EKU Chestnut Orchard Work Day

Hello Chestnut Enthusiasts!

 This November 29^th  starting at 10:00 AM we are planting B3F2 and other hybrid chestnut seedlings at the TACF Regional Seed Orchard at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) in Richmond KY. (Directions below)

 We are going to plant our chestnut seedlings in a beautiful orchard, just off campus. These seedlings represent decades of backcross breeding, and are not only potentially blight-resistant, they are indistinguishable from pure American chestnut. After final selections, seed orchards produce the seeds that will go into restoration plantings in the forest – we’re almost there!

 Should be fairly easy, and with enough volunteers, should only take a good day of work. Bring friends, students, interns, family, people you meet on the street, anyone!

 Please wear closed-toed shoes and dress for the weather. If you have work gloves, a hand trowel, a hammer, and/or a bucket, please bring those as well. We will have those items on hand for those who cannot bring them.

 As always bring water, snacks and lunch.

Directions:

Please close gates behind you – keep the cows in!!

From I-75 Take exit 87 to KY-876 E/Eastern Bypass in Richmond (heading east) about 1 mile

Turn right onto Kit Carson Drive (heading south) about ¼ mile

Turn left on McKinney Skills Dr and go past the first driveway (that leads to a parking lot) and take the next right (you will see the police training center in front of you and a gravel road to the right – take the gravel road) the road you take will have piles of construction material and old stumps – don’t worry, you are not going the wrong way – continue down this road and through a gate.

A you come to the top of the hill you will see the orchard to your right, follow the dirt road through one more gate and you will see the orchard and the parking area.

 GPS: 37.722368, -84.297095

 Let me know if you’re interested and available.

 Thanks again, hope to see you all soon!!

Tom

tom.saielli@acf.org

Kentucky American Chestnut Foundation.

Instagram: @KYTACF

Twitter: @KYTACF

KY-TACF Annual Meeting, 2018

Rick Caldwell, KY-TACF Chapter president, has announced this year's annual meeting to be held at Pine Mountain State Resort Park on August 18, 2018.  Make your plans now to attend!  Here is Rick's message on the upcoming meeting:

Hello Kentucky Chapter Members,

I would like to invite each of you to our KYTACF Chapter Annual Meeting. This year we will be having our Annual Meeting at Pine Mountain Resort Park on Saturday, August 18th starting at 9:30 am EST. We will have light refreshments in the morning and the chapter will provide a free lunch for each of our members. We have a full agenda planned along with two field trips. The first field trip will start around 2:45 pm after the meeting adjourns on Saturday. Lynn Garrison will lead us around the lodge and we will be looking for chestnut trees and Lynn will show us how to use the new Tree Snap, tree app. The second field trip will take place on Sunday and it starts at 9:00 am, We will be going to the Hensley Settlement in Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. If you plan on going on this field trip you will need to meet at Cumberland National Park Visitor Center before 9:00 am. Space is limited for this field trip, so please RSVP me and let me know if you are planning on attending this field trip. The National Park Service charges a small fee of $10.00 per person to go on this field trip. The field trip will  last around 3.5 to 4 hours. 

IF you are planning on staying overnight for the meeting you could stay at the Pine Mountain Resort Park, but make your reservations soon as their rooms are going fast, I have been told.  Also less than 15 minutes away in Middlesboro, Kentucky there are several nice hotels that you could  also get a room for your over night stay.

Please also RSVP me if you are planning on attending the meeting; we want to make sure we have enough lunches prepared!

Here is the address and phone number for Pine Mountain State Resort Park.

Pine Mountain State Resort Park

1050 State Park Road

Pineville, KY 40977

ph: 606-337-3066

fax: 606-337-7250

www.parks.ky.gov

I hope to see you at the meeting.

Best regards,

Rick Caldwell

KYTACF, President

rcaldwell@bernheim.org

cell: 502-807-2257

Learn how to search for Chestnut trees!

Here is a note from Rex Mann:

Dear Friends of American chestnut:

 

The goal of the American Chestnut Foundation is to restore American chestnuts into eastern forests.  To that end, TACF has been conducting a breeding program since the early 1980's to produce an American chestnut that is resistant to the chestnut blight fungus.  That goal will be realized in another four to five years, but we need mother tree orchards (germplasm conservation orchards or GCO's) of pure American chestnuts as part of the restoration project.  GCO's need to be established so the blight resistant trees can be crossed with pure Americans to develop locally adapted trees.  Thus, we need American chestnuts from KY to establish a number of GCO's. 

 

On June 20, 2018, the KY chapter of TACF will conduct a hike at Natural Bridge State Park, beginning at 5 pm.  The hike will be less than two miles and will not be strenuous.  The hike will be led by Rex Mann of TACF and Tom Sielli, TACF's Mid-Atlantic coordinator.  The purpose of the hike is to teach participants where to look for and how to identify chestnut sprouts.  Tom will explain how to use a free app, Tree Snap, on your smart phone so information on wild chestnut trees can be uploaded to TACF.  Participants are encouraged to download Tree Snap to their phones prior to the hike.  Search for Tree Snap in your app store and/or check out the Tree Snap website at:  https://treesnap.org/.

  

Our goal is to train folks to use the Tree Snap program with the hope that these people will train others, who love the woods, to locate American chestnuts so we can begin developing GCO's.  We look forward to seeing you on June 20.  We will meet in the lobby of the lodge at 5 pm, and the hike will begin at 5:15.  The restaurant at Natural Bridge serves excellent food if you want to eat before or after the hike. 

 

Please let me know by June 14 if you can attend.  If you have questions call Rex Mann at 859 771-3477.

 

Thanks,

Rex Mann

Wanted! Kentucky American Chestnut Trees

The Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation is hoping to get landowners, hikers, hunters, foresters and others to help find American chestnut trees throughout the forests of Kentucky.  Why are we looking for these trees?  They contain genetic material specifically associated with Kentucky.  As efforts to produce blight resistant trees moves forward, genetic material from across the state is needed in order to eventually get Kentucky trees back into the woods of Kentucky.


What to look for?  When the blight came through killing most chestnut trees within our woods, the trees only died from the ground level and up.  The root systems often remain alive and when some sort of disturbance occurs in the forest - timber harvest, windthrow, fire, etc. - once light hits the forest floor, this encourages the existing root systems to send up sprouts.  Occasionally, these sprouts will get large enough to begin producing flowers.


Around this time of year (end of May/beginning of June), chestnut trees with male flowers (catkins) can often be spotted even from a distance as the catkins mature and develop their whitish color.  Perhaps you will come across something like this:

Sometimes, the sprouts are so small that they are not yet flowering.  These can be managed on-site to flowering or can be relocated to an orchard where they can be cared for (water, light, fertilizer, etc.) and encouraged to flower.  The KY Chapter hopes to continue efforts in creating Germplasm Conservation Orchards from these native Kentucky sources.


If you think you have found an American chestnut tree, you can submit your information via the Treesnap App that is available for mobile phones.  You can also contact the Kentucky chapter by sending an email to Chapter President, Rick Caldwell, at rcaldwell@bernheim.org or submit information through the tree reporting process with TACF found here:  https://www.acf.org/resources/identification/


Head on out into the woods and find some American chestnut trees!

Chestnut Orchard Fun Day at EKU, 27 April 2018

EKU is holding an orchard work day.  Here are the details:

Please join us on Friday, 27 April for EKU’s annual celebration of Arbor Day. We will have a work day at our chestnut orchard from 10-3 during which we will plant chestnut seeds and perform maintenance on existing seedlings. EKU’s chestnut seed orchard is the result of decades of breeding efforts by the American Chestnut Foundation undertaken to meet their goal of restoring the American chestnut to its historic range. The American chestnut once comprised one in four trees in eastern forests and was iconic among the people of Appalachia prior to its devastation by the chestnut blight.

 

What: Chestnut orchard work day to celebrate our 7^th year of being certified by the TreeCampus USA program

 

Where: EKU’s chestnut orchard (more details on parking and directions to follow)

 

When: Friday, 27 April 2018 10:00AM – 3:00PM

 

Please wear closed-toed shoes and dress for the weather. If you have work gloves, a hand trowel, a hammer, and/or a bucket, please bring those as well. We will have those items on hand for those who cannot bring them.

 

Co-Sponsors: The Arbor Day Foundation, The American Chestnut Foundation (KY chapter), EKU Facilities Services, EKU Office of Sustainability, EKU Wildlife Society, Biology Department

Participating in a fun day like this is a great way to learn about American chestnuts, chestnut restoration, orchard management, as well as other things.  Plus, it is a wonderful way to meet other chestnut enthusiast!  Get on out there and help grow some chestnut trees!

Obtaining Chestnut Trees in Kentucky

I often get questions of where someone can obtain chestnut trees to try to grow on their farm or in their yard.  There aren't many placed that pure American chestnut nuts or seedling can be obtained.  However, I recently learned of a local grower in the Bowling Green area who has been growing pure American (and other) chestnut trees for some time and will be selling nuts in fall of 2018 and will begin seedling sales in spring of 2019!


Go to Mater Maker Film and be sure to navigate to the chestnut page.  You will find some very impressive photos of pure American chestnut trees growing in Kentucky forests, examples of very well kept and tended pure American orchards and you will find where you can purchase nuts and seedlings from this Kentucky grower!  Be sure and mention that the Louisville Chestnut Blog sent you their way!

Pure American chestnuts produced by Mater Maker Film website owner.

This website if FULL of information on chestnuts, blight, chestnut identification, etc.  Well worth checking out!!

Volunteer Opportunity at EKU - Feb. 9, 2018

Interested in helping out with chestnut restoration efforts?  You have an opportunity in Richmond, KY at Eastern Kentucky University's chestnut seed orchard on Friday, February 9, beginning at 9:00 in the morning.  Here are some directions to the orchard:

Be sure to wear work cloths, bring gloves, bring a lunch and water to drink, and plan on working hard!  Work will include weeding, placing new tree tubes onto seedlings, mulching and other maintenance tasks.  Should be a fun day!  In the event of bad weather, phone Tom at 828-450-9100 to make sure the workday is still on.



Chestnut Planting at EKU

Come One, Come All!!

It’s time to plant B3F2 American Chestnut Seedlings in our regional seed orchard at Eastern Kentucky University!

 

 

Dear Members, Students and Volunteers,

 

We have successfully started planting seedlings at our regional seed orchard at Eastern Kentucky University and it looks great. We are really excited about this important orchard – it will one day produce the seeds that will be used to restore American chestnut to the hardwood forests in Kentucky.

 

But now is the time to keep up the great work. We are seeking volunteers to help us plant over one thousand little chestnut seedlings on Monday November 13^th. Please consider joining us in this noble effort!

 

 

WHAT, WHERE AND WHEN:

 

Monday, November 13^th, at 10:00 AM

 

Level of difficulty: moderate

Will hands get dirty? Yes!

Fresh air and good folks: Definitely!

Note: Bring water, lunch & snacks; gloves, and dress for the weather…also bring hand tools (such as a hand trowel) and a bucket to carry things around with you.

 

 

Directions to the site:

 

From I-75 Take exit 87 to KY-876 E/Eastern Bypass in Richmond (heading east) about 1 mile

Turn right onto Kit Carson Drive (heading south) about ¼ mile

turn left on McKinney Skills Dr and go past the first driveway (that leads to a parking lot) and take the next right (you will see the police training center in front of you and a gravel road to the right – take the gravel road) the road you take will have piles of construction material and old stumps – don’t worry, you are not going the wrong way – continue down this road and through a gate.

Look for the signs directing you to the seed orchard/parking area.

 

GPS: 37.722368, -84.297095

 

. 

Please Email Rick Caldwell to RSVP or for more details rcaldwell@bernheim.org

 

 

Hope to see many of you there!!