momoese

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.

harveyc

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.

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momoese

Would it be better to pay for them but have you store them until I'm ready? Is that even an option?

harveyc

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.

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momoese

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

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.

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harveyc

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.

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PAJ53

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

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the flying dutchman

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

'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

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.

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JoeReal

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

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.

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momoese

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

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.

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Steve in France

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

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Always looking for a lost pup

harveyc

Thanks, Steve. Just sold out of them yesterday....very popular!

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momoese

Oops, next year I guess.

harveyc

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/...ut_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

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harveyc

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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