Chestnut: East Hill Open Pollinated/ American

American chestnuts were once the dominant forest tree east of the Mississippi. In 1904 the chestnut blight arrived from China and within 20 years a combination of disease and preemptive logging caused the tree to go nearly extinct. Small and large-scale breeders all over the country have been working to bring back the American chestnut primarily through crossing it with more disease resistant chestnut species such as Chinese chestnut. Our East Hill Open Pollinated Chestnuts have mostly American genetics, giving them greater winter hardiness and a large forest tree growth pattern comparable to a red oak. Some hybrid genetics give a chance for resistance to chestnut blight. Their parents are open-pollinated crosses growing here on the farm. YOU can take part in chestnuts’ return! A small patch of 3-30 chestnuts will produce viable seed, naturalizing in surrounding areas. The nuts are of tremendous value to wildlife, and are easy to harvest and process for your own use too. Plant chestnut