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The Blight Resistant Dunstan Chestnut Tree

Hello Gardeners, I'm Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow! At the Sustainable Midlands' Holiday Celebration, I went home with a special treat from Michael Peterson of the Eastover Nut Farm - a bag of chestnuts harvested from his grove. Michael grows the Dunstan chestnut tree, a hybrid between our fungal-challenged native chestnut and the disease-resistant Chinese variety. Despite competition from squirrels and Carolina Dogs, Michael was able to harvest over 500 pounds of nuts this year. The flavor is delicious - richer than the nuts produced by the Chinese trees, With the problems associated with growing pecan trees - scab, weevils, and crows, adding Dunstan hybrid chestnuts to one's backyard wouldn't be a bad idea for those who delight in growing food at their own home. Good nurseries provide two different cultivars of the Dunstan hybrids to ensure pollination and trees start producing in four to five years.

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Amanda McNulty is a Clemson University Extension Horticulture agent and the host of South Carolina ETV’s Making It Grow! gardening program. She studied horticulture at Clemson University as a non-traditional student. “I’m so fortunate that my early attempts at getting a degree got side tracked as I’m a lot better at getting dirty in the garden than practicing diplomacy!” McNulty also studied at South Carolina State University and earned a graduate degree in teaching there.