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NWSG and Chestnuts are coming along great!!!!

letemgrow

letemgrow

PMA Member
Here are some pics of the Indian grass and Big Blue stands I planted a couple years ago. I will give them some fire next spring to set back the fescue. These strips are next to 40 acres of beans that I had converted over from a fescue hayfield so the quail should benefit also that are left in the general area.

Also there is a couple photos of American Chestnuts that seem to be beating the blight, but are only a couple years old.

IndianGrass.jpg


big_bluestem.jpg


chestnut.jpg


chestnut1.jpg
 
Some great habitat in the making! I think chestnuts have a lot of potential but I have trouble with them on my heavy clay ground.

Keeps us posted on how yours do in years to come... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Some great habitat in the making! I think chestnuts have a lot of potential but I have trouble with them on my heavy clay ground.

Keeps us posted on how yours do in years to come... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif </div></div>


What I like to do is stay away from the clay and I dig holes and check them after rains to make sure the areas are well drained that the chestnuts go onto. These are pure american trees in the photos and hopefully some of them inherited the blight resistance from the parent trees. Only time will tell.
 
Good Stuff /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif Glad to see you are trying to help out the quail and deer both.
 
I don't know much about chestnuts, do people plant those more for turkey, quail OR what? Obviously they are popular and have some major benefit, could you explain (I am ordering trees for next spring and would like to get some). THANKS!!!
 
You can donate 20 bucks to the ACCF and they will send you 10 seednuts or that is what they used to send. It may be more this year as it just depends on how many seeds that they have to offer. THese are pure American Chestnuts so most are not blight resistant. Another foundation, The American Chestnut Foundation is working to produce 15/16ths american chestnuts that are american in every way, but retain the blight resistance from the chinese parent tree and are back crossed with the pure american parent after the first cross. PM me if you want more info on chestnuts.

Phil
 
I'll PM you when I need some more specifics BUT that sounds great.
Now, my other question, what are they good for? Do deer like them? Or more birds? Human food I am assuming? THANKS!!!
 
where the chestnuts grew native (east of the Mississippi) they were the #1 food source...even over white oak acorns. The chestnuts started dying out the same time the passenger pigeon did. Lots of wildlife and people relied on the nuts that fell every year from the trees. 1/4 of all the trees in the Appalachia used to be Chestnut.


Here are a few facts about the Chestnut from the ACCF.

When the Europeans arrived in North America, one-fourth of the trees in the forest were American Chestnuts (Castanea dentata). Commonly over one hundred feet tall with trunks five to seven feet in diameter, they were the tallest and most bountiful member of the forest community. The durable, straight-grained wood was used for houses, barns, furniture, paneling and fences. Today much of the rail fencing along the Blue Ridge Parkway is chestnut. A dependable yearly crop of nuts provided food for wild birds, squirrels, turkeys, deer, and bears and cash for mountain families. Before 1900 and the introduction of Chestnut blight, Chestnut mast fell like rain in the fall of the year. After the blight struck, it left in its wake over 3.5 billion dead Chestnut trees and a void that could only partially be filled by Oaks and other tree species. Through the years, much has been learned about Chestnut Blight and breeding for resistance so that today, with recent breakthroughs, restoration of the American Chestnut tree is increasingly possible.

A favorite among loggers, the American Chestnut was a large tree comparable to the Tulip Poplar, growing to over 100 feet tall on good sites and could live several hundred years. Chestnut lumber was strong, straight grained, lightweight, and easily worked. Its uses ranged from fine furniture to utility poles.

The drought resistant, late blooming Chestnut was a dependable source of mast for wildlife. Unlike many Oaks, its nut crop was unaffected by late freezes. The Chestnut thrived on dry, well-drained slopes where many other tree species struggled.


Here are a few vintage pics of the American Chestnut

americanchestnut3.gif


famchnut.jpg
 
Thanks a ton for the info, I read it, GREAT!!!
I'm sold, I'm gettin' some!
Keep the site posted on all, I'll be watching thanks again!
 
Just to summarize,

Here are the two main foundations that I know of for the American Chestnut.

1. The American Chestnut Cooperators Foundation
1a. http://www.accf-online.org/seedlings.htm

They work with pure American Chestnuts to produce a blight resistant strain.

2. The American Chestnut Foundation.
2a. http://www.acf.org/

They are working to produce a 15/16th American chestnut. that is american in every way, but keeps the blight resistance of the chinese parent.
 
I got mine from Red Fern Farm here in Iowa but they are not American Chestnuts.

More information thru the Southeast Iowa Nut Growers as well.

I agree with the merits of Chestnuts, I posted about them many times in the tree planting thread. Chestnuts have more potential then oaks if we can them alive. It's dissapointing to grow a tree for 10-15 years only to have it die from blight.

Every inch of my farms is clay, no way a round it and they just haven't done well at all.

I would also add that rabbits love the tender seedlings so make sure you use tubes or fencing to protect them. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I got mine from Red Fern Farm here in Iowa but they are not American Chestnuts.

More information thru the Southeast Iowa Nut Growers as well.

I would also add that rabbits love the tender seedlings so make sure you use tubes or fencing to protect them. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif </div></div>

Now that's a fact!!!! The only two I did not protect well enough got girdled by the rodents. Only one came back, but grew 5 feet this year alone.

DBT: I agree with you that they have even more potential than oaks for wildlife food with their nut crops that are produced every year.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: letemgrow</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have also had good success with the Timburr Chestnuts from Oikos Tree Crops from MI.

Here is their website:

http://www.oikostreecrops.com

If I remember correctly they have about 15 different types of hybrid and pure species chestnuts. </div></div>

Oikos is an awesome source and I've had great luck with their hybrid oaks. I like the little pots they come in which really helps with mortality.

I have had something (not sure what?) pull the seedling out by the pot itself...wierd /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

I'm like a kid in a candy store when I look at the Oikos catalog... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dbltree</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: letemgrow</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have also had good success with the Timburr Chestnuts from Oikos Tree Crops from MI.

Here is their website:

http://www.oikostreecrops.com

If I remember correctly they have about 15 different types of hybrid and pure species chestnuts. </div></div>

Oikos is an awesome source and I've had great luck with their hybrid oaks. I like the little pots they come in which really helps with mortality.

I have had something (not sure what?) pull the seedling out by the pot itself...wierd /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

I'm like a kid in a candy store when I look at the Oikos catalog... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif </div></div>

Me too!!!!!!!! I gotta have one of everything in their catalog it seems like. Ordered the taco bebbs and schburr oaks last year along with sweet green apple crab, hughes crab, yellow sweet cherry and the timburr chestnuts. I prefer fall plantings for trees without a doubt.
 
I know I'll order some trees from these people. OBVIOUSLY it's a bit of a change from ordering 100 trees from DNR for $40 to ordering trees that are $6 a piece. Let's say I pick 10 different types of trees that I want, how many would you order to add some variety to your land, would I be safe ordering 5-10 trees you think of each variety?????
*Of course when you are ordering smaller quantities of expensive trees you DO NOT have #'s of trees on your side, I'll obviously put each one in tree tube, careful planting site location and take extra care of weeds, etc.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sligh1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know I'll order some trees from these people. OBVIOUSLY it's a bit of a change from ordering 100 trees from DNR for $40 to ordering trees that are $6 a piece. Let's say I pick 10 different types of trees that I want, how many would you order to add some variety to your land, would I be safe ordering 5-10 trees you think of each variety?????
*Of course when you are ordering smaller quantities of expensive trees you DO NOT have #'s of trees on your side, I'll obviously put each one in tree tube, careful planting site location and take extra care of weeds, etc. </div></div>

With chestnuts you have to have two trees for cross pollination and if you buy from Oikos get the biggest ones they have available for that particular tree. I would buy a couple of each variety, plant no more than you can provide TLC for and go from there. I am looking more for timber quality chestnuts, but you may want some that are shorter and produce nuts faster.

Here is a pic of an American Chestnut I thought you may enjoy. Note the loggers "inside" the tree.

American%20Chestnut
http://www.kychestnut.org[/url]"></a>[/img]
 
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