chestnuts
This is a photo I took a year ago when my camera's macro function was still working! We have a chestnut tree that produced fruit for the first time last September at the age of 7, and they're just starting to drop again now.
posted by andrea at 7:41 p.m.
10 Comments:
Are they the edible sort? One of my lasting memories of childhood winters is of chestnuts roasted by the open fire. Burnt fingers peeling the shells off, tossing the hot chestnut from hand to hand as it cools, breaking them open and seeing the steam rising... All just a memory now, since the gas-fired-coal-effect modern equivalent ain't up to the job. I don't suppose you have an open fire??
Oh, those chestnuts. I have a very slow connection, so while I was waiting for the picture to load, I thought you may have been talking about a very complicated yoga posture.
kyknoord, before Andrea wakes up... I had to think about that for a while - then nearly spilled my coffee, I laughed so much :-)
Andrea, I swear I was going to say something relevant to the chestnuts and the composition (or something along thise lines). But KN's comment took the wind right outta me. One you've read it, there is just no coming back, is there?
Ok... perhaps it is just me.
Looks like you guys've been having a party without me! Serves me right for being at -7 UTC. But you can make up for it by sending me photos of exactly what you're discussing... :) (OK, so it's not *that* kind of blog...)
Since my connection is plenty fast, the misinterpreted imagery wasn't an issue for me...on the other hand, the spiky husk does remind me of something that Carol Channing would've had a hat modeled after.
beautiful close up...is that a tiny bug on the right bottom? so cute!
Someone posted on my blog and reminded me its the sweet chestnut - I couldn't remember what it was commonly called apart from edible.
Its probably the American Sweet Chestnut http://www.answers.com/topic/american-chestnut-1 which is a bit different from the European sweet chestnut. http://www.first-nature.com/trees/castana_sativa.htm
although neither are related to the horse chestnut.
Its seems the the American sweet chestnuts are suscepible to a tree disease called chestnut blight -and the history of the blight and efforts to contain it are here
http://www.grandriver.ca/index/document.cfm?Sec=48&Sub1=2&Sub2=0
I meant to mention -is there a black insect on the right side of the photo?
Thanks, Alison, and yes -- it is the American rather than the European Sweet Chestnut, but it could've been either as this tree is not native to the west coast of North America. I'd never seen one before actually. And after looking at it full grown -- my God! Will ours get that big? It sure has grown an amazing amount in the past 7 years!
Yes -- that's a bug on it -- and the inspiration for the photo!
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