American Chestnuts

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I think many trees are experiencing a disease that cause a mass extinction event. But some scientist, smart scientist, are trying to fix the problem and make them immune. So perhaps someone will fix the blight that is striking Elm trees and Ash trees.

According to the Internet:

Dutch elm disease (DED), is caused by a fungus and is highly lethal to American and European elms. The fungus spreads through:

-- Root grafts
-- Elm bark beetles
-- Human activity such as pruning, moving, and storing elm wood

The main visual symptom of DED, known as “flagging,” is a sudden wilting or drooping of leaves in the tree, often on a single branch or limb. Flagging leaves quickly turn from grey-green to brown as the fungus invades the vascular tissue of the tree, blocking the tree’s water supply.

Because fresh pruning wounds attract the elm bark beetle, elm pruning is restricted to times when the beetle is not active.

Around 3 years ago, I went to war. I had suffered a massive stroke a few months earlier and had lost my vision. I lost my vision on the right side of each eye. So I was blind on my right side. But then I came under attack. It was an insect called a Cicadas.



A Cicadas is an insect that comes out of the ground every 17 years and causes havoc to small trees.



I could hear the invasion about a couple weeks before they showed up in mass. Then suddenly hundreds and hundreds of them began to appear on my property and they began to attack my small trees including my American Chestnuts. The trees when they are young are vulnerable to this attack.

So even though I was very damaged by my stroke, I realized the danger and decided that I must go to war to save my unique American Chestnut trees. I put on gloves and tried to fight them off, but was very uncoordinated and accomplished very little at first. But I dropped the gloves and watched when they landed and came up from behind them and caught them by hand. It is said that they are harmless, but that is not true. They can land on your skin and bite and each bite causes great pain for about a week. So a almost blind man went to war against an insect that waged a war against my unique American Chestnut trees. As I fought the insects, my skills increased to the point where I could destroy about 200 in a 4 hour war. I did this for several days until their numbers dropped and I gave up the fight. But even though I caused great damage to the plague of insects, they still caused great damage to many of my small trees. The damage was quite visible by the scars they left on each small branch of the trees. But my fight did pay off in the end. Now 3 years later, most of my American Chestnut trees have survived and new branches developed and replaced the ones that were damaged. And my American Chestnuts trees have began to produce chestnuts.

We have them here aka chinquapins.
I have a tree and tried saving the nuts, if you don’t heat then in an oven for a bit worms will eat the insides. We tried roasting them and making chestnut stuffing but never really cared for them.
The deer love to munch on them.
The spines are not fun to step on barefoot, like a sea urchin.

There are nine species of chestnuts and chinquapins worldwide making up the genus Castanea. Four are native to North America (the American chestnut and three chinquapin species, Chinese, European and Japanese) but many others have been imported and now grow in the wild in the United States. The most common is the Chinese chestnut, so a good place to start when identifying a chestnut tree is to compare American and Chinese chestnuts. All chestnut species can cross-breed (hybridize) so hybrids also occur.

This link shows the different types.

Chestnut Species Overview

Acorn Pancakes Recipe

Ingredients:
- 1 cup acorn flour (see instructions below for making acorn flour)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (adjust based on preference)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk (or a non-dairy alternative)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter (or vegetable oil)
- Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or cinnamon for flavor

Instructions:

1. Prepare Acorn Flour:
- Collect Acorns: Gather mature acorns, preferably from white or red oaks, as they are less bitter.
- Shell the Acorns: Remove the outer shells and gather the nutmeats.
- Leach the Acorns: Soak the shelled acorns in water for several days, changing the water frequently. This helps remove the tannins, which can be bitter.
- Dry and Grind: Once leached, dry the acorns thoroughly (you can roast them for extra flavor) and grind them into a fine flour using a food processor or grain mill.

2. Mix Dry Ingredients:
- In a large bowl, combine the acorn flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3. Mix Wet Ingredients:
- In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and melted butter (and vanilla or cinnamon if using).

4. Combine Ingredients:
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Do not overmix; some lumps are okay.

5. Cook the Pancakes:
- Preheat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Lightly grease if needed.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet for each pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the surface, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until golden brown.

6. Serve:
- Serve warm with maple syrup, honey, or your favorite toppings.

Tips:
- Experiment with Ratios: You can adjust the ratio of acorn flour to regular flour depending on your taste preference.
- Storage: Store any leftover acorn flour in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Enjoy your acorn pancakes!

Fenn, American Chestnuts are an interesting nut. It is interesting that they have recipes available for it since it is so rare.

I am only familiar with roasting them on an open fire. But now that my trees are producing, I will have to try other uses for the nuts. One article on the Internet put it this way:

Though we hear about them every holiday season in that famous song, chestnuts – whether roasting on an open fire or otherwise – have been noticeably absent from many American tables for decades, thanks to a deadly fungus that decimated the species near half a century ago. But a small army of determined growers have been on a seemingly quixotic quest to put chestnuts back on the American table, and they're just starting to see results.

First, here's a little history on why the giant American chestnut – once a steady nut producer for humans and animals alike – virtually disappeared. In 1904, scientists noticed odd rusty cankers on northeastern chestnuts. The culprit: a fungus called Cryphonectria parasitica or "chestnut blight". They tried to stop the blight with fungicides, breeding American trees with naturally resistant Asian varieties, and even nuclear radiation, with no luck. So, by 1940 – it had left approximately 3.5 billion dead or dying chestnuts in its wake.

Some of the nut's resurgent popularity to the simple fact that it's healthy. "It's low in fat; it's gluten free," says Fulbright. "People discovered that it's probably one of the best foods on the planet – from the Roman legion to resistance fighters in Europe during WWII.

U. S. chestnut imports have held steady around 4,000 metric tons, with creeping increases in the last ten years. If you're on the west coast, it's likely the chestnuts you're buying are a Chinese or Japanese species from China or South Korea, and if you're on the east coast, you're likely purchasing European chestnuts from Italy or Turkey.

Source: Sowing The Seeds For A Great American Chestnut Comeback

This year my American Chestnut trees produced around 500 chestnuts. They are sitting in my refrigerator for storage.

^Do you know what you're going to do with them?

I've heard of people making stuffing with them (as MissLizard mentioned) for their Christmas roast. But also nut roasts and even chocolate truffles. I'm sure the American ones could be used similarly.

In days gone by, chestnuts (and acorns) would have been valuable foraging for people. But why bother when you can buy a bag of ready salted peanuts?

In the New Forest which is a national park near where I live, every year around this time they release lots of pigs for 'pannage' which is where they eat all the fallen chestnuts and acorns. This has several benefits including restricting the amount of self-seeding trees so the woodland remains relatively open, feeding the pigs obviously and also stopping the wild horses eating them (which gives them bad bellyache and can kill them if they eat too much, because horses can't vomit).

Not really but they are a very nutritious nut seed. I have a box of them in the refrigerator. I suspect during the winter when the family visits, we will roast them on an open fire outside and then eat them.

According to The American Chestnut Foundation

Chestnut Recipes

Roasted Chestnuts
Oven: First cut through the shell of the nuts in an “X” pattern to prevent bursting. Then spread the nuts in a pan and bake at 375 degrees F (or roast them over charcoal) for 30 minutes, or until the nuts are tender.

Microwave: First, cut through the shell of the nuts in an “X” pattern to prevent bursting. Cook nuts on High setting for 30 seconds.
Cool, peel, eat. Vary cooking time to suit, overcooking will dry the nut and make it rubbery.

Glazed Chestnuts
3/4 lb fresh chestnuts
1/2 cup stock
2 T butter salt and pepper
1 T honey or sugar

Lightly roast and peel the fresh chestnuts. In a skillet on a low heat melt the butter and stir in the honey or sugar.
Add chestnuts and sauté until they become light brown. Add stock and salt and pepper. Serve on bed of winter greens. Serves 4.

The article contains other recipes. TACF Fact Sheet - Eating Chestnuts