American chestnut, that made the Waltons a living and old Appalchia prosperous, died off from blight in the 30s. I did work with some old American chestnut once. Dang, what a great wood. Dark and rich like chestnut or walnut but cut like pine. Strong and deep. A real loss to our culture.
Once in a while you will run across sprouts, and they will often survive long enough to produce nuts. The only real survivors are isolated ones where there is no blight to get them. Our trees are Chinese Chestnuts we planted forty years ago.
in these parts there are very few chestnut trees left - the nearest ones (in any quantity) that I know of are in the Lancaster, PA area.
ReplyDeleteMerle
Ours aren't big enough to produce yet. We have a few more years to go and we look forward to a big harvest. Thanks to you, David.
ReplyDeleteAmerican chestnut, that made the Waltons a living and old Appalchia prosperous, died off from blight in the 30s. I did work with some old American chestnut once. Dang, what a great wood. Dark and rich like chestnut or walnut but cut like pine. Strong and deep. A real loss to our culture.
ReplyDeleteOnce in a while you will run across sprouts, and they will often survive long enough to produce nuts. The only real survivors are isolated ones where there is no blight to get them. Our trees are Chinese Chestnuts we planted forty years ago.
ReplyDelete