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Chestnuts as a Long-Term Farm Investment
We hear versions of this question constantly: Is this actually worth it? I have 10 acres, or 30, or 50. I’m thinking about chestnuts. But I’m not a farmer. And I don’t want to wait a decade to find out I made a mistake. It’s a fair question. And the honest answer is: yes, it…
Selling Chestnuts: Know Your Market First
One of the most common questions we hear from new growers is also one of the most important: where am I actually going to sell these? It’s asked by someone with a few acres in the ground, staring down a seven-year runway to first real harvest. It’s also asked by experienced growers who suddenly have…
Chestnut Tree Pruning: Why It Can’t Wait
Folks usually come to me with the logistical questions first — what variety to plant, what it’ll yield, how soon they’ll harvest. All fair. But the practice that quietly decides more than almost any of those rarely makes the list: pruning. If there’s one thing a visit to a chestnut orchard in Chile drove home…
Why Plant Chestnuts on Your Farm?
Chestnut farming might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you’re thinking about what to do with a few extra acres. But for a growing number of growers, landowners, and career-changers across the eastern United States, it’s becoming one of the most exciting decisions they’ve ever made. And once you dig into…
Chestnut Farm Succession Planning: Built to Last
If you’ve ever stood in a young chestnut row and wondered who’ll be there when these trees finally bear, you’re already doing succession work. So that’s really what chestnut farm succession planning is. Not paperwork. Not the LLC. Instead, it’s the slow daily work of growing the people who will love this land. The Question…
The Name on the Gate — Why Naming Your Farm Matters
The EBB Confession: How Our Farm Name Started We didn’t back into the name EBB Farms by accident—we loved it from the start. It stood for our dreams: Expect Big Bucks, with a perfect double meaning. At the time, we were imagining a place that might make a couple bucks and give us a lot of…
Grafted, Seedling, or Clonal? A Quieter Way to Choose Your Chestnut Trees
If you’re standing in front of nursery catalogs trying to decide what to plant, you’re not alone. The grafted vs seedling chestnut trees question is the one we hear most often—from first-year growers, folks fifty trees in, and researchers. Underneath, though, is usually a quieter question. Not just “which tree?” but “what kind of orchard—and…
Starting a Chestnut Orchard: Lessons from Nash Nurseries
Starting a chestnut orchard can feel equal parts thrilling and terrifying. I remember that mix the day we planted our first trees. So I loved hearing Jon and Bill Nash of Nash Nurseries describe the same feeling on this week’s episode. Between them, the Nashes carry six generations of nursery wisdom, and Jon’s raising the…
Revenue Opportunities in Growing Perennials: The Long Story
When we ask, “Why grow chestnuts?” the answer usually starts with a sense of purpose. For many of us, the draw is environmental: soil-building, carbon sequestration, and a low-input alternative to the annual grain systems that currently deplete our landscapes. But as we look toward the future and the industry at large, we have to…
How to Prevent Ambrosia Beetle Damage on Young Chestnut Trees
If you’re establishing chestnut trees in the Southeast or lower Midwest, there’s a challenge you’ll likely face in the first three to four years after planting: ambrosia beetle damage. These rice-sized wood-boring insects are one of the most common threats during the establishment window—targeting trees between ½ and 4 inches in diameter, exactly when your…
Growing Pains: Scaling Your Chestnut Orchard
We spend years getting the trees into the ground, tending the soil, and waiting for the burs to open. But getting the nuts off the trees is just the starting line for revenue. We calculate yield per acre, project the harvest out a decade, and expect the math to guarantee a return. But the actual…
The 90-Day Flight Plan: A Grower’s Guide to the Drone Approval Process
I had the opportunity to speak at the Kentucky Fruit and Vegetable Conference earlier this year, which is always a joy. But I have to admit that one of the absolute highlights of the day for me was meeting Caleb Canter and finally getting a close-up look at agricultural drone technology. Even though I was…