Had an amazing drive this afternoon. There’s a small farm in northern VA that sells (among other things) chestnuts, and as I am extremely passionate about the nut of the tree that used to cover America, I drove from Richmond to NorVA and picked up a few pounds of my favorite fall crop.
They are, without a doubt, the best chestnuts I have ever eaten.
I met a delightful retired couple who now raise various fowl and produce and fruits and nuts for a hobby, and got to see a part of VA that I’ve not yet seen. The mountain views, the farms, the horses and cows staring at me as I drove by—all wonderful. Coolest of all: The farm has a chestnut tree that was grown from, as legend tells it, a chestnut tree descended from Thomas Jefferson’s orchard. No, that was second-coolest. Coolest was learning how amazingly easy it is to grow chestnut trees. Next on my life-list: A house with enough property for my own orchard. It won’t be for a few years, but I can see me harvesting chestnuts from my own orchard someday.
In the meantime, I’ve made some new friends, and they’re only 45 minutes from the house of my friends in NorVA. I’ll be stopping by on the way home a few times a year, methinks.
Sounds like you had a great day. I gave our new rescue kitty a bath.
Very cool. I look forward to visiting Meryl the chestnut farmer.