Western Maryland 4-H Education and Research Center – University of Maryland
Founded: 2008
Address:
4H Camp Rd, Swanton, Garrett County, Maryland – Google map
Challenges: Poor soils and cool climate have slowed tree growth. Trees were further damaged by deer after failure of the fencing caused by heavy snow. As a result, the outer fence has been removed and a special effort is being made to save 17 of the best remaining trees by protecting them within individual fences. For the latest 2020 inventory click here.
Contacts:
Shelley Packard – Steward, Master Gardener
Linda Harris – Mountain Laurel Garden Club
Ann Sherrard – Extension educator, U of Md
Plantings: (Note: Source of resistance – pink=Clapper, blue=Musick)
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Join us on Friday, November 21, 2025, from 11:30AM – 1:00PM (ET), for the next LIVE Chestnut Chat webinar.
Our special guest, Dr. Jessica Rutkoski, is a small grains breeder with a talent for explaining the fundamentals of breeding and quantitative genetics. In her talk, she will describe how modern tools such as genomic selection and high-throughput phenotyping can speed up improvement for multiple traits—and how these technologies can be effectively applied to TACF’s American chestnut breeding program. Jessica is a quantitative geneticist and leads the winter wheat breeding program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
To register, visit: tacf.org/event/chestnut-chat-faster-genetic-gain/
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🍂 As autumn arrives, chestnut trees at TACF’s Meadowview Research Farms enter dormancy, leaves turning gold and brown before falling. This cozy pause is nature’s renewal, while staff use the time to plan, prepare, and continually refine methods across the field, nursery, and lab. Dormancy sets the stage for a strong spring and a year of progress in chestnut science. 🌳
#fall #chestnuts #americanchestnutfoundation #americanchestnut
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I have two American chestnut trees in my yard in Delaware. The one is leaning bad and needs to be cut down. I would someone to contact me for you guys can get seeds and limbs
Chestnut shortbread, anyone? In the latest issue of Chestnut magazine, staff member Angus shares his recipe for shortbread topped with black walnut spread. Watch the full recipe video on YouTube and see it in print in our members-only magazine!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTW0m0R8UF4&feature=youtu.be
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These beautiful backcross seedlings from TACF's Meadowview Research Farms are hanging out in our Asheville office looking pretty in the sunlight.
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Love the trees
Looking pretty…pretty Chinese. 😞
I sent a membership in and have heard nothing back, did you steal my money?
Chestnut season may be winding down, but the thrill of finding these hidden treasures never gets old.
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Will Chestnut trees grow in the North?
I have several chestnut trees on my farm and they produce every year. I know the wildlife loves them. 
Wish mine would start producing