2006.10.12: October 12, 2006: Headlines: COS - Micronesia: Agriculture: Farming: Chestnuts: The Topeka Capital-Journal: Micronesia RPCVs Charlie NovoGradac and Debbie Milks grow Chinese chestnuts in Kansas
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2006.10.12: October 12, 2006: Headlines: COS - Micronesia: Agriculture: Farming: Chestnuts: The Topeka Capital-Journal: Micronesia RPCVs Charlie NovoGradac and Debbie Milks grow Chinese chestnuts in Kansas
Micronesia RPCVs Charlie NovoGradac and Debbie Milks grow Chinese chestnuts in Kansas
The couple returned to the United States in 1995 after living 17 years in Micronesia, where they worked for the Peace Corps on an island and then lived for several years in Saipan. They were called back to Kansas because NovoGradac's parents were ill, plus they already owned the 20-acre farm. "We wanted to do a sustainable agriculture project, particularly with trees that grow food," NovoGradac said. "And we wanted to do it organically." After considering pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts, the couple decided to focus on growing Chinese chestnuts in a field that once sprouted wheat.
Micronesia RPCVs Charlie NovoGradac and Debbie Milks grow Chinese chestnuts in Kansas
Couple returns to U.S., invests in Chinese chestnuts
JAN BILES
The Topeka Capital-Journal
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Most people think of chestnuts while they're decorating their Christmas trees and singing carols in mid-December.
But Charlie NovoGradac and Debbie Milks are bucket-deep in the nuts now as they continue harvesting their crop at Chestnut Charlie's, a nut tree farm about 1 1/2 miles north of Lawrence.
"It really should be a Halloween food," NovoGradac said.
The idea of establishing the nut tree farm was planted in the early 1990s when Milks and NovoGradac read articles about attempts to bring back the American chestnut, which had been decimated by a blight.
"It was a slow-growing interest," Milks said.
The couple returned to the United States in 1995 after living 17 years in Micronesia, where they worked for the Peace Corps on an island and then lived for several years in Saipan. They were called back to Kansas because NovoGradac's parents were ill, plus they already owned the 20-acre farm.
"We wanted to do a sustainable agriculture project, particularly with trees that grow food," NovoGradac said. "And we wanted to do it organically."
After considering pecans, walnuts and hazelnuts, the couple decided to focus on growing Chinese chestnuts in a field that once sprouted wheat.
"Chestnuts had a great demand in the United States and could be done organically," he said.
The farm has about 1,500 nut trees - 1,200 are chestnut; the rest, walnut and pecan - and from 500 to 600 Christmas trees the couple planted as a "short-term crop."
The chestnut harvest is in full swing at the farm.
"We have to harvest before the nuts get dry," NovoGradac said.
Chestnuts bear their fruit in bright-green burrs covered with sharp, inch-long stickers. Attached to the inside of the burr are three brown nuts. As the fruit ripens, each nut separates from the burr. The burr then splits open, allowing the nuts to fall to the ground.
NovoGradac, Milks and a few part-time workers hand-pick the fallen nuts from the ground and place them in buckets. The buckets are dumped into a homemade shaker that helps separate the nuts from their burrs or other debris.
The chestnuts then are washed, culled for quality, sorted by size, washed again with ozone to prevent mold growth, placed into mesh bags and refrigerated.
"I tell people I touch each nut about 10 times before the harvesting process is done," Milks said.
The weather in Kansas - with temperatures ranging from minus-10 to 110 - is no friend to the chestnut. NovoGradac said this year's harvest is "light" but better than last year's, which tanked because of a series of spring frosts that shocked the trees so badly they didn't flower.
"Two thousand pounds - we expect at least to harvest this amount this year," he said.
Because their operation is a certified organic farm, they can sell to organic wholesale outlets such as The Community Mercantile and Au Marche in Lawrence. In markets, chestnuts are sold by the pound and according to size.
Pruning and grafting, weed control, harvesting and marketing keep the couple busy for about 10 months. The Christmas trees provide added income during the off-season.
NovoGradac said he knows of only one other chestnut grower in Kansas, a 1-acre farm near Grantville.
"Other than that," he said, "I've only seen them as yard trees."
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Headlines: October, 2006; COS - Micronesia; Directory of Micronesia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Micronesia RPCVs; Agriculture; Farming; Kansas
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Story Source: The Topeka Capital-Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Micronesia; Agriculture; Farming; Chestnuts
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