2026 UT Chattanooga Shucking Party

Please join us on Saturday in Chattanooga, TN for a chestnut shucking party, a fun day processing this year’s harvest of backcross American chestnut seeds!

In order to harvest seeds from our backcross hybrids we need to collect the burs the day before they open (because as soon as the burs open the nuts fall out and are eaten by deer, squirrels, wild turkeys and other neighbors). To prepare the seeds for winter, we need to remove the chestnuts from their burs by hand (that’s the shucking part). The chestnuts are then carefully cleaned, surface sterilized, sorted, counted, and packed into a moist medium (sphagnum) to be stratified for four months at 40 F.

Please bring a pair of puncture-proof gloves (if you have a pair), and dress for the weather!

More details, including location, will be shared once you have registered and signed a waiver.