Saturday, October 26, 2013

Like peas in a pod

Except that they're chestnuts or châtaignes in French. The floor of the woods around our house is covered in them. And so is our road as it descends toward the river. The nuts and their spiky pods are falling now, along with a good share of the chestnut trees' leaves.

Chestnuts often come three-in-a-pod. They're too small to be worth eating.

Callie doesn't like walking on some of her favorites paths through the woods right now. The spikes on the pods hurt her feet. I don't blame her. It won't be long, though, until they start to soften and decompose, then they'll no longer hurt.

When châtaignes are cultivated to be larger and rounder, they're called marrons. They're what get roasted or canned or made into a sweet paste for eating.

11 comments:

  1. I have never seen chestnuts "in the wild" before, nor have I ever eaten them.

    we currently have plenty of acorns and black walnuts that the squirrels are busy gathering for winter.

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  2. Chestnuts were fetching a good price at Loches market last weekend........maybe there's a business opportunity on your daily walk !!

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  3. What a great photo. Very other-worldly.

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  4. Chestnuts ate not to be found in our market
    so we have to order them on line from Oregon.
    Aren't they wonderful in stuffing.....and with
    brussel sprouts.

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  5. Walt

    I read that putting some chesnuts as per your picture in and around the house keeps away the spiders. Gâteau aux marrons is one of my favourites.

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  6. In SoCal, I have to wait for the smaller "Italian" chestnuts to show up as the bigger Korean ones do not taste very good to me.
    I always associate chestnuts with a beautiful area of France called "Les Cevennes". I like my chestnuts roasted or boiled. Poor peasant food but so delicious and filling!

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  7. Last year, Joelle and I were hiking in the Cevennes and "harvested" several large bags full of chestnuts off the ground. We used sticks to pull the husks apart so we could remove the chestnuts without impaling ourselves on the needle-sharp spines.

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  8. close up botany photos are fascinating.

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  9. anne marie, it's a nutty time of year! lol

    jean, too much work for me, I'm afraid! ;)

    mitch, thanks!

    john, I suppose it is, in a way...

    sheila, they're very common in the markets here, and canned in the supermarkets (which are very good for cooking into stuffings).

    t.b., I'd never heard that... interesting.

    nadege, they can be very tasty, and they're a great seasonal treat.

    chris, good idea. Did you eat them? How?

    michael, :)

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  10. I've never seen a chestnut in the wild.

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