There are chestnut trees near my house although there was one ginormous one that seems to be gone without a stump. We harvested a bunch one year and roasted them, and I gotta be honest, wasn’t worth it. They did not appeal to me.
We would by a bag of roasted chestnuts in NYC during the winter in the 1960's. Venders had a oil barrel fired up with the chestnuts on top of the lid. He would scoop a bunch of chestnuts into a paper cone which also kept your hand warm as you ate them.
I don't think the chestnut blight caused the rise of the incredibly exploitative Appalachian coal mining industry because the coal mines long predate the culmination of the blight. However, it may have partially enabled it because chestnut trees provided a cheap, abundant food supply, enabling the coal mines to not pay the miners as much as they would have had to otherwise.
There are still many living chestnut trees in the woods of New England. New saplings sprout up from the roots, grow for about 10-20 years, get hit by the blight and die. But the roots survive to sprout more saplings. They all die long before they are old enough to produce any nuts, though.
It could be I'm thinking of another tree, like American Elms, that were also devastated by an invasive parasitic fungus at about the same time. The DED fungus was introduced from Asia, where the the native elms have a natural resistance. Many devastating diseases and invasive species were introduced accidentally. Modern agricultural regulations were developed to preven this, but the Giant Orange Fungus* promises to unleash them by repealing all these regulations. Others, like Gypsy Moths, swalloworts and bittersweet were introduced deliberately for economic reasons, i.e. someone had a get-rich scheme, illustrating the basic biological principle "Fuck Around and Find Out."
I think about the ecological cascade of the chestnut die-off; the devastating impacts to the native food chain (from insects to bears) and recycling of forest nutrients. Akin to the loss of salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
When I was a kid I remember there were beautiful chestnut trees in the town I grew up in until the blight resumed and it wasn't even a couple weeks they all died. The town replaced them with buckeye trees. But the buckeye trees just weren't as beautiful...
I actually do eat chestnuts this time of year, and I looked this story up when my son asked where they came from and why he'd never seen a chestnut tree. I knew someone was working on bringing them back, and I am glad to have the link to the foundation, thanks!
As a west coast kid I ain’t never seen or ate a chestnut. There are some of what folks call horse chestnuts along some streets here in town, but I understand that they are an entirely different thing. Growing up in California we had California Black Walnuts, which so far as I could tell were mostly for supplying some of the the bigger kids with all the throwing ammunition they needed against us younger kids.
Weird, I grew up with chesnut trees all over my neighborhood in portland, they're still there. Glad the blight never made it west since they made great weapons as kids. spiky green munitions to go along with walnuts and the grenades left on magnolia trees
I’ve tried a few foraged foods. Sometimes there’s a good space between “edible” and “good.” Not edible could be not edible for any number of reasons from indigestible to poisonous. I’m glad I never tried one.
Thanks for this, Dr.Sarah Taber. Fascinating stuff ! An old, old house I've often been in , just above the Maryland/PA line, is built entirely of "wormy" chestnut. The inside woodworking & trim is truly breathtaking. Mamma always admired it so much that when we visited, she often lost the thread of the conversation cause she'd be too busy reverently stroking a banister, or some such. *grin* We were always admonished that "They don't build 'em like that anymore bc there isn't any more of that wood." I never realized how accurate that was, until now. :{It would be so great if the chestnut (and many more of our native flora ) could be brought back & re-introduced into the biosphere. . Hurrah for science in general, and crop scientists in particular. :).
There are chestnut trees near my house although there was one ginormous one that seems to be gone without a stump. We harvested a bunch one year and roasted them, and I gotta be honest, wasn’t worth it. They did not appeal to me.
We would by a bag of roasted chestnuts in NYC during the winter in the 1960's. Venders had a oil barrel fired up with the chestnuts on top of the lid. He would scoop a bunch of chestnuts into a paper cone which also kept your hand warm as you ate them.
T
I don't think the chestnut blight caused the rise of the incredibly exploitative Appalachian coal mining industry because the coal mines long predate the culmination of the blight. However, it may have partially enabled it because chestnut trees provided a cheap, abundant food supply, enabling the coal mines to not pay the miners as much as they would have had to otherwise.
There are still many living chestnut trees in the woods of New England. New saplings sprout up from the roots, grow for about 10-20 years, get hit by the blight and die. But the roots survive to sprout more saplings. They all die long before they are old enough to produce any nuts, though.
It could be I'm thinking of another tree, like American Elms, that were also devastated by an invasive parasitic fungus at about the same time. The DED fungus was introduced from Asia, where the the native elms have a natural resistance. Many devastating diseases and invasive species were introduced accidentally. Modern agricultural regulations were developed to preven this, but the Giant Orange Fungus* promises to unleash them by repealing all these regulations. Others, like Gypsy Moths, swalloworts and bittersweet were introduced deliberately for economic reasons, i.e. someone had a get-rich scheme, illustrating the basic biological principle "Fuck Around and Find Out."
[*] No offense to out many fungoidal friends.
I think about the ecological cascade of the chestnut die-off; the devastating impacts to the native food chain (from insects to bears) and recycling of forest nutrients. Akin to the loss of salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
When I was a kid I remember there were beautiful chestnut trees in the town I grew up in until the blight resumed and it wasn't even a couple weeks they all died. The town replaced them with buckeye trees. But the buckeye trees just weren't as beautiful...
Are there sexy parts involving tree nuts?
I actually do eat chestnuts this time of year, and I looked this story up when my son asked where they came from and why he'd never seen a chestnut tree. I knew someone was working on bringing them back, and I am glad to have the link to the foundation, thanks!
Many thanks!
As a west coast kid I ain’t never seen or ate a chestnut. There are some of what folks call horse chestnuts along some streets here in town, but I understand that they are an entirely different thing. Growing up in California we had California Black Walnuts, which so far as I could tell were mostly for supplying some of the the bigger kids with all the throwing ammunition they needed against us younger kids.
Weird, I grew up with chesnut trees all over my neighborhood in portland, they're still there. Glad the blight never made it west since they made great weapons as kids. spiky green munitions to go along with walnuts and the grenades left on magnolia trees
Those would be horse chestnuts. Different species, good ammo, not good food. They grow in my old hometown, too.
Yeah, horse chestnuts are not edible.
The ones you eat are imported Italian chestnuts.
I’ve tried a few foraged foods. Sometimes there’s a good space between “edible” and “good.” Not edible could be not edible for any number of reasons from indigestible to poisonous. I’m glad I never tried one.
Thanks, this has always puzzled me
Thanks for this, Dr.Sarah Taber. Fascinating stuff ! An old, old house I've often been in , just above the Maryland/PA line, is built entirely of "wormy" chestnut. The inside woodworking & trim is truly breathtaking. Mamma always admired it so much that when we visited, she often lost the thread of the conversation cause she'd be too busy reverently stroking a banister, or some such. *grin* We were always admonished that "They don't build 'em like that anymore bc there isn't any more of that wood." I never realized how accurate that was, until now. :{It would be so great if the chestnut (and many more of our native flora ) could be brought back & re-introduced into the biosphere. . Hurrah for science in general, and crop scientists in particular. :).