All guides
How to pick chestnuts
3 min read
The only thing on this site you gather off the ground rather than pick off a plant, and the only one that fights back before you have touched it.
5
farms
3
regions
September to December
picked
When you can pick chestnuts
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Across every region on Pickeria. Darker months are peak somewhere; your own region is narrower, and the table below gives it.
What to look for
- 1
Bring thick gloves, and bring them whether or not the farm mentions it. The burr is a hard green case covered in needles, and standing on one in soft shoes is a genuinely bad afternoon
- 2
Take the nuts that have already fallen clear of the burr, or that sit in a burr which has split open by itself. Anything still shut on the tree is not ready
- 3
Roll the burr under your boot to open it rather than using your hands. The nuts pop out and you keep your fingers
- 4
Float-test at home. Drop them in water and throw away anything that bobs, because a floater has either dried out or has a grub in it
- 5
Do not confuse them with horse chestnuts, which are not edible. A sweet chestnut burr is densely spined like a sea urchin and holds two or three flat-sided nuts; a conker case is smooth and warty with one round nut in it
What people get wrong
Every one of these is common enough to be worth naming.
- Arriving without gloves, which turns a pleasant hour into a painful one. The burrs are covered in fine needles
- Opening burrs by hand rather than rolling them underfoot
- Taking nuts that are still shut in a green burr on the tree, which are not ready
- Confusing them with horse chestnuts, which are not edible. A conker case is smooth and warty; a sweet chestnut burr is densely spined
Varieties worth knowing
Farms post the variety at the gate. This is what the names mean.
Chinese chestnut
What almost every American orchard grows, because it resists the blight. Sweet, large and easy to peel.
Chinese and American hybrids
Breeding programmes crossing blight resistance into the native tree. Increasingly what new orchards plant.
American chestnut
Effectively extinct as a timber tree. If a farm has any, it is a conservation planting and worth asking about.
Once you are home
Most people pick more than they planned to.
- Float-test first and discard anything that bobs, because a floater is dried out or has a grub in it
- Score a cross through the shell before roasting or they burst, which is dramatic and unwelcome
- They freeze well and peel more easily after freezing, which is the trick worth knowing
- Chestnut flour, stuffing and soup are the traditional uses, and a roasted chestnut is best eaten too hot
Where you can pick chestnuts
5 farms across 3 regions, earliest season first. Every date came from the farm's own words.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
September to November
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
September to December
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
September to November
