Sweet Chestnuts

meritaten

No1 Son txt me to ask if I wanted some chestnuts this morning - so, after making sure he meant the edible kind, I assured him that I did.
I love chestnuts and was looking forward to receiving some freebies. (he loves to forage while out and about when supposed to be working), I had plans for 'Marrons Glace', freezing some cooked ones for stuffing for Christmas etc.
so he brought me a small carrier bag full- except that in most cases the wind must have blown them off the tree before they were properly ripe - and of the rest, well, the weevils had got to most of them first.
however, I do have about 18 or so - and am going to roast them next time the oven goes on (prob tomorrow). OH doesn't like them, so I think 18 is a good 'snack' amount just for me!

oh dear - I forgot the point of my post! I wanted to know if anyone else had been foraging for sweet chestnuts and was disappointed with the 'quality' of their haul? is it a 'bad year' for sweet chestnuts?

Caterina

Foraged a few in Greenwich park, but got very little because there are always large group of Chinese families who get there very early in the morning and pick the place clean.

However I managed to get a fistful, not too many bad ones and a few really good big ones.

If you only have a few you could stretch them by making chestnut and chick pea soup.

andygb

We found a walnut tree at the weekend, so spent our time foraging those, even though we had gone out to pick chestnuts.
We did find a few of the usual trees where there were windfalls, but they were quite small nuts. I like chestnuts with all kinds of things - brussels, pork and chestnut terrine (wrapped with smoked bacon), in stuffing with garlic and shallots.

andygb

Caterina wrote: »

Foraged a few in Greenwich park, but got very little because there are always large group of Chinese families who get there very early in the morning and pick the place clean.

However I managed to get a fistful, not too many bad ones and a few really good big ones.

If you only have a few you could stretch them by making chestnut and chick pea soup.

We keep meaning to go to Greenwich Park one weekend, because we haven't been there for years.
It is funny what you said about the Chinese and chestnuts, because most of our walnut trees are pillaged by the Ghurkas down here in Kent, so the last couple of years have been a bit lean.

meritaten

Caterina wrote: »

Foraged a few in Greenwich park, but got very little because there are always large group of Chinese families who get there very early in the morning and pick the place clean.

However I managed to get a fistful, not too many bad ones and a few really good big ones.

If you only have a few you could stretch them by making chestnut and chick pea soup.

Naw Caterina - its going to be my 'treat'! which I am really looking forward to! foraged food ALWAYS tastes better than bought food!

shame about the slim pickings! No1 son always seems to find 'loads' of foraged foods - its his job which takes him to some quite remote places.

[Deleted User]

There are lots of them down here but they are tiny and multi-nuts inside the prickly cases. Only fit for the squirrels this year I'm afraid!

Caterina

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

There are lots of them down here but they are tiny and multi-nuts inside the prickly cases. Only fit for the squirrels this year I'm afraid!

Are the trees very young or very old? You need a good mature tree to provide good size chestnuts and hope that the wind does not blow them down too early.

Trees also produce good crops every two years.

But every year the ones that produce well are stripped by the Chinese families. The park police even had to put signs and patrol first thing in the morning, to stop them hitting the trees with sticks. It is a pity, because one of the unspoken laws of foraging is to avoid stripping a crop bare, and also to think of others and leave some. Entire families come over, first thing in the morning, when the park gates open, with trolleys and big bags.

I used to love foraging for chestnuts, just enough for a couple of meals, cook and freeze a few to save for Christmas, but now it is depressing, when you walk under those trees the ground is trampled flat, like if there had been a stampede, which it has, in a sense.

I wish people would be more considerate.

rosalie-lavender

It is quite a good year here in my part of Kent for Chestnuts. They are quite big and quite plentiful. We get the Chinese people here too but I haven't seen many of them this year, just one person.

I am lucky that the school I work in has chestnut trees. The children love collecting them and this year there have been plenty to go round.

meritaten

I had my sweet chestnut 'treat' today - as I was roasting chicken the oven was on anyway.
oh - the taste! Wonderful!
I wish everyone 'Happy Foraging'!

Hedgehog99

It's been a good year for us. Best weekend so far this season was last weekend. Yes, there were some small/unripe ones, but there were also cases with one or two lovely big chestnuts. Freezer stocked, evening snacks.
I wear contact lenses - always careful to put lenses in before (not after) peeling chestnuts - something gets under fingernails & is very hard to wash off & is uncomfortable if it gets under contacts!

Frith

Got some in the oven at the moment - 3rd time this week. My brother has collected enough to sell at the local farm shop. Pity they go bad so quickly.