If you want to enjoy the delicious taste of fresh chestnuts, you’re going to have get out of your chair and pick them yourself. Skyline Chestnuts, a family-run orchard in La Honda, is the perfect place to enjoy a winter afternoon picking chestnuts and conversing with friends. According to orchard manager Donna Johsen, the trees were most likely planted by a group of Spaniards over 150 years ago and have been growing delicious chestnuts ever since.

When picking chestnuts, look for the shiniest nuts possible, because as the nuts age they become dull. The fresher the nuts are, the better they taste. A perfectly ripe chestnut is firm, but gives a little when squeezed, kind of like an almost ripe avocado. At the beginning of the season around October, most of the chestnuts have to be picked out of pods on the tree, but by this time of the year, ripe chestnuts can be found right on the ground.

Skyline Chestnuts offers five different breeds of chestnuts, each with its own unique taste and texture. One of Johsen’s favorites is the American chestnut, which is very sweet and fairly small. The other varieties include Italian, Spanish and Chinese breeds as well as one that has not been identified as of yet. Because of the large diversity available, first-time pickers are encouraged to collect a varied sampling so that they can decide which type they like best.

Skyline Chestnuts is open from 9 a.m. until dusk seven days a week until Nov. 23 and the price of the nuts is $5.25 a pound. Also, even if you can’t make it up to their orchard, you can still enjoy the wonderful taste of fresh chestnuts; their farm often sells chestnuts at the Sunnyvale and Los Gatos farmers markets.

Skyline Chestnuts

Phone: 1-408-395-0337

Address: 22322 Skyline Blvd.

Hours: 9 a.m. - dusk until Nov. 23