West Virginia News

Germination Time

Members of the West Virginia chapter gather in mid-March to pot chestnuts.  In readiness for potting, the bags of nuts that were stratified over the winter in a refrigerator were checked in mid-February to see how many had radicals.  In the photo, there is a wide range of response to stratification from nuts that have not yet sent out a radical (nut on far left) to nuts with radicals that are several inches long (nut on far right).  About 30% of the nuts that were bagged last September had a visible radical.

Nuts germinating in mid-February

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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 ... See MoreSee Less

2 CommentsComment on Facebook

Did the gmo ones get approved yet?

I have two American chestnuts in my yard if anyone wants clones

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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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!

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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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: https://tacf.org/event/chestnut-chat-faster-genetic-gain/

🍂 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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