How do you identify a chestnut tree?
The most striking difference between American chestnut trees and the other species is their slender, upright growth, and their thinner, smoother leaves. Chestnuts can be a productive and profitable orchard crop. Trees begin to bear after three to five years, and improved cultivars can, at maturity, produce from 1,000–1,500 pounds or more per acre every year.Chestnuts will grow over a broad climatic range from USDA plant hardiness zones 4 to 8 and seem to do best in areas that have hot, humid summers.The trunk can often begin to grow branches at much lower heights than other trees – these are the knots you see in the timber. Chestnuts can often live for between 500-600 years, but due to cultivation it is thought that some will manage to live upwards of 1000 years.More than 80% of the 2 million tons of the global production is harvested in China, followed by Bolivia, Turkey, South Korea and Italy. Greece, Portugal, Japan, Spain and North Korea complete the top 10. Overall chestnuts are planted commercially in 27 countries world wide, but most popular in Asia and Europe.
How does the chestnut tree look?
Chestnut trees can grow to a height of about 100 feet (30 meters). The bark has deep grooves. The leaves are shiny green and oval-shaped with pointed edges. The nuts are found inside green, cup-shaped structures with a spiky shell. The trees will grow faster, however, with about 30 percent shade. Under these conditions, chestnuts can grow four to seven feet per year—about twice as much as those in full sun.This would be for a “mature” level of production, but that can be reached in 12 to 15 years from the initial planting. In Iowa, the nuts wholesale for $2 to $3 per pound, so the 10 acres should generate $70K to $120K per year. That is just for chestnuts.VERY PROFITABLE ORCHARD CROP (Trees planted in colder regions such as USDA zone 5, may bear between 5 and 7 years of age. Wholesale prices for large, high-quality chestnuts are $3.
How to tell if a chestnut is poisonous?
Edible chestnuts are easy to tell apart from unrelated toxic species like horse chestnut or buckeye. Edible chestnuts belong to the genus Castanea and are enclosed in sharp, spine-covered burs. The toxic, inedible horse chestnuts have a fleshy, bumpy husk with a wart-covered appearance. Raw chestnuts are safe to eat for most people. However, they do contain tannic acid, which means they could cause stomach irritation, nausea, or liver damage if you have liver disease or experience a lot of kidney problems.People with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold should not eat chestnuts raw, they should be simmered, fried, or porridge with chestnuts, jujubes, Poria, and rice. People with a blood disease, such as vomiting blood, blood in the stool, etc.Sweet chestnuts are edible, but horse chestnuts are poisonous. If eaten, they can cause digestive problems such as abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and throat irritation.You can eat chestnuts raw, but they contain tannins, which make uncooked chestnuts taste bitter and can cause nausea. Roasting or cooking breaks down the tannins and caramelizes the natural sugars in chestnuts, sweetening and improving the flavor, and creating a soft, smooth, potato-like texture.
Why do people not eat chestnuts anymore?
During the early to mid-20th century, American chestnut trees were devastated by chestnut blight, a fungal disease that came from Japanese chestnut trees that were introduced into North America from Japan. Cryphonectria parasitica is a parasitic fungus of chestnut trees. This disease came to be known as chestnut blight. Naturally found in South East Asia, accidental introductions led to invasive populations of C. North America and Europe.