I hope everyone had time to enjoy some well-loved traditions over Christmas. I certainly have and am now happy to slowly return to some regular routines including seeing what other gardeners have found pleasure in over the darkest days.

Just before Christmas, I purchased some sweet Chestnuts imported from China because Chestnuts have always been a Christmas treat during my long lifetime, but most young people I know have probably never roasted chestnuts on an Open Fire. I hope I am not wrong in saying that but obviously when the song was written in 1945 it was a well-known activity. For more on the Victorian tradition see the link below.

Sweet Chestnuts are not the same as Horse Chestnuts which are not edible. A Sweet Chestnut Tree is a totally different tree than a Horse Chestnut Tree. Although both can be large trees, their leaves, flowers, seed pods and nuts are all have differences.

I have no idea what image ‘roasting chestnuts’ conjures up for most people, a street vendor with a cart or an open fire with a metal sheet balanced on top to hold the chestnuts. For me it was always a few placed in front of the flames in the hearth of a coal or wood fire. If the chestnuts did not have the necessary cross cut on the top through the skin/shell  they might explode sending shell and pieces of charred sweet chestnut all over the room.  It was fun, as was peeling them, once done, without burning your fingers.  The soft sweet meat of the chestnut was best eaten hot.

I doubt that experience happens much anymore for many reasons. Sweet Chestnuts do not grow naturally in the Zone three climate in which I live. It is too cold but it is also difficult to find good chestnuts in December. There are also so many other sweet treats to be had with far less effort than preparing the nuts, building a fire, patiently waiting and trying not to burn your fingers.  Of course the chestnuts could be roasted in a hot oven but it is not the same thing as an open fire. This Christmas I also I looked for canned chestnut puree, another chestnut delight to make a favourite cake but could not find that anywhere either.  It is a sad state of affairs when the delightful Sweet Chestnut as a Christmas tradition has gone out of favour to the the point you cannot find them anymore. I would be really interested to know how common the tradition still is, elsewhere. I do remember finding street vendors at a Christmas fair in Maldon, Essex U.K. but that was twenty years ago.

Unfortunately most of the American Sweet Chestnut Trees were killed by a blight, chestnut blight fungus (Chryphonectria parasitica) introduced to the States in 1904. The population had already been weakened by something called Ink Disease in the nineteenth century. By 1950 barely any Sweet Chestnut Trees remained in the U.S.A. The European Sweet Chestnut, a slightly different variety, thankfully, still exists in countries around Europe.

The Chestnuts we have have access to in Canada are mostly imported from China. This yet again, slightly different variety Castanea mollissima is resistant to the blight that killed many other species and is very much akin to the original American Sweet Chestnut. Sweet Chestnuts are harvested in early fall and are best used in the next few months. The Chestnuts we can buy on this continent often have travelled great distances on a ship and are not always in the best condition by the time we buy them. I always expect to have to throw some away.

If you have never roasted chestnuts on an open fire over the Christmas season, I highly recommend it as a fun activity, if you can find them.  Just remember to cut the skin before putting them in or on the fire!