Summer Chestnuts

The summer is an exciting time, when the chestnuts that I seeded in March are growing out into small treses.

I built two airprune beds and they seem to work fine. One was weak in the bottom and fell out, so I fixed that one, and the other one was stronger built and is still working fine. My main concern is that the soil dries out quickly, and I suspect that the nutrients in the soil that I started with are soon depleted. I will try to add some soil next week.

The chestnuts that I planted outside grow much slower than in the hoop house.

On the right in the image, next to the edge of the hoop house, I have planted three rows of chestnuts. I tried to seed some vegetables as well, and the dill took off great. We have eaten spinach and beets that was grown next to the first 100 or so chestnut trees. Now we have some carrots and dill left to enjoy. (in the middle row we have figs)

The dill attracts all kinds of visitors who enjoy a rich pollen meal.

On a suggestion by Philipp, I planted four graftwood trees (sweet chestnut cultivars) in the hoop house to get more vegetative growth. This was a great suggestion and I will have much more graftwood from these trees than from the ones that grow outside. In the coming years, obtaining Scandinavian grown chestnut graftwood is the limiting factor for propagating grafted trees, so this will make the transition quicker.

Chestnuts in Laholm

I see more and more chestnut trees in our place. I have seen at least six sweet chestnut trees in our municipality, also in the main park next to the town center.

Here is one of the three that grows in the town park "Stadsparken":

Here is a tree in a private garden next to the brewery Sofiero: