Post by NorthShore-Rocks on Sept 2, 2010 19:14:41 GMT -5
Hey Ken...
Not to hi-jack Jo's thread or nothin', but I have kind of cool Chestnut tree story to tell. We had this old gnarly tree next to the print shop where I used to work up here. It was growing between the road (right downtown) and the sidewalk. A narrow little strip of land in which it had to gain its water and nutrients. It was a pretty good sized tree, but not tall, with many large branches growing from the base instead of large trunk and up-wards. There's no doubt in my mind it struggled to make a living in Duluth Minnesota, a couple of blocks from Lake Superior, in fact, it's now gone due to an early heavy snowstorm and I know of only one other mature Chesnut tree in Duluth.
I tried many times (and failed miserably) to get some of the nuts to germinate and grow into seedlings. After I had worked there for a few years, an older gentleman that worked in the bindery department noticed my interest in the tree and the nuts it produced. He proceeded to tell me the history of the Chestnut tree, the blight, and the awful history this tree had suffered over the last couple of hundred years.
This guy also had figured out how to germinate the seeds by keeping them in the freezer for a awhile and a couple of other tricks. Anyways... he gave me a couple of seedlings about 10 years ago and I planted them in my yard. We have a lot of deer around here and I was dumb enough to leave them unprotected. The deer bit them off almost to the ground. I was seriously bummed out but then extremely happy when they sprouted a couple of new shoots once I protected them properly.
I still have those two trees. One still in my yard and one at my Mom & Dads new place. They're now about 10 feet tall and really starting to take off. Even though that guy has now passed, I'll never forget the story he told me about the giant Chestnuts that once dominated the Eastern forests. I'll fight like hell to keep those 2 trees going and hopefully carry on a few genes resistant to the blight for the future.
In my personal opinion, we've gotta fight like hell to protect what little original forests we have left, like the ones Jo has pictured. There's hardly any left.
Steve
Not to hi-jack Jo's thread or nothin', but I have kind of cool Chestnut tree story to tell. We had this old gnarly tree next to the print shop where I used to work up here. It was growing between the road (right downtown) and the sidewalk. A narrow little strip of land in which it had to gain its water and nutrients. It was a pretty good sized tree, but not tall, with many large branches growing from the base instead of large trunk and up-wards. There's no doubt in my mind it struggled to make a living in Duluth Minnesota, a couple of blocks from Lake Superior, in fact, it's now gone due to an early heavy snowstorm and I know of only one other mature Chesnut tree in Duluth.
I tried many times (and failed miserably) to get some of the nuts to germinate and grow into seedlings. After I had worked there for a few years, an older gentleman that worked in the bindery department noticed my interest in the tree and the nuts it produced. He proceeded to tell me the history of the Chestnut tree, the blight, and the awful history this tree had suffered over the last couple of hundred years.
This guy also had figured out how to germinate the seeds by keeping them in the freezer for a awhile and a couple of other tricks. Anyways... he gave me a couple of seedlings about 10 years ago and I planted them in my yard. We have a lot of deer around here and I was dumb enough to leave them unprotected. The deer bit them off almost to the ground. I was seriously bummed out but then extremely happy when they sprouted a couple of new shoots once I protected them properly.
I still have those two trees. One still in my yard and one at my Mom & Dads new place. They're now about 10 feet tall and really starting to take off. Even though that guy has now passed, I'll never forget the story he told me about the giant Chestnuts that once dominated the Eastern forests. I'll fight like hell to keep those 2 trees going and hopefully carry on a few genes resistant to the blight for the future.
In my personal opinion, we've gotta fight like hell to protect what little original forests we have left, like the ones Jo has pictured. There's hardly any left.
Steve