Edible mixed-species chestnuts are a climate-adaptive, stable food that can grow right where we live. Since we are getting into late Summer it's time for a new thread on how we are going to get a lot of chestnut trees growing! Here's a guide for some of the first steps. 1/

First off why chestnuts? I got your answer right here on my chestnut wiki: https://wiki.buildsoil.net/index.php/Why_Chestnuts%3F
American chestnuts? no I have gone into the why elsewhere but we want extreme genetic diversity & blight resistance so it's more about restoring the Eocene hot-earth chestnut 2/

here's a thread on the common ancestors of the chestnut and a little about their evolution: https://twitter.com/BuildSoil/status/1164736330556776449
it's going to be a process of planting a lot of types together and letting nature, climate, conditions guide evolution.
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ultimately we are planting polycultures: many species all living together & supporting each other in complex relationships. but every building needs it's foundation; chestnuts both provide a good early-succession (oak tree ecology here) jump start next step that can be added to 4

Chestnuts are a good example and what I’m focusing on. don’t let this limit you &thinking re:what would work best in your region or location. For example Mesquite makes a delicious flour can be grown on city streets check out work of desert harvesters http://www.desertharvesters.org  5

If we want to stop and then reverse climate change we have to shift things back to building soil. One leverage point towards that is residential nut forestry to reduce grain annual agriculture. The rest here is how technically we do that. 6/

1st we need nuts. Chestnuts need two trees for pollen, drop ~October in N hemisphere. options are buying them or harvest. a lot of variety of flavor so it’s a good idea to know what you’re getting. Some sweet for desserts or savory for daily eating & some are only for flour 7/

Chestnut Orchards are now grown with sterile hybrids and pollinators and that is what most nurseries will recommend. However for the purposes of this project I recommend that both parents trees be pollinators. Light in other disease resistance is important too. 8/

A list of possible nurseries can be found at the site http://wiki.buildsoil.net/index.php/Nurseries_and_resources. We don’t know if all of them are still in operation, what nuts they have, or if they are good to work with. Will have to figure that out. 9

In general it makes sense to start out with nuts growing where you are but no reason you can’t buy from elsewhere. Except for the West Coast can only buy from the West Coast because of chestnut quarantine. 10/

Information about Pollen sterile or not it’s also found on our wiki. But it’s a work in progress.

2-3 yr old trees can be expensive. For ten bucks you can get 30 seeds and probably 20 trees. 11/

It’s just started and taking time to warm up. But we’ve started a community forum where people can find other people with shared interest in starting this work based on location. http://Forum.buildsoil.net . I recommend getting the web app so that you’re reminded to look at it. 12/

I’m also putting together a database so that we can collect information of people who want to get involved or have locations to plant trees and I’ll be posting the form for that soon. Watch this space. 13/

When you are harvesting Chestnuts it’s a good idea to know the difference between a poisonous horse chestnut and an edible Chestnut. Really do look different. https://twitter.com/buildsoil/status/1179869728170561536?s=21 be aware that often people plant them side-by-side out of ignorance one may have rolled over 14 https://twitter.com/buildsoil/status/1179869728170561536

You could consider getting a chestnut roller if you plan on doing this a lot. On harvest days I often go by the same tree several times a day. 15/

Once you’ve harvested them you can store them in the refrigerator for a while &process them for eating. We will be posting recipes at this location soon: http://wiki.buildsoil.net/index.php/Recipes. I Personally use a pressure cooker ie roast for my daily eating. Making flour is a different route 16

If you intend to grow them then try to get ordered Chestnut in the spring so you don’t have to store them. If you have Chestnut in the fall they need to be kept above freezing but below 40° so they don’t sprout. 17

Your fridge is OK and so is a bucket buried in the ground and covered with mulch in very cold places. you want to store them in a bucket with holes, maybe screen for insects, and wet sand or sawdust. I would recommend finding a shaded spot in your yard to bury the bucket. 18