Plant Hybrid Chestnut trees to provide a quick-yielding source of carbohydrates on the landscape for wildlife, livestock, or your family. Great for roasting or making flour.
Chestnuts have become a fading memory in American culture due to the Chestnut Blight that wiped out Appalachia's once dominant American Chestnut trees in the early 1900s. Thankfully, the future is bright for blight-resistant hybrid chestnuts. Blight-resistant Hybrid Chestnuts have been bred over many years through the cross pollination of American, European, Chinese, and Japanese chestnut genetics. Hybrid Chestnuts, with their nutritional equivalency to brown rice, are now considered one of the most important crops of the future. Unlike, most nut trees, chestnuts, are high in carbohydrates and produce consistent crops year after year. Hybrid Chestnuts are a sweet perennial source of carbohydrates that can be milled into a gluten-free flour, harvested for years without tilling or the use of herbicides, and can potentially be a versatile replacement for annual grain crops like corn or wheat.
It is rare to find a tree that produces a high carb food source in nature that is as easy to harvest and process as Chestnuts. Chestnuts can be eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or milled into flour for baking. Chestnuts are ready to eat as soon as they drop and do not have to go through a rigorous leaching process like their Acorn cousins. Chestnuts sound great in Christmas carols, are a versatile food source for the humans, and are a great way to attract wild game on your property. Planting fall-dropping Hybrid Chestnuts are a great addition to any food plot and can produce in as little as three year and become a fixture on your property for hundreds of years. Deer and Turkey will pass through your land again and again in the fall to stock up on sweet carbohydrates before the coming winter.
Our Hybrid Chestnut seedlings are grown outside in loose native soil that is amended with our own compost and mulched with grass, leaves, and locally sourced wood chips. We focus on developing strong robust root systems for easier transplanting and avoid growing in pots to prevent circling roots. We do not spray our trees with herbicides, pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We collect our Hybrid Chestnuts seeds from reputable Chestnut breeders and from our own property as our young trees continue to mature.
Other Common Names: American-Chinese Hybrid Chestnuts or Castanea dentata x mollissima
Native Range: The American Chestnut native range spanned from Mississippi to Maine along the Appalachian Mountains
Years to Bear Fruit: 3 years to 7 years
USDA Zone Range: 4 - 9
Pollination: Cross Pollinated by wind
Bloom Color: Creamy White Catkins
Foliage Color: yellow-gold
Edible Parts: Nuts
Taste: Sweet
Texture: Bean-like texture
Culinary Uses: Nuts can be roasted, boiled, eaten raw, or milled into a gluten-free flour for breads and pastries
Folklore: Chestnuts symbolize wisdom and good fortune in various cultures
Does Not Ship to: CA, WA, OR, FL, MI, LA
Hybrid Chestnuts grow best in well-drained acidic soils.
Seedling Size: 2 feet to 5 feet
Spacing: 30 feet to 40 feet for nut production
Plant Qty: We recommend planting 3 or more seedlings to ensure that your trees will be pollinated by the wind
Deer browse resistant: No
Sun Exposure: Full sun, 8 hours direct sunlight per day for nut production
Soil Composition: well-drained, sandy to loamy texture
Soil Moisture: Well Drained
Soil pH Level: 4.5 to 7
Mature Height: 70 feet to 100 feet
Life Span: Hundreds of years
Ripens/Harvest: Late September through early November
Yield: 50 to 100 pounds per tree at marurity
Hybrid Chestnuts are often described as nutritionally equivalent to brown rice. Hybrid Chestnuts are like a grain crop that perennially grows on trees.
Vitamins C: Supports tissue health and boosts the immune system
Potassium: Lowers blood pressure and can help reduce the risk of stroke
Magnesium: Can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular issues
Antioxidants: Boosts the immune system and can prevent chronic diseases
Dietary Fiber: Can help regulate the digestive tract
Medicinal Uses: Chestnut tannins can be used for their astringent properties to help with bleeding and diarrhea
