ATTENTION: We now have chestnut products available, including Dried Chestnuts, Chestnut Flour, and Chestnut Spelt Pancake Mix (new item!).
We will open the store again for fresh culinary chestnuts on Oct 1, 2023. Fresh peeled chestnuts will be available during the November-December holiday seasons in 2023. Check in September 2023 for availability of chinkapins and chestnut seeds.
Our online store is still open for some chestnut tree (nursery stock) orders. We are sold out of nut production (Chinese chestnuts) trees.
Check here, our Facebook page, or our phone message for updates.
About Us
Our Culinary Chestnuts
What’s New
Route 9 Cooperative was formed in 2010 by the owners of five chestnut orchards in eastern Ohio, located on land once occupied by native American chestnut trees. Our member chestnut orchards cover over 100 acres and have been supplying their customers with fresh culinary chestnuts for many years. The need for a larger packing facility and unified marketing led to creation of the co-op. Prior to the co-op, Greg Miller had produced and sold chestnuts and chestnut trees under his farm, Empire Chestnut Company. The co-op now markets the chestnuts and trees grown by Empire Chestnut Company. Greg Miller serves as president of Route 9 Cooperative and remains an active chestnut farmer. See our more detailed story under history.
Over the years, we have grown several species of chestnuts and their interspecific hybrids. We found that the Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) is the best in terms of its sweet flavor, ease of peeling, and adaptation to our growing conditions. We continually plant new trees and remove inferior trees. In the process, we evaluate new germplasm and constantly improve the genetic quality of the chestnuts and nursery stock that we sell.
We sell three sizes of chestnuts: small (60-75 per lb; good for snacking), medium (48-53 per lb; good for roasting) and large (34-39 per lb; good for cooking). All sizes have the same quality and flavor. They are carefully cleaned and graded to ensure more than 95% sound chestnuts at shipping time. Fresh chestnuts are available only during October and November.
When you receive your chestnuts be sure to refrigerate them right away. Otherwise, they can become moldy. Be sure to read our pages on storage and preparation of chestnuts.
Happy weekend from the pigs! I’m glad they choose to rub on dead stumps instead of live trees. If you listen closely in the video you can hear the crunch whenever they find a chestnut. Dog and cat watch from a respectful distance in the background.
We are finished harvesting and are sold out of culinary chestnuts, but harvest has just begun for our orchard clean-up crew. Happy to partner with Moorecrest Farms for tree-fodder-fed hogs!
We still have some Medium size culinary chestnuts available. Order now to have them for Thanksgiving! route9cooperative.com/culinary-chestnuts/
Fresh Culinary Chestnuts (Medium and Small sizes) are still available! Limited supply. Place your order online: route9cooperative.com/culinary-chestnuts/
We are currently sold out of culinary chestnuts! If you already placed an order, we expect to ship it by the second week of November. If we have nuts leftover after we fill all the orders, we will alert you and open the store again. Thanks!