"In the summer they bloom, in the fall they ripen and in the winter you can roast them on an open fire-or at least, hear Nat King Cole sing about them in his 1961 rendition of "The Christmas Song." Historically, chestnuts have been an integral part of the holiday season. Though harvested in the fall, their flavor peaks in the wintertime, making for a tasty seasonal treat. During the holiday season, you can find them in midtown on street corners as an annual treat for tourists and New Yorkers alike."
"Now, at the American Chestnut Foundation, Goergen is dedicated to bringing chestnut trees back into their native ecosystems. American chestnut trees used to cover the East Coast, spanning from Georgia all the way to Maine. But in the early 20th century, the landscape of abundant forests changed when a new species of blight that posed a 90% loss of chestnut trees was discovered at (of all places) the Bronx Zoo."
Chestnuts were a culturally and seasonally significant tree across the U.S. East Coast, prized for food and tradition. American chestnuts historically ranged from Georgia to Maine and played ecological and cultural roles. An introduced blight discovered in the early 20th century devastated nearly all native American chestnut trees. Surviving chestnuts in the U.S. today are typically Chinese or European varieties. The American Chestnut Foundation and conservationists pursue restoration through breeding programs and modern genomic selection to develop blight-resistant trees and return chestnuts to native ecosystems. Restoration links forestry, water quality, and landscape conservation goals.
Read at Time Out New York
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