Sweet Chestnut – Castanea sativa (Mature)

Description

Sweet Chestnut, Castanea sativa, has always been popular with anyone who enjoys eating nuts and knows where one is. I think it is like a marmite thing. I like to eat the nuts raw or roasted. When eating them raw the thin skin under the brown shell has to be scraped off to make the best of the nut. The problem with chestnuts is that when they first fall from the tree, the very spiky outer shell makes them difficult to gather, except for the squirrels! The Chestnut tree has many uses, thousands of acres are grown across the world for many uses including culinary requirements, furniture manufacturing and building structures. The tree is happy to be pollarded, this can be done every fifteen years I understand, with no effect to the tree. A chestnut post and rail fence around any property is very special. The bark on an ancient tree is amazing, it seems to have twisted or spiraled as it grew making it look very unusual, on a young tree there is no sign of it. A sweet chestnut tree does not like chalk or clay soil or anywhere where water lies. Any other soil is fine.