We are officially farming! Last week we received 200 chestnut seedlings for planting. The seedlings are 1-year plants, and were about 2-3 feet tall with a small root ball.
We first marked off rows that were 30 feet apart. Then we plowed 12-16 inches in each row for planting. On Saturday, we began by marking off tree locations with flags that were 20 feet apart. The soil was so soft that we were able to plant trees by hand. We estimated that 3 people were able to plant 40-45 trees per hour. So it made for quick work. In a few years we will remove every other tree, making rows with trees that are ultimately 40 feet apart. They are planted closer together at first to insure good pollination.
On Saturday and Sunday there has been significant rainfall here in Virginia (at least 2 inches in the last 2 days), so we'll be watching the trees closely to determine the effect.
In order to determine the best type of tree for our soil and climate, we are planting seedling trees now and then grafted trees in the fall and multiple varieties. We'll let you know how they compare next year. The types of seedlings planted at this time were primarily the Qing and Peach variety of chestnut, with multiple varieties used as pollinators. These seem to offer good quality fruit, which will take a few years for us to determine.
If there is anyone out there that has recommendations for chestnut tree growers, let us know what successes you have found.
This is the first field where the 200 chestnut seedlings were planted a week ago. The seedlings are about 18 inches tall and planted 20 feet apart. This photo was taken yesterday. The next planting is in the fall, when we plant 300 grafted trees. We are ordering the Qing variety for the chestnut quality and resistance to blight. We will plant a few of the trees in this field, but the majority will be planted on the adjacent field, shown toward the top of the photo to the left.
