Update on my edible landscape

[gwendally]

This Decrepit Victorian is a trial to keep up.  Something is always breaking, it needs a ton of regular maintenance, and it's a huge property to heat, insure and pay taxes on

Comments

[lab_jazz]

Your garden sounds lovely; it must be great to have enough land to have all that fruit growing.

and the nuts are extremely hazardous

What is hazardous about a chestnut?

[gwendally]

I edited to include a picture. They are round and covered in bristles that are each needle-sharp. They look like evil evil tennis balls to the dog. They hurt if you step on them. And the nuts in the middle? Not worth handling the bristles to get at.

[lab_jazz]

Thanks for the picture. I've never seen a chestnut tree for real, I suspect that we don't have the climate required to grow them. I've never even seen a packet of chestnuts at the supermarket.

Yeah it's not the sort of tree that one would want in their garden

[gwendally]

You're not alone in not recognizing a chestnut. They went nearly extinct about 90 years ago. Not many people alive have seen one.

I participated in a project to restore the species. The breed I have is supposed to be blight resistant. Chestnuts need other chestnuts to polinate, so they can't exist unless humans help.

I planted two, one is at the intersection of a road called "Chestnut Hill". I'm pretty proud that I'm helping to save a species, but OUCH!

[solar_diablo]

The entirety of it sounds lovely. I'd say worth keeping for retirement if it can at all be managed.

[coercedbynutmeg]

Thin the fruits if you have to. My grandmother had a pear tree that was so heavily set a few years ago that all the branches snapped from the weight. I didn't know it was possible.

[jette]

How do you want to live? You love that house and as much work as it is, the location and amenities are exactly what you want out of life. Or so you have said time and time again.

It's not like you don't have the skills and experience to figure out financial matters.

[jette]

Or to put it another way, most people I know would kill for a picturesque walking neighborhood filled with people you like.