“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” –Nelson Henderson
One of the pleasures of winter is eating roasted chestnuts. Sometimes we can find them fresh at the local market. Several years ago there was a family growing and selling them locally, but they retired from nut growing and I don’t know what happened with their trees.
So I was happy this winter when I saw a posting from Dunbar Gardens in the Skagit Valley, saying they had Chestnuts for sale and were willing to ship us a couple pounds.
Once they arrived Rick and I rationed them out, roasting a few to eat in the afternoon or evening. As you probably know chestnuts should be stored in a cool place, they are not like other nuts that can cure and hold for a year or more. They must be stored in a cool humid place, cooked before eating and used in a reasonable length of time- before they mold or dry up. We put ours in a perforated bag in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.
One afternoon when we were snacking on the nuts, I mentioned to Rick that it would be nice to have our own trees. He reminded me that we’d planted a couple back in the late 80’s and they didn’t survive. And so we discussed planting them again.
Well, the Chestnuts must have agreed, the next time Rick pulled out the bag there were a few seeds with sprouts! There are now three of them growing in a plastic pot in our kitchen.
How long until we have our own nuts to harvest? Hopefully, in this lifetime. We’ll invite you over for a tasting!
