Chestnuts - any use for anything?
 

Hi Group,

I have a large 'common' chestnut tree in the middle of my front lawn.
About 30 feet high. Grown from a single chestnut 25 years ago.
As the years go by it is producing enormous crops of chestnuts.
In the autumn I rake the leaves and nuts and leave them rot under the tree.

Have the chestnuts any use? Or is it best to just leave 'em?

Over the years I have potted a few and given them to friends.
But last years there were thousands of nuts.
Any ideas?

P.S. Is it OK to trim back such a tree? Cut a few feet off the branches?

Thanks

Ger (inexperienced but enthusiastic gardener)

Chestnuts - any use for anything?
 

In article ,
Ger wrote:

I have a large 'common' chestnut tree in the middle of my front lawn.
About 30 feet high. Grown from a single chestnut 25 years ago.
As the years go by it is producing enormous crops of chestnuts.
In the autumn I rake the leaves and nuts and leave them rot under the tree.

Have the chestnuts any use? Or is it best to just leave 'em?

Over the years I have potted a few and given them to friends.
But last years there were thousands of nuts.
Any ideas?

Fatten a pig?

Chestnuts can be used in a great variety of ways, including grinding
into flour. While I haven't used it myself, I would expect it to be
very suitable for a lot of purposes where you use flour in puddings
and so on. But it is always very fiddly preparing them, as even the
inner rind is rich in tannin :-)

P.S. Is it OK to trim back such a tree? Cut a few feet off the branches?

As you can coppice chestnut, my guess is that you can cut it back as
hard as you like and it will resprout vigorously.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679

Chestnuts - any use for anything?
 

"Ger" pushed briefly to the front of the queue
on Sat, 23 Nov 2002 13:53:21 -0000, and nailed this to the shed door:

^ Hi Group,
^
^ I have a large 'common' chestnut tree in the middle of my front lawn.
^ About 30 feet high. Grown from a single chestnut 25 years ago.
^ As the years go by it is producing enormous crops of chestnuts.
^ In the autumn I rake the leaves and nuts and leave them rot under the tree.
^
^ Have the chestnuts any use? Or is it best to just leave 'em?

'Common'? Do you mean horse chestnut i.e. conker? Or sweet chestnut?
If the latter, they won't be as big as imported ones, but still just
as tasty. If the former, I have only one idea. I always thought it was
such a shame that the appearance of such a beautiful object as a
freshly-born conker was so ephemeral. Perhaps they could be varnished
when freshly-emerged and used decoratively to fill things - vases, a
treasure chest, that sort of thing.

Andy

--
sparge at globalnet point co point uk

Look after the sins of write-commission,
and the sins of read-omission will take care of themselves.

Chestnuts - any use for anything?
 

They are horse chestnuts.

Varnish them. Now there's a thought!

If they retained their gleaming color that would indeed be worthwhile.

Methinks I might try that.

Ger


"Ger" wrote in message
...
Hi Group,

I have a large 'common' chestnut tree in the middle of my front lawn.
About 30 feet high. Grown from a single chestnut 25 years ago.
As the years go by it is producing enormous crops of chestnuts.
In the autumn I rake the leaves and nuts and leave them rot under the
tree.

Have the chestnuts any use? Or is it best to just leave 'em?

Over the years I have potted a few and given them to friends.
But last years there were thousands of nuts.
Any ideas?

P.S. Is it OK to trim back such a tree? Cut a few feet off the branches?

Thanks

Ger (inexperienced but enthusiastic gardener)