still try to roast them, you have little to lose at this point. In case this video may be of help: How to Roast Chestnuts kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5munmWNmL2asNE

[@Pelican2701]

Thanks! I did try it , we got about 7 good ones out of half a kilo but it was fun and I know what not to do now!

[@Grizzlife]

What grass is that you have in the orchard? Also what distance apart is the most successful to plant?

[@Lostpanda123]

Thanks a lot for sharing these videos! Really inspirational!

[@tedjalice79]

Thank you very much for this very informative video. Chestnut is my favorite nut from childhood and can't stop eating them once I started. I am guessing if it will grow in the Philippines. .

[@nancypoulin8016]

Chris Foster; I love your video. I have some chestnuts that I have planted and trying to grow. Right now I have to up and growing I don't know what type they are. Right now it looks like I have two different kind. Their leaves are different. Is there anyway I could send you a photo and you tell me what I have? My husband and I have been looking and researching but can't tell. The original nuts were some that my husband sent away for me to eat and I just decided to plant some of them to see if I could grow a tree because I just love chestnuts. Thank You, Nancy

[@billstark9149]

Hello, I'm interested in growing...how do I contact you for more info, and seeds.

[@robinc8903]

Its amazing how they grow..I never knew that! Great info..Love chestnuts and these awesome videos! : ) Prickly little buggers, aren't they? lol!

[@foodfarmerearth]

yes, they are! It teaches you patience - just wait until they open and fall to the ground! I was fascinated with the process too. They are pollinated by wind, so don't rely on bees. Chris says, "A given cultivar needs pollen from another tree which is genetically distinct from the target tree. Chestnut pollen can drift a fair distance under the right conditions, but for reliable pollination its best to have close proximity. There no firm numbers here, but certainly within a few hundred feet or less is best." Fascinating to learn all this. =)

[@fiolhommedinas2621]

TN1

[@geomundi8333]

Chestunuts seem like ideal candidate for irradiation; the peel is removed and he said the problem is mold in storage. It sucks to have to chill them.

[@flowergrowersmith449]

What are the odds of getting decent chestnuts from a seedling? Like fruit trees - a bit hit and miss or are they more reliable?? Great video - thanks!!

[@ozzy1066]

Where in Michigan can I found Chestnut trees to plant in my property

[@sammyyoung6324]

I wonder whether the wild animals eat up. Thanks

[@BrookeOland]

Thanks for the great information. When you say "we sanitize them with an organic method"; could you be more specific? Are they put through a hot bath or something like that? Are the seeds dead or alive after whatever process you use?

[@foodfarmerearth]

As I understand it, Chris uses an organically approved disinfectant to kill off mold and bacteria that may be present on the outer shell. I don't know first-hand which disinfectant that he uses but it may be hydrogen peroxide. I can't answer the second question perhaps someone out there will know?

[@cstedtler4964]

Thank you, producing local crop low tech is possible. Reduction of CO 2, water + chemie is important.

[@nlambros1110]

we don't spray our trees. Can the chestnuts still be eaten? We have a huge chestnuts this year and I don't see any worm holes. However, last year, I did not refrigerate them (didn't know you should do this 'til I saw your vid., thk you!) and about a week or later there was a pile of worms at the bottom of the dish the nuts were on. Why is this?

[@freekuki]

If the fly nested in and the worms has started eating the chestnut, refrigerating after collection won't make any difference. In Italy we don't even refrigerate them at all and I don;'t see the point, we keep em drying up under direct sunlight for a few days. the ones with the worms would have to be discarded anyway. If you don't spray the tree you just accept it as a natural process, some of them would be colonized and therfore won't be edible

[@medikouhai378]

What about a breathable poly cloth lain down in late September? Those roll-ey things are cool, but picking up the corners of a big, cheap piece of shade cloth, and having a truck or cart bed lined and topped with a 3 layer screen waiting to pour it all onto seems like it might save you some time and effort. Can't imagine a light shade cloth for a few weeks would be hard on your forest floor. Also interesting to know that your primary difficulty, and I would imagine cost, is refrigeration. Not to confuse sterility with sanitation, but the cloth concept (and maybe even a few stakes to hold it off the ground) also reduces your crop's average exposure to soil bacteria/fungi - washing with that stuff (edit:streptomyces lydicus?) is a stem to the tide, but I'm sure that one significant period where fungi have the opportunity to establish colonies that go too deep into the grain to eliminate in this way is while they're sitting touching soil. Would also be curious to know the effect of pasteurization on the culinary quality of chestnuts - if it doesn't ruin them, you'd stand a good chance of being able to bump your refrigeration temps up or just having a vastly improved storage life. In mycoculture, they use autoclavable poly bags, with a tyvek or filter-disc opening for breathability - something like that as your storage container, if pasteurization were reasonable, might possibly take your storage even further still. I suppose a setup to consistently pasteurize that kind of volume would be a chunk of change, but can't imagine the electric bill for a sub-freezing walk-in is a pittance either.

[@ChizzyQuiz]

I wonder if pasteurization would effect nutrition quality though.

[@medikouhai378]

Comfrey Comfort Maybe, but aren't they usually boiled or roasted? Pasteurization is just 160f. Maybe there are raw applications like flours where it would be an issue. Although these are probably only a portion of where the overall harvest would go, so could perhaps have stock reserved in raw form at a premium relative to the average increased rate of loss due to necrosis. As long as there are a reliable group of people who agree on the value of that premium, there should be unpasteurized chestnuts.

[@kresimirmesaric9293]

What organic sanitizing method does he use?

[@leoruocco9128]

I wish I knew if a frost is needed to grow chesnut trees.I would like to try to grow them where coffee grows in Costa Rica???

[@squirlmy]

You must refrigerate the seeds before planting them. So I would guess, yes, they do need frost, at least initially.

[@ideos5]

I live 12 miles south of Massena NY ( zone 4b ? ) any suggestions as to what kind of chestnuts for my zone ? I was told the American chestnut is ok for my area but I am afraid of the blight and looking for an alternative , ( the Chinese is not hardy enough ) Any cultivars or any good hardy tree chestnut nurseries I should be looking for ? Your input will be greatly appreciated . Thank you ,,,,

[@foodfarmerearth]

Have you tried the American Chestnut Foundation? They have a resources page that might help. [ps. Chris, the farmer in this video, is not affiliated with this channel]

[@SkipLaC]

ideos5 If you haven't found him already you might want to check out Mark Shepard and Restoration Agriculture. He is farming Chestnuts in Wisconsin. :)

[@sarcasmo57]

Great video. It must be hard to not kill any Salmon in the production of your chestnuts.

[@jorgedominguez4792]

sarcasmo57

[@lonnylela]

can anyone tell me what is the best rootstock for chesnuts. i live in albania. some of my friends says the oak is perfect but here nobody have tryed it.

[@bandmasterjf]

Ive read thst grafted chest nuts have very high mortality

[@urkeanta]

How do you call that device for collecting chestnuts from ground? I need to buy it but don't know its name.

[@osmanoman]

Nut wizard

[@jksatte]

How many acres do they have? Would they recommend this as a business?

[@foodfarmerearth]

He has 350 trees on 5 acres of land. It took awhile before he had a commercial crop - so if you're thinking of making this a business for yourself, as Chris said, "I only wish I had started sooner."

[@jksatte]

Food Farmer Earth Wow, isn't that really heavily planted. Everything I have read said use 20ft spacing so that's about, uhhh lol, less than 30 tree's per acre. Is he going to thin them some? I know, I hope to have some land in the next few years but it is killing me to be on to this and not be able to do anything about it. What's the saying; the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago and the second best time is today. I can't even do it today dagnabit. You have any land you to give me? Big sighhhh and sad face. !!

[@foodfarmerearth]

jksatte Chris says he likes to do a lot of experimenting and I'm guessing that's why they might be heavily planted. He also said "…not all are bearing yet. That number is declining each year as we thin the trees. A some point in the future we will probably have no more than 250." And yes, big sigh on not having the land - it is most likely the biggest barrier for many who want to farm. =( Fingers crossed, tho, that things work out your way and you can one day soon begin planting 'today'.

[@bandmasterjf]

I have 50 acres that is doing nothing. It's got cattle on it now and has for at least the last 50 years. All rolling hills. If ny advice?

[@SkipLaC]

I wonder if this man, or anyone watching this video, has seen anything from Mark Shepard? Mark wrote a book called Restoration Agriculture.

[@GNOSHTV]

How match metrs have tree from tree?

[@jenniferbarnea3103]

Awesome

[@aleccap8863]

These are giants compared to the one growing over our park and forest - must be different sizes

[@minamoosavian]

It was introduce by Romans first but , I really enjoyed watching this gentleman's video.i want to come and work in your farm for free just to gain some of your knowledge.

[@notthatguy4703]

These are american chestnuts

[@cazzotosto1]

Hi I want to sprout organic chestnut seeds where can I purchase them ?

[@bandmasterjf]

Empire Chestnut or Burt ridge nursery

[@winterszhuzhupets2]

Can I buy chestnuts to plant from this guy

[@paulkazjack]

what about all the maggots?

[@robinc8903]

When this video is over, I cannot click on one of the 4 videos that popped up..one is How to roast chestnuts..Just cannot open it..

[@foodfarmerearth]

The links to 'watch more videos' have been fixed, but the 'how to roast chestnuts' won't be available until next week [I put a "coming soon!" annotation on it]. I'll put the link to it when it has been posted, or check back on Tuesday. Thanks for asking, Robin C!

[@robinc8903]

Thank you so much!

[@jacquechanny945]

American chestnuts hazelnuts walnuts tree. 😃🌰🍂🍃🍃

[@mikepowell8611]

Pecan

[@jacquechanny945]

American chestnuts tree. 🌰🍂❤️🍃😃

[@TheUselessServant]

You don't inter-crop? Raise farm animals? Seems to me you can do a lot more with the land.

[@squirlmy]

If you listen carefully to his "dry land" spiel, you'll hear that he wants a crop with the absolute minimal amount of work! lol. You might sympathize more when you get to be his age.

[@FreeRange1234]

yeah probably could, but it's his land, maybe you should get ahold of him and offer to rent the land under the trees he isn't using.

[@jcjensenllc]

Your "cultivars" apparently are not of the American Chestnut variety. Too bad.

[@giosuecaminiti4928]

during second world woar i surva i tanks tu delicius cestnot 1940 1944 second world war giosue caminiti they are delicios e buone in italy

[@ludwigvonrothbard1207]

Le castagne Sono buone Giosuè.

[@jacquechanny945]

American chestnuts hazelnuts walnuts tree😃🌰🍁❤️🍂🍃

[@jacquechanny945]

Chestnuts conkers Tom nkalubo