Sweet Chestnuts

You know that Autumn is in full swing when the Sweet Chestnuts start to pop onto the floor. Normally the first nuts to fall are the runts of the crop, too small and skinny to be of any use.

Meanwhile the finest, mahogany mammoths are safely swelling, encapsulated in their hedgehog-like homes.

There is a vast amount of substantial chestnut trees in some areas of Southampton.

In some places flour is made out of chestnuts but I find them dead fiddly; so I just build a fire in my BBQ and let the flames burn the shells off.

DON’T FORGET TO PIERCE THE SHELLS BEFORE COOKING OR THEY WILL EXPLODE!