Seed nuts from Sleeping Giant — Giovanna (G-40)

The variety

Sleeping Giant was bred here in Connecticut, from a cross made in 1937 at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station under Arthur Graves and later Dick Jaynes. Nearly ninety years on it is still one of the six mother trees Greg Miller recommends to anyone planting a seedling orchard.

It is a hybrid — Chinese crossed with Japanese and American — and we say so plainly rather than calling it a Chinese chestnut. But it behaves very much like a Chinese tree, and Route 9 Cooperative makes a point that matters for an orchard like ours: its offspring come out consistently Chinese-like and of reliable quality. For a farm growing seedlings rather than grafts, a hybrid that breeds true to type is worth more than one that scatters.

The nuts are medium-large, around forty to the pound, handsome and good eating. It ripens early to mid-season and bears with unusual consistency from year to year.

It was bred twenty miles from where it now grows.

Giovanna in 2026

[TO BE WRITTEN — 2026 Ellington observations: bur set in the hard 2026 season, first drop date, nut size, shell splitting, whether burs drop whole.]

The tree

[TO BE WRITTEN — the mother tree's own note: where it stands and anything particular about it.]