Last fall, on my way back home from Eastern Europe, I stopped in Switzerland for meetings at the Swiss Federal Institute of Forests, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) in Birmensdorf on the outskirts of Zürich. In the evening, while wandering around Zürich’s altstadt, or old town, with my WSL colleague, Astrid Björnsen-Gurung, we meandered down a narrow cobblestone street towards the Sihl River. As it was getting dark, we stumbled upon an upscale jewelry shop that had a brightly lit display of fanciful Christmas critters resembling reindeer in the windows. I did a double-take but couldn’t resist taking some photos and sharing them.
Of course, the nuts in question are not the European chestnut (Castanea sativa) or any Castanea species, but the ubiquitous horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) that is planted extensively as a street tree throughout the temperate parts of Europe and related to the North American buckeye and Asian horse chestnuts (Aesculus species). If you harvested some excess American chestnuts this fall and are looking for activities for kids, this may fit the bill. Happy Holidays!