I first joined the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation in February of 2023. A bag of chinquapins nuts arrived in the mail in March of that year.
There were six nuts in that bag - these were from the 103x cross. Although four of the six nuts came up, three of them were killed when something raided my "not-so-good-after-all-cages." So from that first bag of six nuts, there was only one little survivor.
(I learned a hard lesson on cages in that first year.)
That little tree didn't grow much in its first year, but in its second summer, it really took off! By end of the summer, it was probably close to two feet tall. So far this spring, it has already put on another eight to 10 inches of growth.
I paid my second year of membership dues to the foundation on January 1, 2024, and in late January, I got a second bag of chinquipin nuts - cross 10x1. (The bag said it contained five nuts, but there were actually only three in the bag.)
This time, I decided I was going to try starting the nuts in cardboard paper towel tubes...my thinking was the the tubes were deep enough that I would be able to plant the nuts (tube and all) without disturbing the taproot. Two of the three nuts sprouted, and I planted both of them just west of the first tree. But a mole tunneled right through the planting hole for one of them and that little tree didn't survive. I don't know why the chicken wire I had wrapped around the nut didn't protected it, but it sure didn't.
As with the first tree, the surviving little 10x1 tree didn't grow much in its first summer. I'm guessing it was only about three inches tall by the time it went dormant last fall. But it, too, has grown quite a bit this spring, now standing about 10 inches tall. It looks a bit yellow, and I think that's from all of the rain and cloudy weather we've had in the past couple of weeks (I hope it isn't drowning and dying).
I planned to renew my membership in January, 2025, hoping to get another bag of chinquapins so I could keep trying. But to my surprise, I received another bag of five chinquapins in the mail on December 14, 2024. I don't know why they sent them, because I hadn't yet paid my membership dues for 2025! Maybe they just had some extras they wanted to give away?
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| Five nuts from cross 36xx, received on 12/14/2024 |
I decided to try the paper towel tube planting technique again this year. Of the five 36xx nuts, only one didn't germinate.
- I planted one across the road behind the telephone building. When I checked on it yesterday, something had tried digging it up, but the chicken wire around the paper towel roll held, and the tree and nut seem to be intact.
- A second one went to my older sister, but something dug it up the first night it was planted out, so it didn't make it.
- A third one went to my younger sister, and so far as I know, it is still alive.
- The last one was planted near the 103x and 10x1 trees in my yard and seems to be hanging on even though it looked pretty tiny starting out.
When January 1, 2025 rolled around, I paid my membership dues, wanting to be sure that I kept my end of the "membership bargain" since they had already kept theirs!
But imagine how surprised I was to open the mailbox in early February to find yet another bag of five chinquapin nuts!
These five were from cross CT-1. That's not on the chart, so I don't really know the blight-resistance level of that cross.
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| Five nuts from cross CT-1, received on 2/6/2025. |
- I planted one of those nuts in the cage where the mole tunneled through (it has come up and seems to be growing well).
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| Little chinquapin tree from cross CT-1. |
- I gave one to my older sister, and while it did come up, it may have gotten too hot so we're not sure if it will survive.
- I gave another to my younger sister and although it took a while to come up, I think she said it finally did.
- I planted another one across the road behind the phone building, and planted the last one at the edge of the woods behind the barn. Neither of those have come up.
It finally dawned on me that I should make a map of where every nut was planted so if the trees survive to a maturity and make nuts of their own, I'd have a record of which tree came from which cross. I've drawn that out on the back of an envelope for now, just to get it on paper before I forget.
And to be fair to the Ozark Chinquapin Foundation, today I just donated another $30 to help with costs associated with the second bag of nuts they sent this year. I checked the box for "don't send me any more nuts" for this donation. I don't have any more cages right now!
Now...IF these trees survive, it will be interesting to see what kind of resistance they, and any nuts they produce, might have. I'm especially interested in the four trees planted together in my yard, because they're from four different crosses: 103x, 10x1, 36xx and CT-1.
I don't know what the long term plan is for the trees that grow from the nuts they're sending to their members. I don't know if the intent is for members to start planting nuts from their trees out in the "wild" or if they would frown on that. That would be a good question to ask someday I suppose.
But for now, I have five little chinquapin trees that I will need to look after in the summer of 2025. I have my own baby Ozark Chinquapin nursery, don't I!