On the chestnuts, I purchased about 20 of them ($20 - $40 each). I put several on island in big pond (along with with some apple, pear, and other trees). Watered whenever could (either buckets or water pump) for first couple years. Most survived. Pretty much neglected for a few years. A couple got damaged by the tree tube from menards. Those damaged trunks died; but a ton of sprouts generated from base that grew fast and have yielded nuts. Gathered about a 100 nuts last year. Found a video where guy drills holes in bottom of 5 gl bucket, then alternates layers of sand and nuts, wets it down, puts a lid on it, and buries it over the winter in mound of dirt. I did that. Dug it up last spring and had eighty some chestnuts sprouting. I transferred to pots with planting soil, kept watered over summer, and transplanted the 61 that remained (gave several away) last weekend. My back still hurts. Will they make it? I don't know. I think most will. They are close enough to another one of our ponds that I should be able to warer them at least a couple times next summer. The dirt isn't very good; but we wouldn't be putting the trees there if it were prime farmland. I bought some tubes I need to get over them to help protect them from deer.

I didn't check for harvesting nuts in timely manner this year. Ground covered in husks; but only about 30 nuts. Raccoon or something beat me to most of them.

I saved seeds from bunch of disease resistant apples this year. Thinking about trying them and the 30 or so chestnuts I did get. Don't know.

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