Colossal Chestnut Farming: 30 Years on a Washington Orchard with Steve Jones
October 22, 2026
Steve Jones planted his first Colossal chestnut trees in 1992, after gophers ate every tree in his business partner’s California orchard. Thirty years later, Steve and Patty’s Colossal Orchards in Selah, Washington, has 25 acres of chestnuts and sells about half of every crop out the back door.
Host Melanie Jones asks Steve for the beginning, the messy middle and where the farm is today. In this episode:
• What to decide before you plant: commercial or hobby, distance to market, and a variety buyers want
• How long chestnut trees take to produce real income (“think 10 years in the future”)
• Water rights in the West: “whiskey’s for drinking and water’s for fighting”
• Harvesting a 25-acre chestnut orchard with two people and used filbert equipment
• Why big grocery chains didn’t buy enough, and the newspaper article that changed everything
• Why there’s no U-pick, and the first weekend the farm opens its doors
• What the chestnut industry needs next: growing standards, grading and a buyer clearinghouse
Read the article, with the research behind Steve’s numbers: https://unitedchestnuts.com/colossal-chestnut/
Colossal Orchards: https://www.chestnutsusa.com/
Plan your own chestnut orchard with UC Academy guides: https://unitedchestnuts.com/uc-academy/ Book a Farm Tour with Orchard Blueprint and SEO analysis: https://unitedchestnuts.com/product/two-hour-chestnut-orchard-tour-seo-blueprint/
Chestnut Growers of America: https://www.chestnutgrowersofamerica.com
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/branching-out-growing-together–5924771/support.
Explore More from United Chestnuts
- Main Website: unitedchestnuts.com
- The Branching Out Podcast: Listen to More Episodes
- The United Chestnuts Blog: Industry Insights & Growth Strategies
- Shop Ebb Farms: Direct from Our Orchard to You
