All over the State of Connecticut, CT-TACF members are getting their bucket trucks, orchard ladders, and thick rubber gloves to harvest the backcross nuts. Reports coming in indicate success with the harvest. The Enfield team wasn't finished with the analysis, but so far the controls were all infertile, and the fertile nut production has been strong (40%).
CT-TACF Director Gayle Kida forwarded the following brief on care sent to her by Fred Hebard …
Immediately count and store the nuts in moist, but not wet, peat moss (2-3 cups water per gallon of dried milled peat moss) in a plastic bag into which you have placed numerous holes with a tooth pick or paper clip. Make sure each nut is surrounded by peat moss and not touching other nuts or the side of the bag. Put the label in the plastic bag and also write the cross id and the number of nuts in the bag on the outside with a black Sharpie?. Refrigerate the nuts at 34 F until planting or shipping time.
Click on the [More] link (to the right) to see photos of the collection of straight American chestnut seed from Roxbury, CT earlier this week. There are a cluster of hybrids located in what was formerly a green to the north of the intersection, and surrounded by Painter Ridge and Painter Hill Roads. There are also some American sprouts in the area with a possibility of pollination. Click on the images to launch larger photos.
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For those of you considering the process of collecting seed, attached is the CARE document of Dr. Sandy Anagnostakis of the CT Agricultural Experiment Station. See the download link just below.
