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Harvesting Edible Chestnuts in Vancouver

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Photo by Michael Levenston. Chestnuts up in the tree. Porcupine quill-like burs encase the nuts.

Most people find Horse Chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum) lying on the ground in the Fall. They are a beautiful, shiny brown nuts but inedible. However, there are in Vancouver a few Spanish Chestnut or Sweet Chestnut trees (Castanea saliva), the nuts of which are edible, and elderly Asian and European residents are quick to harvest them as they fall to the ground. They often use long poles to hit them out of the trees.

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Photo by Michael Levenston. Spanish Chestnut tree at Kits Beach, Vancouver.

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Photo by Michael Levenston. Harvesting edible Chestnuts.

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Photo by Michael Levenston. Edible Chestnuts on left. Horse Chestnuts on right.

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Photo by Michael Levenston. Edible Chesnuts baked for 30 minutes and peeled (right side).

More about Sweet Chestnuts here.

How to Roast Chestnuts here.

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