The Chestnut Grower
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The Chestnut Grower Vol. 10, No. 4 Published by Chestnut Growers of America (CGA) Fall 2008 meeting in President Mike Gold’s absence, noted that Growing an Industry growers shouldn’t think of themselves as just “hobbyists.” by Michelle Hall, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry Having the Chestnut Growers of America at all is a great start, he noted. Securing grants to study chestnuts, for example, is impossible, Fulbright said, if the industry is orthern California welcomed the Chestnut Growers not visible and prominent. He said everyone needs to “be for the annual meeting with slightly cooler N active in their own regions.” (cont. pg. 8) temperatures than it is known for in late July, but still plenty of sun and, unfortunately, a bit of smoke in the air. $612 ad ‘Ad’ in Big Exposure Lingering areas fires didn’t slow this group down, however, on’t be surprised to see Chestnuts as we crisscrossed DCGA’s logo staring back the area, visiting at you from the winter issue of roasting on your orchards, equipment Fine Cooking magazine. The open fire... In the absence of a projector, Dennis manufacturers and two publication for chefs will be Fulbright, left, helps Ken Hunt, right, Buy American-grown chestnuts carrying an ad by the Chestnut Chestnut Growers of America delicious restaurants. with his presentation at the Chestnut www.chestnutgrowers.com Growers of America’s July meeting in Growers of America, encouraging Friday night’s kick-off Chico, Calif. people to buy American-grown chestnuts for the holidays. gathering was enjoyed by all and featured wine, cheese, fruit and other appetizers, The advertisement includes CGA’s Web site and directs including chestnut hummus and chestnut spinach dip, readers to find a CGA member near them. The ad will whipped up by Carolyn Young. Lee Williams brought look nearly identical to what is above – its background is samples of his chestnut beer, liqueur and coffee to taste. light brown, however, which doesn’t quite show up in this black-and-white publication! Through presentations and other discussions, the theme arose of thinking of the chestnut growers of America as Ray Young, CGA secretary-treasurer, said the Board of an industry. Dennis Fulbright, who hosted the business Directors was looking for ways to do something that would “benefit all growers.” In this issue: Young also mentioned that the board was very interested Growing an Industry 1 to see if the ad is effective. He encourages all members ‘Ad’ in Big Exposure 1 A ‘Slice’ of the Pie 3 to find out from their customers how the customers heard Your Orchard to the Local Menu 4 about them. Young said his chestnut operation will be Annual Meeting ‘08 Photos 5 monitoring whether customers found them through the ad Chestnut Olympics 6 using a feature on their on-line shopping cart. CGA Chestnuts Downunder: HOLD THE BUS! 10 The Chestnut Grower 1 CHESTNUT GROWERS OF AMERICA A Message from BOARD OF DIRECTORS the President PRESIDENT Mike Gold (573) 884-1448 e-mail [email protected] MIKE GOLD VICE PRESIDENT Bill Nash (517) 651-5278 UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI e-mail [email protected] CENTER FOR AGROFORESTRY SECRETARY-TREASURER Ray Young (360) 887-3669 e-mail [email protected] Marketing Your Chestnut Crop/How Much Water? DIRECTOR Lucienne Grunder (209) 848-4816 Chestnut harvest season is in full swing. Along with the e-mail [email protected] hard work of the actual harvest comes the need to market DIRECTOR Dennis Fulbright (517) 353-4506 e-mail [email protected] and sell the crop. This issue of The Chestnut Grower has a DIRECTOR Lee Williams (509) 765-3922 great deal of information on the market side of the industry, e-mail [email protected] including our ad in Fine Cooking magazine, information DIRECTOR Sandy Bole (503) 625-1248 about the development of freeze-dried chestnut slices e-mail [email protected] as a new value-added product coming out of the CGI in Newsletter Editor: Mike Gold Michigan, and marketing to chefs/restaurants. For U.S. (573) 884-1448; [email protected] chestnut production to continue growing rapidly into the Newsletter Coordinator: Michelle Hall future as more acreage and production comes online, we (573) 882-9866; [email protected] need to continue our current efforts to pool our collective thinking and be ready to expand our sales of both fresh and NOTICE The Chestnut Grower is published quarterly by the Chestnut value-added chestnuts. Growers of America at 203 ABNR, Columbia, MO 65211. Copyright 2008. Original articles may be reprinted with written Water – how much is needed to produce an optimal annual permission of the author and this publication. crop load on chestnuts? We have had an exceptionally heavy amount of rainfall in many parts of the eastern U.S. Web site: www.chestnutgrowers.com in 2008, including Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Ohio to Single membership is $25 per year per person – household name a few. In Missouri we are at least 20 percent higher membership is $35. Members receive The Chestnut Grower than in a normal year (already over 50 inches). I have quarterly. For foreign delivery contact the Editor for pricing. heard from a number of growers in this region indicating Back issues may be obtained by members. Membership appli- that they have outstanding production this year – heavier cations may be obtained from the Secretary-Treasurer. crop loads and larger nut sizes. This leads to the question POSTMASTER asked above about water. I suspect chestnut orchards might Send address changes to CGA, c/o respond to a great more water than is currently supplied, PO Box 841, Ridgefield, WA 98642. either through Mother Nature alone or in combination with irrigation. [While chestnut cannot tolerate “wet feet,” in ADVERTISING RATES Full page, camera ready (w/1 photo) . $20.00 better drained soils it is a question worth answering.] Half page, camera ready (w/1 photo) ...15.00 Quarter page .........................................10.00 This issue also contains a detailed report from Dennis Business card (4 issues) .......................15.00 Fulbright who attended the 4th International Chestnut One classified ad per member per year is free (max. 6 lines, Symposium in Beijing in September. The next (5th) $2.50 ea. add’l 6 lines). Ad space may be reserved with full payment but must meet established deadlines. For more infor- International Chestnut Symposium will be here in the U.S. mation and specifications, contact Michelle Hall at (573) 882- – stay tuned for more on that in the coming months and 9866 or [email protected]. years. My personal thank you to Dennis Fulbright and everyone PUBLICATION DEADLINES on the CGA Board of Directors for filling in during my absence from the CGA annual meeting last July. I was very Fall issue deadline 9/15 mailed 10/15 sorry to miss the meeting. Winter issue deadline 12/15 mailed 1/15 Spring issue deadline 3/15 mailed 4/15 Summer issue deadline 6/15 mailed 7/15 Finally, to Greg Miller, let’s all toast a glass of chestnut beer to your health – we are all delighted to know that you are on the mend! 2 The Chestnut Grower A ‘Slice’ of the Pie by Michelle Hall, University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry rowers in Michigan, as part of Rinkel credits Joe Colyn, a food GChestnut Growers Inc., are working processing expert CGI hired to pursue the to change the short, refrigerated shelf life chestnut slice idea, with really taking the of chestnuts. product one step further and seeing it to completion. While freezing and dehydrating chestnuts are nothing new, CGI is rolling out Blackwell said CGI is marketing the new something a little different this fall – product mostly to chefs. The slices are they’ve developed a freeze-dried chestnut easy to work with but are a bit pricey for slice that’s shelf-stable for up to two the general public (about $24/8 oz.), he years. What’s better, the slices taste “just like a chestnut” said. That said, curious buyers can purchase the slices at directly out of the bag. Or they can be rehydrated in only CGI’s Web site at http://www.chestnutgrowersinc.com 15 minutes (other dried chestnuts can take up to 12 hours) or ground and used as a base for pasta, breading for fish or “There’s the recipe convenience of using this product, sprinkled on your potato for a sweet topping, for example. rather than having to deal with the risk and laborious task of scoring and peeling the chestnut, removing the pellicle, Eight ounces of chestnut slices will rehydrate to 1 lb. of and boiling them before you can even begin to cook with chestnut puree, said Roger Blackwell, president of CGI. them,” Blackwell said. It takes about 3 lbs. fresh chestnuts to make 1 lb. chestnut slices. Rinkel added that when you “take all your time and labor into consideration, you end up with almost the same end “Nothing has been added – it’s a pure chestnut,” he said. cost,” as fresh or even the costly frozen peeled chestnuts, “No preservatives, additives whatsoever. that have to be shipped with dry ice limitations. “For shipping, it takes a whole lot of pressure off,” Demand is as-yet unknown, although CGI’s research has Blackwell said of the stability of the dehydrated product. shown chefs find the product very appealing. This fall comes the major test marketing. CGI has about 1,200 lbs. CGI has been developing the product for three years. of slices to sell this year. How the fall goes will determine With about 40 growers contributing a percentage of how much they will produce in the future.