We are very excited to be offering bare-root dormant trees from our friend Zach Elfers' experimental and highly diverse nursery, from his farm in southeastern Pennsylvania. These are TREES, NOT SEEDS. We have more details below on tree care, but for those that may not be aware, trees are frequently sold as "bare-root dormant". They are dug up in the late winter or very early spring while the plant is still dormant, and shipped with no soil around the roots. The roots need to stay moist, do not let them dry out.
Some housekeeping:
***PLEASE DO NOT ORDER OTHER SEED PACKETS IN COMBINATION WITH THESE TREES. PLEASE MAKE ANY AND ALL ELFERS' TREE PURCHASES IN THEIR OWN SEPARATE ORDER. ORDERS INCLUDING TREES ALONG WITH SEEDS OR OTHER ITEMS MAY BE CANCELED.
SHIPPING: Because these trees will be shipped directly from Zach in Pennsylvania, and our online system here is set to calculate shipping seeds from Minnesota, we have built the bulk of the shipping cost (around $25) into the price of these tree bundles. You'll still need to select and pay for a shipping option when you check out here, so please choose the cheapest standard US Postal Service parcel option, called USPS Ground Advantage (which should total between $4 and 5). This will cover the remainder of the total cost of shipping and handling ($29-30), not already built into the price. Sorry if this is confusing — but it's the easiest way for us to do it through our system.
Zach will begin digging and shipping these trees as soon as the weather permits, and he will begin shipping to customers in order from south to north, based on when climates are warming up. This will likely begin taking place in mid-March and continue through April.
Zach will email you when he's shipping your trees to give you notice (so at checkout be sure to include an email address you check regularly).
***These are all seedlings, planted from open-pollinated seeds of selected parent trees (these are not grafted trees). The list of the northern chestnut mix seed parents is below. Zach will send you an assorted mix from this list. If you order twelve, you can expect to be getting at least one of each. But it's not practical for Zach to label every tree, so you won't know which is which (and because they're all open-pollinated, you would only be able to know one parent anyway). Just know that you are getting an incredible mix of genetics... it's the EFN way!
Badgersett Research Farm genetics are not included among the sources for these seedlings. However, there are definitely promising cold-hardy genetics in this mix which we fully endorse trialing.
SHIPPING RESTRICTION NOTICE: Due to quarantine restrictions on chestnuts, we cannot ship these chestnut plants to California, Oregon, Washington, Florida, Louisiana, or Michigan. We are also not shipping them internationally. Orders to these places will be canceled.
Castanea mollissima (pure)
Castanea spp. (complex interspecific hybrids)
Origin: Wide variety of sources
Improvement status: Breeding population (cultivated, semi-domesticated, genetically diverse)
Life cycle: Perennial
Tree size: Ranging from 1-3 feet, with an average of 2 feet
Pricing options:
Bundle of 3: $20 per tree, $25 toward shipping ($85 total)
Bundle of 6: $18 per tree, $25 toward shipping ($133 total)
Bundle of 12: $15 per tree, $25 toward shipping ($205 total)
Bundle of 25: $12 per tree, $25 toward shipping ($325 total)
And as we detail above, click the USPS Ground Advantage option at shipping for an additional $4.33 (or close to $4.33).
Zach Elfers operates a nursery called Future Forest Plants in southern Pennsylvania. In addition to growing many kinds of native plants, spring ephemerals, edibles and medicinals, his specialty is tree crops. He has traveled widely as a fruit and nut explorer visiting old tree farms and nurseries, as well as making selections from the "wild," although many of those selections are likely legacies of Native American land management and tree cultivation. He is inspired by what his bioregion has to offer and his passion is finding a balance in cultivating the middle ground between a human agricultural world and the more-than-human world of nature.
He collects most of his seed himself himself but some of it is traded from other growers and fruit and nut explorers or seedkeepers. He grows organically and knows that everything starts with healthy soil. His trees are field grown, directly in the ground, and to prepare these beds he uses a broadfork and a top dressing of organic matter or mulch.
For Zach's chestnut offerings, we've divided them into a southern mix and a northern mix. For the northern mix, expect trees that thrive in USDA Zones 4-6, and for the southern mix USDA Zones 6-8. If you're in zone 6, you'll need to make a decision, or maybe get some of each! These bare-root chestnut seedlings range from 1-3 feet tall, with an average height of around 2 feet.
A little bit about chestnuts:
The primary limiting factor for the pure American chestnut (Castanea dentata) is the chestnut blight that devastated the species over a hundred years ago. For this reason, to gain blight resistance, American chestnuts must be crossed with other chestnut species, and this has been done primarily with Chinese (Castanea mollissima) and Japanese (Castanea crenata) chestnuts, and to a lesser extent, European (Castanea sativa). However, one thing American has that the others do not is significantly more cold hardiness. So, when we think northern chestnuts, we are thinking about the proper mix of these species together, conveying blight resistance and cold hardiness, among other things, along with good culinary attributes.
Conversely, for the southern chestnut mix, having American chestnut genetics in the mix for cold hardiness is not a necessity. In the southern United States, pure Chinese chestnut can stand alone (these are also 100% chestnut-blight resistant).
The long and the short of it is the northern chestnut mix will have more American genetics, and the southern chestnut mix is heavier on Chinese, in some cases pure Chinese.
Chestnuts love well-draining soil, preferably with an acid pH below 6. They can fare well on a range of site types from old crop land, to meadow, to dry, rocky upland sites.
Chestnuts are one of the most reliable of all tree crops. They're usually more reliable than corn, yielding a stable harvest year after year despite excessive rain or prolonged drought, and they flower in the summer, so are not usually affected by late frosts. They are a true bread tree. Chestnuts are found natively throughout eastern North America, eastern Asia, and Europe and Asia Minor. The trees offered here may carry genes from any of these places, in varying proportions.
As we enter into an uncertain ecological future beset with volatility from climate change and environmental degradation, we believe it's useful for the agroforestry practitioners of the world to be trialing trees from genetically diverse populations like these from Zach Elfers. Diversity means resilience. Thank you for doing your part to help our species adapt to the ever-changing world of tomorrow!
This Northern mix features seedlings with parentages such as:
- American hybrids, featuring American chestnut crossed with Chinese or other Asian genetics.
- 'Eaton', a complex hybrid with American, Japanese, and Chinese genes. Ripens early, so a good fit for the north. It originates from Connecticut and is likely a seedling of 'Sleeping Giant'.
- 'Clapper', C. dentata x C. mollissima, backcrossed to C. dentata. This was one of the early American Chestnut Foundation backcrosses, developed in Carterville, Illinois.
- 'NH 4 Pair', a complex American, Japanese, Chinese hybrid hardy to zone 5a. These trees are descendants of ones developed by Elwyn Meader in New Hampshire.
- 'Luvall's Monster', a complex American, Japanese, Chinese hybrid hardy to zone 4b. Parent tree originates in Dallas City, Illinois.
- 'Liu', a Chinese chestnut hardy to at least zone 5b. These will be mostly the green-leaf form, although Liu is known to produce reddish leaves. Originates from the Nanjing Botanical Garden in China.
- 'Ford's Sweet', a northern adapted Chinese chestnut. This variety was introduced by J. Ford Wilkinson and originates from north of Tientsin, China.
- 'Gideon', a complex Chinese hybrid for the north. Originated with Greg Miller at Empire Chestnuts in Ohio.
- 'Amy', a complex Chinese hybrid for the north (comes out of the same seed lot as 'Gideon', originally via Empire Chestnuts in Ohio).
HANDLING TIPS:
These trees will come to you as "bare-root dormant". They are dug up in the early spring while the plant is still dormant, and shipped with no soil around the roots. The roots need to stay moist, so do not let them dry out.
Upon the arrival of the trees, it's a good idea to soak the roots in a bucket of water for 30-60 minutes.
These trees should immediately be planted into their new permanent home or a nursery bed, or potted up and grown in a container until you are ready to field plant.
Upon the plants' arrival, if you aren't quite ready to plant them in their permanent home, but you intend to still plant them in their permanent home this spring, you could immediately "heel" them into the ground. Dig a small hole, put the roots of the trees in the hole, and fully cover all the roots with soil. This can buy you a little time. Another option is to cover the roots in moist sawdust until you are ready to plant. Whatever you do, don't let the roots dry out. Plant the trees before they start to leaf out!!
