My Chinese Chestnut tree is finally beginning to bear a good amount of nuts. After a few frosty nights, about half of the nuts have fallen to the ground; the other half is still clinging to the tree. I collected the ones that had fallen on the ground.
With a thick pair of leather gloves, I set out to open the spiny shells (technical term is cupule or burr) that are protecting the nuts. You really don’t want to touch them with unprotected hands.
Removing the hostile covering was a tedious process as few of the nuts were fully opened. Some of them needed to be pried open with a pair of scissors; others fell open with a little bit of pressure applied. As I was working with them, I became intrigued with the sensuous nature of chestnuts in their shell.
Doesn’t this one look like a baby crowning in the birth canal?
I quickly learned not to bother with the smaller, lighter burrs because they mostly held tiny, undeveloped chestnut babies, like these:
The larger, weightier ones held at least one, sometimes two, large chestnuts inside:
The luscious, lustrous brown nuts looked like pieces of chocolate to me:
or like large precious seeds lining up to be strung into a necklace:
Some of the emptied shells appeared like cocoons that had recently released their new life into the world:
A close-up of the hair-lined inner chamber in stark contrast to the sharp spines on the outside:
The chestnut mother tree knows exactly how to cradle her precious seed babies in a soft womb environment and how to protect them with fierceness against any intruders. Not much different from how we human mamas hold and protect and defend our babies.
Wow! This brought me back to my childhood. A long time ago. Thank you for rekindling a long lost memory.
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Eric, so glad this brought up great memories for you. What kind of chestnuts did you have and what did you do with them?
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What a work of art the chestnut shells are. Even the spiny covering has wavy, artful shapes. I was amazed at the fuzzy inside, too. A real study in nature’s amazing intricacy.
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So true, I have never looked so closely at chestnuts and their burrs before. They really are incredibly artful and intricate!
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Gorgeous photos! I particularly like the birth of the baby Chinese Chestnut.
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Does that make me a Chestnut Doula? š
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Beautifully written about something we never think about!
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Thanks, A. – When I approach even mundane activities with mindfulness, so much opens up!
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You give the right to the chestnuts by giving them a voice and humanity
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Wonderful! As a permaculture guy, I love it when people plant chestnuts.
Peace be with you.
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I actually learned about these Chinese hybrid chestnuts in a Permaculture course that I took with Dave Jacke! Thanks for stopping by, Dillon.
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I love your musings on chestnuts and your wonderful photos. I agree there is a resemblance to a baby’s head crowning in birth. The second last photo is absolutely beautiful. It would make a wonderful drawing too.
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Thank you so much, Suzanne.
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