Ellie (E-15) – Liu seed nuts
The variety
Liu is a red-shelled Chinese chestnut from Ohio, named in honor of the Chinese researcher Liu, and it carries what may be the most commercially useful trait of any chestnut in our orchard.
Greg Miller stores nuts from dozens of cultivars each year for seed. Out of all of them, one stood out with near-zero blossom end rot and near-zero storage rots, two years running. That was Liu.
It is easy to overlook storage in favor of size and sweetness, but Miller describes fungal decay of chestnut kernels as one of the biggest problems the industry faces. Storage quality is what determines whether a nut posted to a customer arrives sound, and whether someone who bought from us in October comes back in November. Nobody markets chestnuts on how well they keep, because almost nobody has the data.
We are testing ours through a full winter before we put any promises in writing.
Ellie in 2026
2026 observations coming after harvest.
The tree
Ellie is a very heavy bearing young tree, she has the classic orchard form of spreading wide to catch maximum sunshine. Her almost glowing beautiful red burs shine bright in the sun.
Seed nuts from this tree will be available once harvest is in. Join our newsletter to hear first.