Pumpkin Center, Kern County, California. This article is about the unincorporated community in Kern County. For the unincorporated community in Lassen County, see Pumpkin Center, Lassen County, California.
When to harvest chestnuts? Chestnuts donât ripen at the same time and chestnut harvest time can span as much as five weeks, although the nuts generally ripen in a 10- to 30-day span of time in late August and September. Allow the nuts to fall from the tree naturally.
Wait for the chestnuts to fall to the ground. Gather up all of the nuts with open burrs. (You'll definitely want gloves for this job.) Remove the nuts from the burrs. Discard any with worm holes or other signs of damage. Promptly store the chestnuts in air-tight containers and refrigerate or freeze.