Seed Sources and Cultivars 2026

Chestnuts

  • Hartman - gathered at Lockwood Farm. Originally planted by Richard Jaynes - researcher and chestnut breeder at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. Heavy producer of large, dark brown nuts.

  • Lockwood Orchard Mix - a mix of chestnut cultivars gathered at Lockwood Farm near New Haven, Connecticut

  • Stehli “Giddy Up” - Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollisima) - an outstanding seedling of ‘Gideon’. Chestnut guru Bob Stehli selected ‘Giddy Up’ from his orchard in Hiram, Ohio. A very healthy tree with consistent, heavy bearing nuts.

  • New Fav Lui - Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollisima) - a seedling of ‘Lui’. Lui was a seedling from the Nanjing Botanical Garden cultivar collection in China. A beautiful tree known for its red leaves, red stem, mixed red and green burrs. Aesthetically a very unique chestnut. A good producer with great tasting nuts. This one is a favorite by many nut growers.

  • Hudson Valley Orchard Mix - a mix harvested from Samascott Orchard in Kinderhook, New York. This 20+ year old orchard has both grafted and seedling trees from parents such as Gideon, Sleeping Giant, Peach, and Qing. Both hybrid and pure chinese genetics. A great mix for orchards.

  • Stehli HR12T2 “Liddington Seedling” - Chinese Chestnut (Castanea mollisima) - another exceptional tree from chestnut breeder, Bob Stehli in Hiram Ohio. An early producer known for its consistency - consistent heavy annual producer of consistently sized nuts

  • Luvall’s Monster - hybrid chestnut ((C. crenata x C. dentata) x C. mollisima) - a very high yielding tree with notoriously huge nuts. Nuts have a great flavor and the pellicle comes off of the kernel easily. Grown and named after the late Verne Luvall in Galesburg, Illinois.

Hazelnuts

  • Red Fern Farm Mix - hazelnuts gathered from Red Fern Farm in Iowa. Tom Wahl crossed Badgersett hazels with each other for this population. Plants show strong resistance to eastern filbert blight, a good kernel size, and a great tasting nut

  • Dermis - a very cold hardy hazelnut selected by Ernie Grimo of Grimo Nut Nursery in Ontario. Produces high yields of medium sized, late ripening, slightly oval nuts. USDA hardiness zones 5-9. Good eastern filbert disease resistance

  • Prodigy - one of the very best of thousands of controlled crosses by Z’s Nutty Ridge in McGraw, NY. Nuts are medium to large with a thin shell and short husks. Very cold hardy. USDA zone 4b and warmer.

  • Farris - the best selections by hazelnut grower Cecil Farris in Michigan. These hazelnuts are hybrids with Turkish genetics

  • Nitka - a selection by Z’s Nutty Ridge that is extremely cold hardy in USDA zone 4a and warmer. Thin shell and large kernel. Shows no signs of eastern filbert blight. Grows to 10 feet tall and 6-7 wide at maturity. Z’s Nutty Ridge believes this will be the most planted tree in East Coast colder regions!