October 16, 2015
by John Neumann
The American chestnut blooms in late June to early July in New York. Before the blight, when the trees grew thickly, their creamy white male flower catkins made the mountains appear snow covered. This early bloomer was never threatened by the spring frosts that damaged other fruit or nut tree species.
Historically, the chestnut provided food and shelter to a variety of wildlife. Bear, deer, squirrel, chipmunk, and other mammals, turkey, ruffed grouse, crow, billions of now extinct passenger pigeons, and other birds all feasted on chestnuts.
A recent study concluded that where oak, hickory and chestnut coexisted, chestnut likely produced over 80% of hard mast in any given year. American chestnuts also contain more nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium in their leaves than other trees that share its habitat. Thus, they return more nutrients to the soil.
For centuries, native American peoples gathered this sweet manna, with some cultures even calling the chestnut the “tree of life.” The first Thanksgiving feast of the Pilgrims most certainly included turkey stuffed with chestnuts. For hundreds of years, farmers in eastern North America would turn out vast herds of swine to the great forests to gorge and fatten on “mast.” Chestnuts were a cash crop, too. Trains took boxcar loads of chestnuts to the large cities.
Archaeologists say early Europeans were making bread from ground chestnuts long before they cultivated wheat. Excavations in the Caucasus region show caches of chestnuts at least 15,000 year old. The Romans thought so highly of chestnuts they found in their conquests, they planted them in all parts of their empire.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, supermarkets carry chestnuts from European chestnut trees (which carry a small degree of blight resistance). Alternatively, chestnuts from China, already roasted, shelled and peeled, are available at some supermarkets. They are very low in sodium and fat, have no cholesterol, and are a good source of vitamins A, C, E and potassium.
The American chestnut was also an excellent source of high quality lumber. For generations, chestnut timber represented over half of all logs sawn. Today, reclaimed American chestnut is difficult to obtain and quite pricey.What was once used for almost everything is now used by craftsmen to create items of special beauty.