Comments on: An Update on Totnes Nut Tree Plantings

By: Greenpa

Greenpa — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:27:29 +0000

Steve – your friend is full of… um, bad information. How big is a grain of wheat? Rice? Canola? The year when your chestnut tree has big nuts- is the year when it has far fewer nuts on the tree. And any small chestnut is bigger than 50 grains of wheat.

There’s a big split between chestnut breeders in Europe and the USA. Most new European crosses are European X Japanese; in some generational mix. In the USA, they went with Chinese for the blight resistance.

I’m in the US- and surprise, I think the Chinese crosses are hugely superior to anything with Japanese in it.

There are chestnut growers groups all over the world- with lots of opinions- googling will get you tons of info.

By: steve

steve — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:05:11 +0000

Which type of sweet chestnut did you use?

A friend told me that most only bear decent size fruit once every 5 years but that there’s an Italian species that’s provides an annual harvest.

Apparently sweet chestnuts are a good replacement for wheat flour and all sorts of stuff.

Anyone know more about these?

By: Peter Bralesford

Peter Bralesford — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:05:26 +0000

I agree with Greenpa. Big trees are rather majestic, but they are pretty high maintenance, and come with a heap of problems if you aren’t careful. That said, I’ve heard something about a productive forest that needs no maintenance at all…

I’ve done a bit of productive tree planting myself, and I opted to use dwarf fruit varieties, because of the relatively short length of time that they take to mature. I’m wondering what the viability of doing something like that in the long term would be though.

By: Redemption Blues » Britblog Roundup 218

Redemption Blues » Britblog Roundup 218 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:44:08 +0000

[...] Wendy Stayte at Transition Culture shows us the softer side of the environmental movement, providing An Update on Totnes Nut Tree Plantings. [...]

By: Dave Crossland

Dave Crossland — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:56:57 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/magazine/19town-t.html?pagewanted=all is the NY Times article

By: Dave Crossland

Dave Crossland — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:45:26 +0000

@Jim: That is the UK Sunday Times!

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:21:36 +0000

OT, but of interest:
The New York Times Sunday Magazine has a good length article on the Transition movement at
http://bit.ly/ULtwo

This is one of the first articles in the US press, and this is one of the more prominent platforms in the US.

By: DaveDann

DaveDann — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:12:49 +0000

It’s worth remembering too that the people of the British Isles did not have a significant population of grey squirrels till about 1930. Also that the act of coppicing probably made nut collection viable.

By: Greenpa

Greenpa — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 13:29:52 +0000

Big trees are grand- but have their problems. Besides space- they often take more years to bear; and once they are big, then can threaten near by housing, and require professional tree people to cope with it all.

Hazels can be used for hedges- and kept small by coppicing for fuelwood or craft wood. And, it’s worth remembering; the early people in the British Isles ALL relied heavily on hazels for food. Not only because they were native, I think; but more broadly adapted and reliable.

By: Brad K.

Brad K. — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:43:30 +0000

I wonder – when planting trees in open areas – how to you evaluate the effect on ground water, the water table, and water availibility in nearby (without 1/4 mile) wells?

Locally I have several neighbors that found their wells going dry or not providing sufficient water. Cutting down 4 mature pecan trees (northern Oklahoma) restored three of the wells within a few weeks.

I know New Mexico closely regulates how many wells are allowed to operate in the state, how much water can be extracted, etc. And other places, including Oklahoma, have rules about wells that are seldom enforced.

Trees can be used deliberately to recover soggy ground. They can also interfere with other plants where water is scares.

All that said, planting trees for long term usage makes a lot of sense – especially when I read that Brazil reports “only” 1,000 square miles of rainforest were destroyed last year.