by Nan Chase
Millions of people relied on chestnuts for their livelihood and for food; country people fattened their livestock on chestnuts and cooked chestnuts for their own supper, and they sold the surplus by trainloads. “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” were part of the American scene for generations.
Then, in 1904, chestnut blight came to this country and, within forty years, virtually all of the trees were gone. Several billion trees are thought to have died outright; others survived as rootstock but had their new shoots above ground quickly claimed by “ulcerating cankers.” A very few American chestnut trees somehow survived and have formed the basis of subsequent breeding programs. Other native chestnut species, like the dainty chinquapin (or chinkapin), were not affected, nor were chestnut varieties from China, Japan, and Europe.
Today, following decades of intensive hybridizing, chestnut trees are now widely available to enjoy in the edible landscape, and even a blight-resistant American chestnut is getting closer to being reestablished.
Fresh chestnuts are fantastic, buttery and sweet with a light crumbly texture. Roasted, candied, boiled, or made into soup, puree, poultry stuffing, or creamy desserts—chestnuts are always good. They’re high in protein and low in saturated fat.
But while they are considered similar in nutritional value to brown rice, they don’t keep long without some kind of intervention: refrigeration in perforated plastic bags, freezing, drying, pickling, or other. Chestnuts can be ground into gluten-free flour for baking. Once stabilized, these chestnut by-products can keep for months.
Today, with the American chestnut out of the picture, home gardeners choose their chestnut trees from Chinese, Japanese, or European chestnut varieties or from hybrids that combine various characteristics (check for cross-pollination needs).
The readily available Chinese chestnut, for example, is not as tall as its American cousin (growing only to fifty feet or so) but it has large, sweet nuts and a beautiful rounded crown that makes it a wonderful choice for medium-size gardens. The leaves, long and deeply serrated, are a glossy dark green. Masses of long cream-colored catkins make a bold floral statement in early summer but have a strange odor—worse than old socks.
Chestnut trees are not fussy about soil type, although they need good drainage, and a chestnut makes a good young tree for taming rough hillsides. The trees, once established, come into bearing as young as three or four years of age and then go on bearing for half a century. Yields of one hundred pounds of nuts per tree in a season are possible. The tree can survive temperatures well below zero.
The chestnut tree’s prickly burrs have a rough beauty all their own. Inside there’s treasure, if you can stay ahead of hungry squirrels. Photo courtesy of Forestfarm/R. Prag.
Chocolate Chestnut Filling for Cream Puffs
1-1/3 cups peeled chestnuts, about 20
1 cup milk
1 cup granulated sugar
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons rum or brandy
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
Cream puffs, frozen or homemade
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting or small amount of melted chocolate
In a small saucepan, combine peeled chestnuts, milk, and granulated sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 30 minutes or until chestnuts are tender. While the chestnuts are simmering, melt the chocolate in a microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or melt in a double boiler.
Puree the cooked chestnuts, milk, chocolate, and rum or brandy in a food processor until smooth. Cool slightly. Whip cream to soft peaks and then fold it gently into the chestnut-chocolate mix. The mixture will be soft, so refrigerate at least 1 hour.
When ready to assemble, cut a third of the top off the cream puffs and pipe or spoon the chocolate-chestnut mixture into cream puffs. Replace tops and dust with confectioners’ sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate.
Recipe courtesy of Delmarvelous Chestnuts.
Roast Chestnuts
Roasting chestnuts is easy at home, and they are especially delicious over a fire using a long-handled frying pan.
Start with 1/2 to 1 pound nuts in the shell. Cut a deep X into the flat side of each nut to prevent their exploding. Stovetop: use a deep cast iron skillet and roll nuts frequently as you cook 5 to 10 minutes over medium high heat (no oil). Oven: cook nuts in an ungreased baking pan 30 to 40 minutes at 425 degrees F, stirring several times.
Photo courtesy of The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Landscape highlights
Summer shade
Fall harvest
Edible highlights
Nuts steamed or roasted as a snack
Frozen or refrigerated for year-round use
Candied or pureed as dessert
Where it grows best
In a large yard with ample space
In slightly acid soil
In well-drained soil rich in organic material
In roughly the same temperate regions as the peach
How to grow it
Spaced at least twenty-five feet apart
With mulch to protect shallow roots
With nuts picked up promptly to prevent worm infestation
Without too much fertilizer
How to get started
In addition to selling seeds and seedlings of the beleaguered American chestnut, The American Chestnut Foundation offers a list of suppliers for hybrid chestnuts and other nut trees and products at www.acf.org/seeds_seedlings.php and linked pages. Not all products can be shipped to every state.
Hazelnut/Filbert
Crack! The sound of a ripe hazelnut being broken open before Thanksgiving dinner is unmistakable. So is the ruddy color of the hard little shell. Hazelnut flavor: that’s unmistakable too, sweet and earthy, with a little crunch.
Hazelnut, filbert. They’re interchangeable as far as the nut industry is concerned and, botanically speaking, quite close.
The important thing is that the filbert, or hazelnut, grows as a beautiful shrub or small tree with year-round interest. Pendulous catkins—the blooms—hang like golden chains from the bare branches in late winter. During summer the rounded, many-pleated leaves provide islands of shade as the nuts develop. In fall the leaves glow red and gold.
Some filberts have special landscape value on their own—the contorted filbert, or Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick, for instance—and are grown as specimen trees. Others are chosen for screening; filberts rarely grow taller than twenty feet, and some stay much smaller. Because filberts need cross-pollination with other varieties, it’s imperative to mix and match anyway.
There are two ways to grow filberts: as individual trees with single, or at most a few, trunks; and as a hedge of medium height. Imagine a garden plant with such versatility.
The natural growing habit features “suckering,” or the tendency for the plant to throw up many extra shoots around the main trunk. That’s perfect for a hedge configuration; space the plants just four feet apart and let the suckers fill in the spaces. For more intense nut production as well as for ornamental treatment, situate the plants about fifteen feet apart and keep suckers off. Hazelnut trees may need to be netted once nut production begins; squirrels love them.
“Heavy, rich land should be avoided,” advises one filbert master. These marvelous nut trees prefer a light, edge-of-the-forest soil with good drainage and not too much nutrient content; the trees will grow too much vegetation and not enough fruit if given an overindulgent diet. Likewise, they don’t particularly relish a burning sun but like a bit of dappled canopy nearby.
One generality is that filberts thrive where peaches also grow. That is, they like some warmth but can succeed in a colder climate if well sheltered from wind and damp frost.
In the edible landscape, filberts mix well with low-growing wildflowers and spring bulbs. That’s where I have planted three different varieties in my yard. They’re still young but look happy, and I’m looking forward to a harvest of the delicious “heart
-healthy” nuts in a few years.
Hazelnut flowers appear as delicate hanging clusters, or catkins, that seem to glow from within. Photo ©iStockPhoto/Robert Redelowski.
A hazelnut tree holds lots of visual and tactile interest. Photo courtesy of Raintree Nursery.
Sweet & Spicy Hazelnuts
Yield: 3 cups
1 pound shelled hazelnuts (about 3 cups)
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread nuts on a large, rimmed baking sheet and bake 6 to 8 minutes, or until they are lightly roasted and the skin starts to come off.
Remove from the oven and let cool. With a clean, non-fuzzy dish towel, rub the skins off the nuts. Reserve the baking sheet.
Meanwhile, reduce oven heat to 250 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk egg white and water until foamy. Add hazelnuts and toss to coat well. Transfer the nuts to a sieve, shake, and then drain for at least 2 minutes. Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add drained nuts and toss to coat.
On the baking sheet, spread nuts in a single layer. Bake for 30 minutes. Stir with a spatula, spread the nuts out again, and bake 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until the nuts are dry. Loosen the nuts from the baking sheet and let them cool to room temperature on the sheet. Let the nuts cool completely and become crisp before putting them away. They can be stored for up to one month in an airtight container.
Recipe courtesy of The Hazelnut Council.
Emerging in winter’s cold, hazelnut catkins mark the beginning of the reproductive cycle. Once fertilized, they develop into clumps of nuts. Photo ©iStockPhoto/Robert Redelowski.
Landscape highlights
Winter interest with snow
Winter-spring catkin blooms
Summer screening
Fall leaf color
Edible highlights
Nuts shelled for snacks or baking
Where it grows best
In a rich, loamy soil
In dappled shade or at the edge of woods
In cool climates, withstanding sub-zero temperatures
How to grow it
As specimen shrubs, with suckers removed for nut production, or massed as a hedge
With other varieties for cross-pollination (try ‘Delta’ and ‘Gamma’ varieties, or the contorted form Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick)
As a winter blooming plant
How To Harvest Nuts
Nut husks fade from green to yellow to brown. Ripe nuts should rattle in their shells. Place in a basin of water; eliminate those that float. Dry the remainder in open air before storing in containers. Keep at moderate temperature.
Pecan
My friend Kinney had the misfortune of growing up in South Carolina’s pecan country. At least that’s how he saw it from his childish perspective, believing that children everywhere were cursed with a dozen pecan trees in their front yard.
“That’s all we did Thanksgiving, pick pecans,” he still laments from his current home in pecan-unfriendly western North Carolina. “My knees would be raw. It was cold and nasty. You’d have to climb up the tree first and shake it, and the nuts would hit you on the head. We had thirteen trees, and one time I picked twenty-five grocery bags full.
“Now, of course, I’d give anything to have those trees back. I do love pecans.”
Lots of people love pecans. Their sweet, tender nutmeats, purportedly the tree nut highest in antioxidants, lend themselves to every meal. Roasted pecans—salted, sugared, or spiced—are favorite party fare, and pecan pie is an American standard.
In fact, the “sweet pecan,” a member of the walnut family, is a North American native. Early colonists found that the Indians depended on pecan nuts for food and quickly came to appreciate that nutritional value themselves.
Whereas many orchard trees had their origins in Europe or Asia and then migrated to the New World, in the case of the pecan, the flow of traffic went the other way. Today the United States produces most of the world’s pecans, but the tree also grows far away.
The pecan, considered the largest and “fastest growing” of the hickories (itself a branch of the walnut family), sprang from the moist, sandy lowlands of the Mississippi and moved westward to Texas. The Latin name, Carya illinoensis, refers to the pecan’s habitat along the Mississippi basin as far north as today’s Illinois. In the Algonquin language the name “pecan” meant “nut requiring a stone to crack.” George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both loved pecan trees and planted them.
The golden autumn color of the pecan’s many-leaved branches is notable in the edible landscape, and the heavy nut clusters make an impressive decorative statement as the nuts ripen.
Today the pecan grows commercially in more than a dozen southern states and several in the West. Tall and stately, pecan trees thrive and produce nuts only with a frost-free growing season of 180 days, and summer weather that’s hot and humid.
The rewards are great: this stately tree can live three hundred years and grow to 150 feet.
Pecans require a large yard—using about seventy feet square—but provide shade for multitudes, in addition to their precious elongated nutmeats.
If you want to plant pecans, be sure to respect their preferred setting: warm, wet, open, and low. Then get ready to enjoy the harvest.
The wonderful taste and texture make the pecan an American favorite. Photo courtesy of the Georgia Pecan Commission.
Game Day Pecan Pie
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 eggs, beaten slightly
1 cup chopped pecans
1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate chips
2 tablespoons or more of bourbon (up to 6 tablespoons)
1 (9-inch) pastry pie crust, without top
Whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour and sugar in a small bowl. Combine remaining ingredients except pie crust and whipped cream in a large bowl and add the flour-sugar mixture. Pour into prepared pie crust and bake 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool before cutting. Serve with whipped cream.
Recipe courtesy of the Carreker family of Georgia.
Nan’s Braised Brussels Sprouts
1 cup boiling water or chicken stock
4 to 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 pound or more Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup or more coarsely chopped pecans
Dash salt
Put boiling water or stock in a small bowl and soak mushrooms. Meanwhile clean and trim sprouts and cut them in half lengthwise, or quarters if very large.
Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet. Add sprouts, increase heat, and sauté until they begin to brown, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar, add nuts and salt, and cook, stirring, for another minute. Remove from heat.
Squeeze mushrooms dry, reserving 1/2 cup of liquid. Cut mushrooms into small pieces, then add to skillet along with the reserved liquid.
Return to low heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
Pecan trees, planted in favorable conditions and left unpruned, can attain stupendous size. This grizzled old tree is a landmark for horseback riders. Photo courtesy of Hollis Wayne, Happy Horse Hotel, Cedar Creek, Texas.
Landscape highlights
Summer shade
Fall leaf color
Winter interest
Edible highlights
Nuts shelled and frozen for year-round use
Baked in entrees and desserts
Spiced or sugared for snacks
Where it grows best
In a large yard, with at least seventy feet square of space
In warm, humid southern climates with at least 180 frost-free days for nut production
In deep but light and well-drained soil
How to grow it
As a large, long-lived ornamental tree
By planting young trees early to nurture long taproot
With appropriate pest control (see Resources section for Agricultural Extension information about local pest control)
With other varieties for cross-pollination
Walnut
The walnut tree is one of America’s finest hardwood species, and its delicious and richly nutritious nuts form an enjoyable part of the American diet. In the edible landscape, a walnut tree provides open shade, interesting flowers followed by lush foliage, and dazzling autumn color.
The black walnut, or Juglans nigra, is an American native. So is the closely related butternut, also called white walnut or oilnut, J. cinerea.
The walnut tree that produces our familiar supermarket walnut, J. regia, is an import, variously called Carpathian walnut, Persian walnut, or, most commonly, English walnut. This tree is grown commercially in California but can also be a wonderful addition to the home garden elsewhere.