What to Know About Harvesting Chestnuts

One of our favorite times year is when the chestnuts are ripe! Michael Dolan shows several methods for harvesting chestnuts, and explains the differences between several varieties.

[@jocktigernuts680]

Very interesting and with no 💩 nauseating noise/music, a good lesson for every uploader👍

[@Badger705]

We had two huge chestnut trees when I was a kid. We ate them raw, they were so good

[@mikekearsley2407]

Absolutely fantastic video. Enjoying the chestnut trees we bought from you 20 years ago, Thanks from Woodinville Wa.

[@Wakeupandsniffthecoffee]

I'm in Virginia and recently learned about the chestnut blight and American Chestnut trees that are cross bred to make them blight resistant. I want to grow a few on my property. But your video really opened my eyes to how wide ranged the chestnut trees are and multiple varieties. I like the variety that releases the nut for places where animals can benefit, but I already give the squirrels and deer most of what I grow now. I should consider the one that stays in the burr.

[@Sonic32084]

Omg, seeing you throw the chestnuts on the ground 😆 they’d be going straight in my cargo pocket! Great video, very informative.

[@heidiquayle5054]

so this video has made me understand why I could not roast my chestnuts and have them taste good - I have the wrong kind on my property! Thank you for this information :)

[@Throku]

Made me realize I don't think Ive ever seen the edible kind. I liked them because they are such pretty trees that looks like they flower long because the flower structure is pretty even after the pettles fall. ... makes me wonder how the edible kind would do here and look.

[@Fred-gv3kh]

Outstanding video. Thanks! You are a treasure, Sir!!

[@mikederp9612]

I just bought 5 chestnuts from you guys! Thank you for the videos too. I just planted my two Primato chestnut trees.

[@alixsprallix]

great video

[@rowdeo8968]

Today we found a chestnut tree here I. Johnstown Pennsylvania and I wasn’t sure if the nuts were sweet or horse so I investigated. Quite a shock to find the tree! We lived here for years! Do not even know how it got planted. Thank you for your video!

[@CricketsBay]

Have you contacted The American Chestnut Foundation about that tree? It's important to know where each one is located for their mission to reintroduce the American Chestnut to the Eastern U.S.

[@heidimisfeldt5685]

During WW2 children in Eastern Germany had to collect and bring a whole lot of chestnuts to school, as a requirement to go to the next school grade the following year. At the time the calendar year was the same as the school year. People rumored that likely those chestnuts were being made into flour, for the food rations, as grains were scarce, due to the war. StuffI heard as a child.

[@Aluttuh]

:( hard to feed the people when supply lines are being blockaded and bombed to stave you out. god bless, thanks for sharing a bit of history.

[@hellodarkness5644]

chestnuts have a wonderful color.

[@mckdi1377]

I've purchased MANY !chestnut trees from you! I never knew you had a channel!

[@msamour]

Holy moly! The squirrels have been bringing these husks that look like little limes in my garage for years. I didn't know what kind of trees these were from. I'm guessing there is a chest nut tree somewhere in my neighbourhood.

[@user-wn4nd8ul4l]

Love all of this information. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR TIME.

[@creekriseoutdoors]

Great info. I just bought some acreage with 85 Dunstan Chestnut trees and hope to grow more trees from the seeds (and hope to have them attract deer this fall). Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@diageo23]

my grandfather planted several heart nut trees, such a wonderful nut, but not at all common

[@andrejhanzekovic5300]

Great video, I enjoyed it a lot. And those are some hude chestnuts you have. Good work!

[@magpie1492]

Horse chestnuts are for conker season. Still much beloved in the UK.

[@dae1066]

Most helpful. Thank you very much.

[@melindasmale4303]

Great video, sir. All my questions were answered.

[@bowlburners]

Thanks for the heads up on horse chestnuts vs sweet chestnuts.

[@burntridgenursery591]

You're welcome - it's an important distinction :)

[@stevedimartino683]

Very good show I really really enjoyed, thank you

[@mr.d6186]

Great video. Thank you for sharing.

[@johnallright6847]

Wow, learnt so much here on my all time favourite nut,lots of things here I never knew. Good video

[@julieatkins2946]

♥️thank you! Enjoyed the video. There’s a tree in town that I can harvest. It’s very sweet.

[@jlc904ubc]

Great video. Great info. Thanks

[@rfcgong1]

Thanks, I have learned a lot about chestnuts

[@outdoorztime2923]

Thanks for sharing some knowledge with us. My son and I planted two Dunstan Chestnut Trees in 2017, and we hope to see our first harvest this coming Spring (2022). What type of fertilizer would you recommend me using for these trees?

[@loquat44-40]

I have several dunstans. The one getting the most sun is doing very well and it is next a productive but unknown chinese chestnut that has sufficient sunlight also. I have never fertilized and soil is very poor, but the trees are doing well on their own. A few days ago I smelled the trees a 150 yards away as their tassels were 'blooming'. I have a squirrel problem and just eliminated one this morning and will keep my eyes open for other squirrels. I have read abut weevils and will have learn more about them.

[@burntridgenursery591]

Sorry for the delayed response. We just use composted organic chicken manure, but any balanced fertilizer with a good amount of nitrogen would work. Soil pH should be acidic, below 6.5. If higher, use sulfur to lower pH. - Michael

[@leehiller2489]

Would the chestnut still fruit if it was pollered? Do the overwintering buds attract deer or other critters?

[@outdoorztime2923]

Thank you! That is very good information. Just a recap on my comment above: my 2022 and 2023 harvests just supplied a hand full of Chestnuts. One thing I plan on doing this year is pruning some of the lower limbs from the two trees. I feel this will help give them a boost and provide more energy towards producing fruit. One thing for sure, it will be easier to mow around them.@@burntridgenursery591

[@cablenelsonbabygrandpiano842]

Thank you! Very good video!

[@trishaplescia9234]

great stuff, thanks

[@bentuffin6357]

I’m in the uk,north of England and never come across a chestnut tree just concer trees. Would like to try growing some

[@michaelc4650]

Lovely!

[@franknada8235]

This guy's nuts!

[@andjaskurteska5217]

Thank you so much

[@michaelfoort2592]

I so wish that I had planted chesnuts years ago

[@sethlogee]

The best time to plant a tree is 40 years ago, the second best time is today-unknown

[@maarkaus48]

Living in Canada, in Ontario, and I was wondering what zone these are good for. I would like to grow a sweet chestnut but am not sure what region would be too cold. Any suggestions? I am growing a Horse Chestnut for ornamental reasons, and there are quite a few in the area doing well.

[@pittsfieldbeast]

Well find your growing zone, and once you do, search what zones that specific chestnut variety can survive in.

[@jayjaychadoy9226]

I’ve never eaten a chestnut, as far as I can recall.

[@user-pr6rt2vv9b]

Need to see the .tress

[@nerissaBee615]

We have a tree. Should we rake the spikey husk remains and place in a separate compost pile or do they decompose on their own where they fall? We obviously can't walk around barefoot too.

[@burntridgenursery591]

The spikey hulls will eventually decompose on their own. Since they don't drop until fall when you might not be going barefoot anymore, mowing several times between then and now should decompose them sufficiently to go barefoot in summer. - Michael

[@westcoastdoglover]

I’ve been trying to find some info on the size of sweet chestnuts. I have one in the yard of the house I’m renting. Some of the nuts are quite small with a squishy end. Are these worth harvesting?

[@burntridgenursery591]

If you just have one tree and the nuts are small/squishy, they may not be getting properly pollinated. Most chestnut trees need another tree nearby for cross-pollination. However, even trees that are getting pollinated will often drop "blank" nuts before dropping the fully developed crop. So check back in a few days and see if any larger nuts are falling. Most chestnut cultivars make nuts around 1-1.5" across, though seedlings or true American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) nuts can be a bit smaller.

[@flat6fever680]

@@burntridgenursery591 Is it still ok to harvest and eat the smaller sweet chestnuts? We have just one chestnut tree so all nuts are clusters of 3 and they mostly open and fall free on their own. Some require the leather glove treatment. I pick them 3 times a day to stay ahead of the wildlife and harvested about a gallon or two large ziplock bags worth. Currently for last 2 weeks just sitting open on the counter drying. Hope that's ok.

[@burntridgenursery591]

@@flat6fever680 There shouldn't be any harm in eating small/undersize chestnuts as long as there's no sign of rot (discoloration/bad smell/bad taste). Sounds like you're getting a nice harvest. Chestnuts will get sweeter when they've dried a little, but we normally keep them refrigerated to try to delay the drying process - they are best for roasting when still fresh, and are starchy like a potato. If drying completely, they can be boiled to rehydrate (like beans) or are sometimes ground into flour. Here's a link to our video about cooking chestnuts: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LPaYOOib-Votk

[@flat6fever680]

@@burntridgenursery591 Thank you for the reply. My nice shiny nuts that I proudly and excitedly picked all went bad. I let them sit to dry in a large tray and some bugs got into them and destroyed them all within one week. Looked like maggots. Sorry for gross description. I picked them up 3 times a day as they fell and they looked great but then quickly got a mildew like covering on them and got soft. Happened so quickly. Next year I will freeze them immediately or something.

[@t.j.3220]

栗だ！🌰

[@mikebills9343]

We recently bought a house in northern Spain and have around 11 or 12 of these trees full of chestnuts I thought they were conker trees . Anyone know the best way to cook them ? TIA

[@niklar55]

Harvesting them is easy, getting them out of the tough brown jacket is the real challenge! Any suggestion on that? .

[@burntridgenursery591]

Let them dry ("cure") for a few days - then roast, boil, or steam them. They should be fairly easy to peel. Here's a video we did on cooking with chestnuts: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g6LPaYOOib-Votk

[@niklar55]

Thanks. @@burntridgenursery591

[@johnmccrae1102]

As I live in Wales would it be possible to ship some Dunsta.n chestnuts to me to stratify a.nd grow on.I spoke to someone in America and tol me it is not possible?

[@IDD.Bronze.Sculptures]

i live in Wales. About ten years ago I planted some small chestnut plants grown from supermarket chestnuts up on the hill behind my childhood home. This year for the first time there are chestnuts on the trees. The trees are now about 15 ft tall

[@jjm6187]

Are American chestnut trees sweet chestnuts or horse chestnuts ?

[@jamessullivan9992]

sweet chestnut

[@johnqueen2754]

I always told everyone tounger than me that they where porcupine eggs😂

[@henrywilloughby8333]

When are they ready for harvesting?

[@burntridgenursery591]

Our earliest varieties start producing in late September, and the later varieties continue through October and November.

[@lonefoxbushcraft]

Question....your chessnut is huge!..can you prune these to 12ft and still bear nuts ?

[@AdaptiveApeHybrid]

Alot of people don't know but NY is bountiful!

[@maecarpenter6735]

Where in NY?

[@AdaptiveApeHybrid]

@@maecarpenter6735 Western. Even in major metropolitan areas, like Buffalo or Rochester. The southern part of the state is also very bountiful.

[@olson7156]

Sells your seeds for growing trees thanks

[@roseericson3828]

Will these type of chestnut grow in zone 6b? I live on the western slope of Colorado and would like to try to grow.

[@CricketsBay]

Chestnuts grow in Ontario, Canada. They should grow fine in Colorado.

[@roseericson3828]

Thanks I will check out your website and most likely order in the spring

[@burntridgenursery591]

European chestnuts are the most drought-hardy, and blight isn't an issue in Colorado, so that's what I'd recommend. Chestnuts need an acidic soil, at least when they're getting established, so if you have alkaline soil make sure to spread sulfur around the planting area to help lower the pH.

[@ang8479]

Would chestnut fruited in zone 9B?

[@cajunfid]

How do the Italian chestnuts fair with chestnut blight?

[@CricketsBay]

So far they seem to be immune, but time will tell. Their trees are 25 years old and not dying from the blight yet, but it's really too soon to know how they will hold up against it.

[@thechestnutking736]

How many varieties of Chestnuts do you have and what are they?

[@rileylewisdolan]

Check out the website!

[@burntridgenursery591]

Last time I counted it was over 70 varieties, but have discarded some since then or lost tags. In our last catalog we listed 24 varieties for sale. - Michael

[@thechestnutking736]

@@burntridgenursery591 That’s awesome!

[@christine.m.b.2026]

😍🤤

[@twbishop]

@5:22 deer and other wildlife eat horse chestnuts, aesculus hippocastanum. i am not sure about pigs, cows, sheep and other domesticated animals. i guess that because of the name horses eat them.

[@chrisc-bw6cc]

Are chestnuts edible from Chinese chestnut trees? I have five of these trees in my yard and I watch the groundhogs eating the chestnuts.

[@burntridgenursery591]

Yes, if you're talking about Castanea mollissima. Make sure you're eating true chestnuts, not horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) which are poisonous and apparently do not taste good. Here are some photos to help with your identification: www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a855

[@richardbryant5773]

Can I buy seed or trees from you

[@romelahiraman4547]

Can I grow chest nut in South Africa

[@sharnie528]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@gogogoo844]

My chestnuts were too bitter. How can I prepare them? I cook them but still inedible

[@burntridgenursery591]

True chestnuts (Castanea sp) should be sweet or starchy, but not bitter. Double check to make sure you aren't eating horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) which are bitter and somewhat poisonous! Real chestnuts have pointy nuts, while horse chestnuts are round. The other way to tell them apart is by the leaves - chestnuts have a single leaf, while horse chestnut leaves come in sets of five or seven.

[@gogogoo844]

@@burntridgenursery591 thanks

[@olson7156]

Do you sell your sells that I could grow a tree from your seeds?

[@burntridgenursery591]

Yes! Full availability is listed here: www.burntridgenursery.com/Tree-Seeds/products/93/ and now is the time to order. We ship all over the United States, during the months of November and December. Orders ship in the order received. Contact our office if you need more information

[@decnijfkris3706]

so that is a non-poisonous variety

[@sitharatop7340]

how to order? advice please.

[@CricketsBay]

Burnt Ridge Nursery Catalog. Online.

[@christianmoser6597]

With all due respect, Précoce Migoule like Marron Comballe are french varieties, not italian varieties !

[@christianmoser6597]

French : Précoce Migoule , italian : Primi Migoule , english: Early Migoule

[@burntridgenursery591]

@@christianmoser6597 You are, of course, correct and if I spoke of them as Italian varieties - my mistake. Having lived in both countries, I shouldn't have made such an error. I should mention, however, that I brought both varieties into the United States from a friend at the University of Torino who had access to a large number of French and Italian varieties as scionwood, so technically they all came to me from Italy. - Michael

[@charliemowry774]

Almost as big a nut farm as Congress 😅

[@eromod]

1:11 meme material.

[@sevdan-va128]

Это где?

[@joeantolak4629]

Rule#1: never look down the neck hole of a shirt if a guy asks you to

[@johnmarks227]

Make sure they aren't Horse chestnuts because you probably won't want to eat them.

[@jameskolar9655]

Why is it that you ‘harvest’ the nuts, but Squirrels and Jays ‘predate’ them? Was it that you planted those Chestnut trees from seed and managed and nurtured their growth, you therefore own those Chestnuts? Only you have a right to them, they are an important source of food for you, essential to yours and your family’s survival ? The wild ‘Predators’, can go get their food elsewhere? They have many options other than Chestnuts to feed their family’s. You are extremely knowledgeable about Chestnuts, that’s patently obvious, you should constantly manage to harvest them before they are predated, eventually, given your skills, you may have those delicious Chestnuts all to yourself. Well done!

[@particularindividual4552]

Bringing your trash communistic ideology here is beyond crazy. Please dont have children.

[@sputnikv745]

Gen 1:11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees...according to their various kinds.” Matt 17:4 ..”Lord, it is good to be here.” 💕🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻💕🍞🍇

[@msamour]

Weren't Chestnut trees extinct?

[@burntridgenursery591]

There are several species of chestnut - native to Europe, Asia, and North America. Castanea dentata, the American chestnut has been almost completely eliminated in its native range due to an invasive fungal disease. You can read more here: tacf.org/the-american-chestnut/history-american-chestnut/. We're outside the historic range of American chestnut, and primarily grow European and Japanese chestnuts.

[@msamour]

@@burntridgenursery591 Hello, Thank you for the information. I did look up some websites after I watched your video. I even found a video about a group trying to bring the American Chestnut tree back. It's looking promising. Thanks again.

[@rbagboyz]

teach the dog to harvest them . my lab drives me crazy with a tennis ball ...

[@MeanOldLady]

Heh. Fun times as a kid would be flinging those chestnut husks at each other in a game of chicken. Our grandparents would make us kids go out & pick up those husks & save the nuts so grandpa could mow.

[@kful963]

Conkers