Thorpewood Orchard
Note: The Thorpewood Orchard produced B3F2 nuts in 2011.
Address:
12805 Mink Farm Rd., Thurmont, Frederick Co.
Directions:
Starting at Frederick Md., take Rt 15 about 15 miles north to Thurmont. At Thurmont go west on Rt 77 for about
2.9 miles to a left turn onto Catoctin Hollow Rd. Continue on Catoctin Hollow Rd. about 2.8 miles, past Wigville Rd., to a right turn on Mink Farm Rd.. Take Mink Farm Rd. for approximately 1 mile. Turn left near the top of the hill at an unmarked gate. This leads to the orchard and the “Thorpewood Garden.” If you see a house on the left at 12805 Mink Farm Road you have passed it.
Contacts:
Sam Castleman – President, Thorpewood, Inc.
For information about Thorpewood click here.
Plantings:
Location:
Maryland Chapter Menu
National Facebook
Holiday cheer is brewing! 🎄🍺 TACF staff joined Sweetbay Brewing’s Patrick Atkins in Abingdon, VA, as he demonstrated how Meadowview-ground American chestnut seeds are being used to craft a rich brown ale for our Chestnuts Roasting & Christmas Market celebration on December 13. Join us for local flavor, music, and chestnut-inspired holiday fun! #AmericanChestnut #SweetbayBrewing #ChestnutsRoasting #HolidayCheers #MeadowviewResearchFarms #AbingdonVA #ForestRestoration
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Kirk🌰🍺!
Join us tomorrow, 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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Will be recording be made available later for those of us who cannot attend midday?
Grab your camera and hit the trails—the American Chestnut Photo Contest is back! We’re looking for striking, creative, and unique images of American chestnut trees and hybrids.
The first-place winner will have their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine and receive a one-year TACF membership, along with a T-shirt and hat. Open until December 31, 2025
Visit tacf.org/2025-photo-contest/ for more!
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Fall work is in full swing at Meadowview! 🌰 Lucinda and Dan are planting a Castanea seguinii from Dr. Hill Craddock (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) in our Castanetum, home to chestnut relatives from around the world. Nearby, we’re selecting top performers from a 2018 progeny test—thinning the stand to release the best 10% for future breeding success. #AmericanChestnut #RestorationInProgress #ChestnutResearch #ForestRestoration #MeadowviewResearchFarms #Castanetum #ScienceInTheField
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I have two American chestnuts in my yard if anyone wants clones
Slide show is too fast!
Did the gmo ones get approved yet?
North Carolina Friends, Visit The Plant in Pittsboro, NC, for their 3rd annual Chestnut Carnival on November 16, 2025.
There will be chestnut cocktails, chestnut rum cream, shelled chestnuts, roasted chestnuts, chestnut beer, pop-up vendors, live music and more!
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