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Plums and Damsons
Find out more about plums and damsons
fruits
09:58, 17th Aug 2010
Review of The Treehouse Diaries
A review of the book The TreeHouse Diaries by Nick Weston
books
11:17, 26th Jul 2010
Storing Herbs by Freezing
Find out how to freeze herbs to retain their flavour for months
preserving
16:10, 4th Jun 2010
Make Your Own Leafmould
Find out how to make your own leafmould to improve your soil
grow your own
15:28, 4th Jun 2010
Greenhouse Thermometer
Use a suitable max min thermometer to track temperatures in a greenhouse
greenhouse
11:22, 3rd Jun 2010
Greenhouse from Plastic Bottles
Build a greenhouse from old plastic bottles
greenhouse
10:19, 3rd Jun 2010
Make Tomato Passata
Preserve tomatoes by making delicious tomato passata
preserving
12:00, 25th May 2010
Growing Outdoor Tomato Varieties
Tomato plants which will survive outdoors in the UK
fruits
11:56, 25th May 2010
Sweet Chestnuts
Find and eat delicious sweet chestnuts
Sweet Chestnuts
foraging
The Sweet Chestnut tree produces delicious edible nuts which are usually roasted and eaten. When roasted and ground, the nuts can also be turned into sweet chestnut flour, or used in confectionary.
Sweet Chestnut Tree
The sweet chestnut (castanea sativa) tree is a long-lived and fast growing tree brought to the UK from its native Southern Europe and Asia Minor by the Romans. It can reach up to 12 metres within 20 years, and up to a final maximum height of around 30 metres. The leaves are very long at 10-25cm and have an easily identified toothed edge.
In mid-summer catkins grow on the tree with male and female flowers. Each female flower matures into a spiky green fruit containing up to 3 chestnuts.
Harvesting and Eating Sweet Chestnuts
Sweet chestnuts are ready to be harvested in late autumn when they fall from the tree together with the leaves. Pick them up as soon as possible so they do not get damp on the floor (or taken away by grey squirrels).If you want to eat the sweet chestnuts immediately then roast them having first cut a cross in the bottom. The cross makes the nut open up when it is cooking which makes it much easier to peel and eat them.
If you want to keep the nuts until Christmas select only those nuts which have no cracks or holes in them. If you will eventually roast the nuts, hang them in mesh bags (onion bags or similar) so that air circulates around them. If they get damp they will quickly rot, so they must be hung somewhere well-ventilated and dry. If you want to use the chestnuts in recipes - for example, stuffing - then boil them for five minutes before cooling in cold water for a few more minutes. Peel them while still warm (since it is much harder to peel cold chestnuts) and then freeze.
Sweet Chestnut Recipes
Christmas chestnut stuffing Recipe - the perfect partner for turkey.Chestnut cooking tips - advice and links to sweet chestnut recipes.
Sweet chestnut jam - the perfect way to preserve sweet chestnuts.
Article Published: 14:07, 11th Jul 2008
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