From the October 7, 2012, Chicago Tribune "Deeply rooted in U.S. history, chestnuts make comeback: Illinois orchard helping revive once-plentiful tree and its tasty crop" by Joan Cary.
Back in September, Linda and Dale Black were busy with harvest of their chestnut trees at their Chestnut Ridge of Pike County Orchard between Quincy and Rockport in Illinois. Theirs is one of a handful of chestnut orchards and had collected 8,200 pounds of nuts by hand.
Before the chestnut blight, more than a century ago, the tree was plentiful and valued not just for their nuts but also rot-resistant wood and tannins used to process leather. However, in 1904, the blight was introduced through imported Asian trees and almost all chestnuts were gone by the 1950s.
I have to wonder about that old Nat King Cole song about "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." No wonder I don't remember ever having a chestnut roasted or otherwise.
Growers in several states have been working to restore the mighty chestnuts with blight resistant trees.
The Blacks started their orchard in 2001 with 100 seedlings and now has 3,000 tress on 30 acres of their 160-acre farm. The first seedlings are now 25-30 feet tall (can grow to 100 feet). Dale estimates the trees will be 75-feet tall at maturity at age 20 and yield 50 pounds each.
Let's Get That Fire Going. --Cooter
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