|
Image 1 of 3 |
|
Name a low-fat food, full of vitamin C and loaded with quality nutrition and energy that's NOT on most grocery lists. Give up? It's the chestnut, and fresh ones are ripe and ready in supermarkets from October through the holiday season.
Festivals are a great place to find good buys
Chestnuts are gaining popularity as a valid and profitable agroforestry crop in the Midwest. Forrest Keeling offers several varieties of seedlings and grafted trees and still has a good supply ready for planting this fall.
"We are especially proud of our Bond Orchard Selection Chestnuts and our working relationship with Sen. Kit Bond's Bond Selection Orchards near Mexico, Missouri," said Wayne Lovelace, Forrest Keeling president.
Forrest Keeling grows each of the eight Bond Orchard Selection Chestnut species currently produced in both seedling and grafted RPM-produced formats. With proper plant husbandry, in just three to five seasons, Forrest Keeling's specially produced RPM seedlings start bearing chestnuts--years earlier than traditionally produced trees!
For fall 2009, Forrest Keeling has the following five Bond Selection Orchard species available in #3 container and Step 2 (4 X 4) formats:
• Amy
• Dunstan
• Eaton
• Qing
• Sleeping Giant
Lovelace and other Forrest Keeling staff were on hand to promote and sell chestnut trees at two recent annual events, the Best of Missouri Market and the Missouri Chestnut Festival.
The Best of Missouri Market, was held Saturday, October 3 at the Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis. Despite the name, the Market, a perennial favorite for 18 years, gives representation to vendors from both Missouri and Illinois. This year, more than 120 food producers, product vendors and artisans participated, including Forrest Keeling Nursery.
"This was our first year at the event," noted Kim Lovelace-Young, Forrest Keeling vice president and general manager. "We were overwhelmed with the positive response for our trees and shrubs. Chestnuts were a big hit!"
Across the state, the Missouri Chestnut Roast was held Saturday, October 17 at the University of Missouri Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC) near New Franklin. HARC has researched the chestnut for 14 years and supports the nation's most comprehensive research program for developing specialty nut crops, including Chinese Chestnut and Black Walnut. HARC established the festival in 2002 to spotlight the chestnut as well as unique and tasty food products that incorporate the super fruit. Ground chestnuts create a high quality, gluten-free flour perfect for those allergic to wheat-based foods.
Chestnuts were the headliner of the event, but there was no shortage of interesting attractions. The newly renovated Hickman House, built in 1819, was dedicated and festival goers were treated to informative tours. And, if you didn't get your fill from chestnuts, you could have a go at free samples of wine, beer, mustard, flavored mealworms and goat cheese. The New Franklin High School Athletic Booster Club also grilled elk, buffalo and beef products to raise money for the athletics department.
For more information on chestnut trees, or to place orders, contact Forrest Keeling Nursery. Retail customers may contact us toll-free at 800-FKN-2401 for pricing, current availability, and quantity discounts. Registered wholesale customers may access our current availability, wholesale pricing and initiate orders online, or by calling our toll-free number.
