View Full Version : Poll: Have you eaten chestnuts before?
harveyc
09-27-2007, 02:18 AM
I'm trying to gauge what percentage of folks have eaten chestnuts before. I have a small chestnut farm and I'm amazed every year how some folks that have well established traditions of eating chestnuts while others are completely knew to them. What's your experience?
I'm not trying to promote my chestnuts. You can find them available directly from growers from a variety of online sources.
the flying dutchman
09-27-2007, 03:58 AM
Voted, I like them roasted, lots of trees here in the wild.
When I was young we went out and threw sticks into the trees to get the
chestnuts on the ground.
Ron
MediaHound
09-27-2007, 06:28 AM
It was never a part of our tradition growing up but I've been thinking of getting the tools and making an order from your site www.chestnuts.us
When does season close, when do you stop shipping them?
Fcastro
09-27-2007, 06:36 AM
I wouldn't mind trying them, I think it's more of a 'Northern' thing,I've only seen them on Christmas movies.....you should post a link. Do you have to cook them ?
Steve in France
09-27-2007, 06:57 AM
Harvey, we eat them most years. Pretty popular in Europe , for some people it's an annual event. The French use them in many different ways for cooking ,perhaps an added value product is the way to go for you like specialist Chestnut paste with added flavors or pre-mixed Chestnut Stuffing for Christmas. Good Luck with your project.
Best Wishes
Steve
tlturbo
09-27-2007, 07:21 AM
The only time I have seen them available was a few years back when we were in Salzburg, Austria for New Years walking around in Mozartplatz (sp?). We bought bags of them roasted and they were pretty good.
harveyc
09-27-2007, 09:16 AM
Ron, very few growing in the wild here in the U.S. after the importation of Asian varieties about 120 years ago which brought along a viral infection which the U.S. native species was very susceptible to. Some call it the largest ecological disaster in recorded history, but many do not know about it.
Jarred, my orchard is in its 9th year and production has increased every year but I keep selling out earlier. Last year I sold out by early November. Though chestnuts are traditionally a "holiday season" sort of thing, many people are very anxious and start ordering as soon as I have them available in mid-September (my rare and very popular Italian varities will become available next week). Ariel tells me King Solomon ate 10 pounds a week, though I'm sure this is one of the instances when he is pulling my leg! LOL On the other hand, I do have a Jewish customer in New York that eats 20 pounds a week! They store well in a refrigerator so it's best that folks not wait too long or they'll be stuck with imports that arrive in not very good shape after being fumigated with mehtyl bromide and coming on a slow boat.
Felix, chestnuts are best if either roasted or, as some people unlike me prefer, boiled. Some varieties are okay when raw, but even they are usually better if cooked. It's not hard, but they are considered a "slow food" because of the peeling involved, etc.
Steve, I have a French cultivar I'm growing, Bouche de Betizac, a hybrid between sativa and crenata (European and Japanese). I have no interest into getting into valued added products because of the labor involved. It either requires a lot of expensive equipment ($100,000+) or cheap labor (ala China). In addition, about 95% of the chestnuts consumed in the U.S. are imported and are often in bad shape when they arrive so ours sell at a great premium.
Here is a fun little radio spot earlier this week from a short food segment on a Baltimore radio station http://tinyurl.com/258z4p.
Thanks for the comments. If you decide you want to try them, don't be worried about offending me if you don't think they're great. I like them, but some customers like them much more than me (one custoer would like 20 pounds a week year-round if he could get them) and some never bother to re-order. Certainly don't order to help out my "project". I sell out easily already.
momoese
09-27-2007, 09:55 AM
I usually get some from Whole Foods each year and roast them for my wife's special mustard green corn bread stuffing recipe. Of course I always eat some by themselves too! I like lots of sea salt on mine.
jnstropic
09-27-2007, 12:50 PM
A friend from north Florida sent me a box of azomite chestnuts. I don't know anything about this clone but it has to be the biggest chestnut that I have seen. They roast and taste like any other chestnut. That means good. This is his first crop and I don't know if he is selling them by mail. We buy boxes of Satsuma for our family from them every year (it's one of my favorite citrus)
Kylie2x
09-27-2007, 01:52 PM
Nope Never!! I think I have seen them before....maybe..LOL Don't think it is a Southern thang!!!!
Kylie
modenacart
09-27-2007, 09:34 PM
Our neighbors had them when I was growing up. We would eat the ones that dropped on our side of the fence raw. I liked them, but sometimes we wouls have problems with worms getting in them.
harveyc
09-27-2007, 09:56 PM
Brian, those are larvae of the chestnut weevil. I am very fortunate to not have this pest like other parts of the country, Europe, Asia, etc.
Jordon, I am not at all familiar with "azomite chestnuts" and know quite a bit about chestnuts. I searched on Google but didn't come up with anything. I'd appreciate more details. The largest chestnuts I harvest might weight close to 2 ounces, but I prefer ones that are about 20-25/pound.
Kylie, I have a pretty good customer in Baton Rouge and many customers in Florida. I have customers in just about every state, if not all. I think they're any "everywhere thing". They are definitely more popular with certain ethnic groups or if folks had family that were raised in the east. The USPS flat rate box has worked out fantastic for our business since so many customers are back east (10 pounds in a box would cost about $26 instead of $9 if it were not for this program).
For my own history, I had chestnuts one time about 35 years ago and then didn't have them until about 9 years ago when I decided to start growing them. Most of my customers eat a lot more chestnuts than I do! With the quantity some folks order I wonder if they do anything besides eat chestnuts, honestly.
MediaHound
09-27-2007, 10:51 PM
btw great poll!
:2738:
jnstropic
09-28-2007, 02:26 PM
Harvey, I sent a note to the chestnut grower.
harveyc
09-28-2007, 04:03 PM
Thanks, Jordon. The main nursery for chestnuts in Florida (well, the only one I know of) is Chestnut Hill Nursery and I believe they specialize in Dunstan hybrids. I've tried some but don't consider them my favorites. Thanks agian, let me know what you find out, please.
Steve in France
09-28-2007, 04:11 PM
Harvey what zones do they grow in ? Also I looked at a New Zealand site and they grow them on the North Island , they are old types or unknown hybrids as they will not import new stock because of pest problems.
What age do the trees start producing ?
Thanks
Later
Steve
jnstropic
09-28-2007, 04:12 PM
The chestnuts are Dunstan and he uses Azomite to do wounders on the trees. He said they were very expensive so he grew some seedlings. I found them as good as we can buy. Are there some that are really much better?
harveyc
09-28-2007, 04:52 PM
Steve, my farm is in zone 9 (Sunset 14), but chestnuts are grown in warmer and much colder zones. There are growers in Canada, Michigan, Washington, Oregon, Deleware, Ohio, Tenmessee, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, Idaho, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa that I know and the American Chestnut Foundation has projects in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and some others that I can't keep track of. There aren't too many of us crazy folks growing chestnuts so I know most of them.
Jordon, I think the Italian Marroni cultivars I grow are much better than the Dunstans. Not quite as large, on agerage, as something like 'Willamette', possibly, but the flavor and texture is considered superior by many of my customers I assure you. I have a quota on them until I can increase production further and I get lots of complaints about that. Many customers don't understand why I can't just crank out some more! How about I trade you 10 pounds of Marroni for an Ae Ae pup? I'll even pay the shipping! LOL
momoese
09-28-2007, 05:14 PM
Harvey, how long will they keep?
harveyc
09-28-2007, 05:53 PM
Harvey, how long will they keep?
It largely depends on how quickly they were harvested, how they were handled by the grower after harvest, and how the consumer stores them. Chestnuts that are allowed to dry out after falling from the tree will often get moldy sooner, though it seems to be affected by the cultivar also. Many growers store them in a cooler with a mesh bag that allows them to dry out and some growers don't keep them cold enough (chestnuts freeze at about 25-26F). I served a term as president of the Chestnut Growers of America and even after I had a post-harvest technology professor from UC Davis speak to a group of chestnut growers there were some that failed to reform their practices. Some growers don't bother to wash their chestnuts before put them into cold storage. Putting chestnuts straight into poly bags can also be a problem because of condensation. I harvest chestnuts as promptly as I can, though sometimes we don't get through the entire orchard in a day. We sort by size (except our Italian Marroni) and wash them (just fresh water, though some growers foolishly IMO use water mixed with bleach), and then pack into mesh bags for about three days. Then, after condensation has evaporated, I pack them into poly bags in which I've made some small ventilation holes. This allows some additional condensation to escape, limits O2 so that transpiration slows down, but still lets some O2 in so that the nuts do not die. A chestnut that has been killed will get moldy much quicker. I suggested to one grower that they could put a plastic bag over their head and I'd come back in a couple of weeks to see if they had turned green yet! ;)
Okay, the short answer: chestnuts from our farm should last for 2-4 months in your vegatable drawer. I keep some just about year round and by February or so I will see some that turn moldy. However, when Eating Well Magazine contacted me in early August wanting chestnuts for a cover shot, I still had some from last year that were fine after I washed them up slightly.
I suggest that anyone who wants good quality chestnuts buy them directly from the grower as soon after harvest as possible unless they know from experience how well the grower does handling their product. Very few markets carry chestnuts that are worth buying, in my opinion. Many of these are dried out and/or moldy.
To reiterate, I am not trying to sell chestnuts here. If you enjoy chestnuts, you'd probably enjoy mine. I think the Italian Marroni are the best chestnuts and so do most of my customers that order them. An older Italian told me in a phone conversation last year that these are better than he ever had in Italy, though I think I had better ones in Italy when I went to a conference there in 2001. On the other hand, there are a few customers that say they prefer my Colossal cultivar. I'm glad we don't all have the same preferences. If we did, we might only have one banana cultivar to chose from! LOL
momoese
09-28-2007, 06:12 PM
Thanks for the reply! I just visited your site and see the Italian Morroni's won't be ready until October so I'll order some then for our holiday dinners.
:woohoonaner:
harveyc
09-28-2007, 06:36 PM
I shipped my first box of Marroni today but don't plan on putting them on my web site until Tuesday. Shipping is too crazy already on Monday and I don't need to make it crazier.
momoese
09-28-2007, 07:19 PM
Would it be better to pay for them but have you store them until I'm ready? Is that even an option?
harveyc
09-28-2007, 07:32 PM
I can store them better than you can, but I don't offer that as an option except for the guy that pays in advance for 20 pounds/week. I try to turn off my walk-in as soon as I'm sold out since it costs $3-$5/day to run. In addition, I have not found a very reliable method for tracking such things and might sell your Marroni to someone else. I don't expect to run out for a few weeks, though. It's best to e-mail me directly through my site. I'm sure we can figure something out. Plus, my brain will be in better shape by the middle of next week when things will be less hectic.
momoese
09-28-2007, 07:43 PM
Ok, I'll contact you early in the week. I don't need many, maybe 3 lbs or so.
You know, the bunch I bought from whole foods were really disappointing, so much so that I hadn't planned on buying them this year. About half of them had mold inside and were mealy, so I'm really looking forward to some good ones this year!
I should send you my wife's stuffing recipe. It's absolutely amazing!!
harveyc
09-28-2007, 08:36 PM
I'd appreciate the stuffing recipe. For things such as stuffing, I think the XL Colossal are fine since the flavor benefits of the Marroni are covered up some by other ingredients. Save the Marroni for roasting, IMHO. I had one customer who jokingly complained that I sent him too many chestnuts because none of them were moldy vs. his normal experience of throwing half away. I can honestly say I have never heard of a customer say they found a moldy chestnut in my shipments.
I have a friend who is a grower in Portland and he wholesales to some local markets and makes weekly deliveries to them, so they should have a good product.
harveyc
09-29-2007, 02:17 PM
Oh, and Mitchel, e-mail me directly instead of ordering on the site since I'll waive the minimum 4 pound size and also calculate actual shipping which should be less for a smaller order within California. Just don't expect a response on Monday if you e-mail me then since it's a very busy shipping day.
PAJ53
09-30-2007, 08:52 AM
Hello Harvey !
I have eaten them in the past and 22 years ago I planted a couple of chinese chesnut trees here I was told they were the only kind that would grow because disease killed off the American chestnut trees. (Is this still true?) The ones that grow on my trees are hard and bitter to me and do not taste like what I rember the amercian chestnut to taste like as a child. Perhaps I do not know how to properly prepare them. The black walnuts and the papershell pecans yield much better here if I and keep the crows and squirrls out of the trees.
My chestunts are not ripe yet. Philip
the flying dutchman
09-30-2007, 09:38 AM
They normally become sweet when roasted. When you eat them fresh you
have to scratch the very thin outer layer of the chestnut away with a knife.
Thats what makes them bitter.
Ron
jnstropic
09-30-2007, 09:41 AM
'Jordon, I think the Italian Marroni cultivars I grow are much better than the Dunstans. Not quite as large, on agerage, as something like 'Willamette', possibly, but the flavor and texture is considered superior by many of my customers I assure you. I have a quota on them until I can increase production further and I get lots of complaints about that. Many customers don't understand why I can't just crank out some more! How about I trade you 10 pounds of Marroni for an Ae Ae pup? I'll even pay the shipping! LOL Harvey'
Sorry Harvey but there is a waiting list for the Ae Aes. If you looked at my site (http://togofcoralgables.com/MyAeAesBrother.aspx) you will notice that the first three plants were all established in a large pots. The recipients picked them up and when they get pups they will bring the first two that they establish back to me. When we get a large group of people growing the Ae Ae in south Florida, then maybe someone will learn how to mail pups from Florida. I have seen them for sale for $100 to $1,000. I asked a commercial grower that used to sell them, how many manage to keep it alive for over a year. The answer was almost none.
I gave Longwood Garden an Ae Ae and they sent a truck to pick it up, all the way form Kennett Penn,
harveyc
09-30-2007, 10:47 AM
Jordon, the LOL was an indication that I was joking. I already have two Ae Ae, one that was given to me and the other cost me about $200. I will soon either be the royal Ae Ae king of Northern California or broken-hearted dethroned! I introduced Warren to your pages and understand that he visited you recently. He loves to give plants away and is ideal for your "brother" program. I, for my part might sell some (if that ever becomes a possibility) to recoup my costs...besides my plant costs, I plan an indoor lighting system soon.
JoeReal
09-30-2007, 01:03 PM
Not a lot of data yet, but already I can see that there could be potentially doubling of demands for chestnuts, easily. About a third have never tasted chestnuts. Considering that you currently get a tiny portion of the market, by targeting those who have never been introduced before, you'll surely make them loyal to your wonderful chestnuts.
For people not exposed to chestnuts, if you tasted Harvey's high quality chestnuts, you would hate what those moldy ones that you usually get from the grocery stores.
harveyc
09-30-2007, 03:08 PM
I think 1% of the population eats at least 99% of the chestnuts in the U.S. I've already had repeat orders from folks that bought 20 pounds just two weeks ago. I get too busy in the business side to have time to eat many myself. :( Sometimes I wish I only had 3-4 trees, but it is fun to hear the comments from customers. One lady wrote how happy her mother was with the gift of chestnuts she gave her and that they were beautiful and she hoped her mom didn't waste them by putting them in a display case. LOL Here's an odd story. I had one customer who never got the chance to try my chestnuts as he died a day or two after ordering my chestnuts and my package came back indicating he was deceased. The chestnuts arrived 3 days after his order so it's not like he died because he waited too long for them. I'm still amazed at that event last year. I probably know a fair amount of most of my customers and that does make it fun.
momoese
10-01-2007, 10:28 AM
I see they are not for sale yet as of this morning. Could you give me a heads up when they are ready so I don't forget!
harveyc
10-01-2007, 10:54 AM
Hello Harvey !
I have eaten them in the past and 22 years ago I planted a couple of chinese chesnut trees here I was told they were the only kind that would grow because disease killed off the American chestnut trees. (Is this still true?) The ones that grow on my trees are hard and bitter to me and do not taste like what I rember the amercian chestnut to taste like as a child. Perhaps I do not know how to properly prepare them. The black walnuts and the papershell pecans yield much better here if I and keep the crows and squirrls out of the trees.
My chestunts are not ripe yet. Philip
Sorry I missed your post. Chestnuts should be "cured" or left at room temperature for 3-7 days (depending on how fresh they were to begin with, size, room temp, cutlivar, etc.) before roasting, though Chinese cultivars are typically even sweet before being cured. Maybe you just have a bad cultivar. I don't know if blight exists in Texas. The USDA was stupid enough to transfer the reporitory from Corvallis, OR to Beltsville, TX and they all died because of the heat and alkaline soil conditions. Chestnuts like low pH soil, or at least neutral. I don't know what your climate is like in the summer, but if it's hot it may be too hot for Chinese cultivars. If there aren't many chestnut trees in the area (I doubt there are), you could try growing other cultivars. I don't sell trees, but PM me for some suggestions, if you'd like. You can buy some of mine to compare, I guess. Or Empire Chestnut Farm has some good Chinese chestnuts to compare to and you can Google that. I don't care for the texture of Chinese chestnuts myself.
Mitchel, Mondays are my busiest shipping day of the week so I'd be crazy to add Marroni to the order page today!!! Probably late today or early tomorrow. :)
Steve in France
10-17-2007, 12:55 PM
Harvey , I finally got around to ordering some Chestnuts , missed the Italian ones , so next year for those . Thanks for all the info about your very interesting project. The whole family is looking forward to a Wood fire on a cold night and some roasted chestnuts.
Thanks
Steve
harveyc
10-17-2007, 01:21 PM
Thanks, Steve. Just sold out of them yesterday....very popular!
momoese
10-17-2007, 01:34 PM
Oops, next year I guess.
harveyc
10-22-2007, 10:53 PM
This is probably more than just about anybody wants to know about my little farm, but it's kind of cool so I'll share it. http://www.eatingwell.com/eat_drink/fresh_inseason/chestnut_grower.html
Take it with a grain of salt. For instance, most people that know me wonder where on earth the got that "soft spoken" description!!! LOL
harveyc
10-22-2007, 10:55 PM
Oops, next year I guess.
Mitch, I'm not trying to do a sales job here (I don't need the business that bad!), but I'm only sold out of the Italian Marroni. I still have lots of the other variety for a while, though the magazine article might bump up sales when it gets to subscribers and then hits newsstands in a week or so.
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