Sweet chestnut

[bushcraftbob]

When is the best time to harvest these? I've seen a lot of sweet chestnuts trees in my local woods, but looking up you cant really see any sweet chestnuts on the branches, although the ground is littered with casings from last years crop.

Is there any way they can be nocked from the tree, i.e. with a stick? And will they ripen in the bowl like a hazelnut? Or is it best to wait for the nut to drop and pray the squirells dont hammer 'em too much?

 

[sxmolloy]

I did a thread on these last year.... here it is http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15762 . The second batch I collected were really nice. I gathered them from the ground, many had been seperated from their casings. Hope that helps....ATB....Stu

 

[xylaria]

Oh yes I remember that thread , the self peeling chestnuts.

I wait until they fall on the ground as well. They are very easy to collect like that. Normally there is plenty of them as the tree seems to drop them in one go. They fell last year around here mid october.