During the 1850's Gold Rush, Italian immigrants Colossal Variety Chestnut
seeds to California. One
of the original Colossal Variety Chestnut trees planted by these
gold-seekers is still standing tall today in Nevada City, California.
The Green Valley Chestnut Ranch has planted over 800 trees
all originating from this original mother Chestnut tree.
The Colossal variety is an exceptional
chestnut with large, sweet nuts, averaging eleven chestnuts per pound.
The Green Valley Chestnut Ranch was originally established in 1854 as
a historic Gravenstein apple ranch. In 1981, the Dabel family planted
six acres of Colossal Chestnuts (with Nevada variety pollinizers). Depending
on weather conditions, the Colossal variety Chestnuts grown on the Green
Valley Chestnut Ranch are harvested by hand in October and November.
Each year during the Spring season we crank up the John Deere
Tractor and plow the soil on the Green Valley Chestnut Ranch. Tilling the orchard brings
deep moisture up closer to the root system of the chestnut trees. Occasionally
as the soil is turned over, it reveals relics left by previous residents
of the historic site.
In the photo on the left below are a few of the obsidian and chert arrowheads found on the ranch in recent years. These were left by
the Russian River Pomo Indians as they walked across the ranch while hunting
for small game, deer and elk. Of course, there were no Chestnut trees
in Green Valley back then, the settlers planted mostly apples.
The photo on the right below is a collection of artifacts discarded
by the first generation of settlers who came to the Green Valley Chestnut
Ranch in 1854. Shown in the photo are antique bottles, a broken horseshoe
and pieces of porcelain dishes.
All of these ancient artifacts remind us that we are only
temporary caretakers of this rich and fertile land.
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