All the chestnuts I've gathered this season are planted.
I broad forked the bed which I recently harvested squash from in the food forest and then planted the chestnuts there. I planted them on roughly 2ft spacing and didn't add any additional compost. Once the nuts were in place, I covered everything with straw and put some chicken wire over the section with the American chestnuts for extra protection. I put flags marking the American chestnuts as well. My hope is that the chicken wire prevents squirrels and other animals from digging up the nuts. Once the trees grow in I will cut the wire away if I have to so I can transplant them.
I also planted some nuts in pots in case the food forest planting totally failed. Pots are filled with orchard compost (slow old fungally dominant compost) then nuts placed on top of the soil. Once again, I covered with chicken wire then put a layer of wood chips over the whole thing. Hopefully one or the other gets me some chestnut seedlings come spring!
#homesteading #permaculture #permies #meshtadel #selfsovereignty #grownostr #nursery #chestnut #americanchestnut #foodforest #forestgarden #treecrops
