On 10/2/2017 4:55 PM, George Shirley wrote:
On 10/2/2017 11:21 AM, Frank wrote:
On 10/2/2017 8:00 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 10/2/2017 6:33 AM, Frank wrote:
On 10/1/2017 10:30 PM, songbird wrote:
Frank wrote:
...
I'm into chestnut season.Â* I don't save as many but like to shell and
freeze to use with stuffing turkey. I'll chomp on them in the evening
with a glass of wine but they last less than 2 months in the
refrigerator as they do not keep like fatty nuts such as peanuts.

Â*Â* i didn't think there were any of those
trees still around any longer?


I hate to leave them for the deer and the squirrels and saturate my
friends with them.Â* Invited neighbors over today to pick up as
much as
they wanted.

Â*Â* in the days before the fungi they were a major
source of fodder for animals in the forest and
many people would let pigs run to fatten up and
then...


Â*Â* songbird


Mine are Chinese chestnuts.Â* The American chestnut is supposedly
returning and a few years ago I tried a few of these chestnuts and
they tasted the same.Â* I don't think the wood of the Chinese tree is
as good as the American tree.
I have never seen an American chestnut, don't think they grew in my
part of Texas. Have eaten Chinese chestnuts, do they have the same
taste?

George

It's been years since I tasted them.Â* I think taste was same as
Chinese chestnuts and they were slightly smaller.Â* This was at friends
hunting camp in central PA.Â* Guy that brought them in said they were
American chestnuts.

I tried to sell some to local market years ago but they refused as
there is a worm problem.Â* There is a chestnut weevil that I have never
seen but it lays eggs on the hull and they burrow into the chestnut.
I spray with Sevin but can't reach the tops of both trees and often
see a lot of worms.Â* These little buggers can even bore through a
plastic bag.Â* I'm sure I've eaten more than a few.Â* This year's crop
appears clean.Â* You spray for 3-4 weeks weekly about 6 weeks before
harvest.
We tried growing everything without sprays, etc. and damned near died
from what all was eating our gardens. Now we just spray and then wash
stuff from the garden. It's hell trying to grown things "naturally" when
the world is full of things that want to screw up your garden.
Particularly when you're close enough to the harbor for Houston and all
the junk the ships bring in. Some have destroyed crops that have been
grown for a very long time. Then the gubmint says "You can't spray that,
it might hurt the atmosphere or something else." Heck, I used to flag
crop dusters as a kid with just a bandana tied over my face. I think all
that "poison" is why I'm still around, sort of like being petrified or
so0mething. VBG

When your trees are fairly isolated from similar trees all the enemies
surround them nearby. I had trouble with apple worms and fungus when I
had apple trees. I used to bicycle past an orchard on Sunday mornings
and saw them spraying. Bet there was not a bug or fungus within a mile
after they were done. I also suspect they did not have to spray that
often as it would take awhile before they were invaded by surrounding bugs.

Probably same for squirrels when I tried to raise English walnuts. If
an orchard knocked their population down it would take a much longer
time to recover than my trees surrounded by woods full of squirrels.

I may be a chemist but do not believe in the liberal use of chemicals
but in their judicious use.