Virginia News
Fall Newsletter Published!
The Fall 2018 issue of the Virginia Chapter of TACF's newsletter, The Bur, is now available for downloading. You can get a pdf copy of this and all issues of The Bur here.
Successful Day Inoculating at New Kent
We had a great day on July 20th at the New Kent Forestry Center! It was a gorgeous day and we stayed cool enough in the shade of the ops building. With 24 folks working, we were able to inoculate about 1400 chestnut seedlings in under 5 hours. That’s pretty...
Small Stem Assay at Providence Forge
On July 20, 2018, small stem assay was conducted at Providence Forge, Virginia (east of Richmond). The seedlings are being used in progeny testing. The seedlings are about 18 months old and were being inoculated with the blight. They were grown in a greenhouse at the...
Inoculation at Fried Orchard
On June 14, a group of volunteers inoculated about 140 trees in the Fried Orchard. The volunteers were Ned Yost, Tom Wild, Meg Sewell and Warren Laws. Regional Coordinator Tom Saielli and our intern Katrina Somers participated as well.
Spring 2018 Newsletter Now Available
The Spring 2018 issue of the Virginia Chapter's newsletter, The Bur, is now available on line. Click here to read the latest issue, which includes stories on progeny testing, the backcross breeding program and chainsaw safety practices and training, along with a...
Horticulture Dayz at Front Royal — Feb 28-Mar 1
Virginia Cooperative Extension is holding Horticulture Dayz on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, and Thursday, March 1, 2018, at the Northern Virginia 4-H Center in Front Royal, VA. Many great speakers have been lined up for this year’s event, including the fantastic...
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National Facebook
Small Stem Assays involve inoculating young chestnut stems with the blight fungus and monitoring the resulting cankers, allowing researchers to assess how well different trees respond to infection.
#educational #Informative #americanchestnut #fieldwork #explore
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
You don't find out if the tree is resistant until it matures. That could be a decade later.
I am always amazed how big you all can grow them in 1 year. That is how big my second year seed8 gs always are!
Last week, staff at TACF’s national office in Asheville joined Carolinas Chapter President Peggy McDonald, husband Bob, and Chapter board member Jon Taylor for a hike at Albert Mountain in Western NC to visit wild American chestnut trees in search of flowering catkins.
During their venture, the team also came across a few cool amphibians: a red-legged salamander, which only inhabits portions of the southern Appalachian Mountains, and a red-spotted newt, which is much more common, but its brilliant red is stunning!
Of course, the biggest thrill was seeing large surviving chestnut trees and, as the day wrapped up, collecting some beautiful catkins that were high in the canopy of a tree on the way down the mountain. Pollen collected from the catkins will be used in TACF’s southern region breeding program.
#hike #nature #getoutside #americanchestnut #pollination
6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Whoa. Fascinating that some mature American Chestnuts have survived the blight. Taking pollen from these survivors is such a great idea. I didn't realize there were any survivors in NC.
Ils sont en fleur au Québec aussi, ça fait du bien de les voir grandir.
Fantastic
Trying to figure out if you found an American chestnut or a Chinese chestnut? These identifiers should help!
#explore #forestry #education #americanchestnut #conservation
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
I love it when the music is up front and the narration is in the background. Awesome.
BeeKeeper Mango
Every business in every city should have to plant a tree every year as part of their yearly licensing.
Do you have a favorite nature quote?
#explore #americanchestnut #nature #quote #restoration
2 CommentsComment on Facebook
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.” Henry David Thoreau
Im hoping to see this in my lifetime