Ohio Buckeye Trees Growing in My Washington Food-Forest

Buckeye Trees Introduced Into the Food-Forest at Stony Oasis Farms

I took my Grandson to a town nearby called Walla Walla...a town so nice they named it twice. We were there because Adam West...the original Batman was born there. My Grandson is a huge Batman fan.

While there we went and spent some time at a park that has been there for many years. Apply named Pioneer Park I believe. There are some HUGE trees there that I did not know what they were. They were literally 4 foot or more at the base! And TALL! They also produced a big nut....so I was on a mission to find out what they were...after a bit of investigation I determined they were Buckeye trees, and had been brought there from Ohio...many, many years ago.

I immediately looked into whether the nuts were edible. And, they are....kind of. The squirrels obviously liked them, but they contain tannin acid which is not particularly palatable for humans. They can be processed however to be eaten, and I learned they even made flour out of them.

Good enough for me...and my foodforest....I took some nuts home and planted them in some pots. They took their time but finally sprouted and grew into saplings. I grew them in their pots for two years, then took them to Stony Oasis and planted them in with the hundred or so other trees my sons help me plant to begin my food-forest journey. The first winter was rough...I thought maybe they were just not cut out to survive there.

I thought they had actually died off. But I was wrong....this year I see them still there, and now growing more leaves and starting to look happy! I think they are going to get established and grow....I am thinking they will be the only buckeye trees anywhere around...and the closest ones may be 150 miles away in Walla Walla.

Not only did they survive, but 3 of them have...would be amazing if they can ever grow as big as their parents are...gotta be nearly 150 feet tall! Do any of you have any experience with Buckeye trees? Tell me more about them in a comment...I would love some more info.