West Virginia News
Spring potting of nuts in 2021
Members of the WV chapter gathered on 13 March at the West Virginia University greenhouse to pot up about 900 nuts. The volunteers worked in three groups of four and the task was accomplished in about three hours. Many thanks to those who volunteered: Janis Boury,...
Good and Bad
When posting images of chestnut, we all love great-looking seedlings or trees. They help promote the work of TACF. However, there are also pictures that depict less than ideal images. These are two images, representing the good and the bad. The picture of a dead...
New plantings in West Virginia
These are two of many new 2020 plantings of backcross chestnuts in West Virginia. These two plantings are in the eastern panhandle in Jefferson and Mineral Counties.
Potting chestnuts in Morgantown
A group of 13 volunteers gathered at the greenhouse on the campus of West Virginia University to pot about 400 chestnuts, including backcross chestnuts from Meadowview, American chestnuts from West Virginia and Maryland and some miscellaneous open-pollinated nuts from...
Nuts germinating in January
Chestnuts that were placed in cold storage the last week of September 2019 are beginning to germinate in mid-January. If you have nuts in cold storage, now is a good time to check for mold and also to see if some of the nuts are beginning to put out a radical.
Fort New Salem
Sam Muncy, WV-TACF treasurer and Sharon Reeves Cottrill, roasted chestnuts at the Spirit of Christmas Festival at Fort New Salem in Salem, WV. Sam stated that more than 75% of the people who attended the festival tasted chestnuts for the very first time.
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Follow us to learn more about the blight and what to do if this happens to a tree near you!
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I believe I have a few resistant chestnut trees that have produced their second crop of seeds . They are descendants of those once in living in .Valley Garden Park
What is the cure? Tx 🙏
If I had some seeds, I would plant some on my property!!! I have no “sick” plants around the area!!!
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?