HOW WE GROW WATER CHESTNUTS

First, see the link which has MOST of what you need to know. I will add our experience.
http://www.howtogardenadvice.com/vegetables/grow_water_chestnut.html#tips
We searched for a long time on line before we found viable starts. I think it was about 15 bucks.
The corns, which look a little like buckeyes (we're from Ohio) were started in dixie cups. Each with just enough water to cover. The "snorkel" should stay above the water line. After a week or two, maybe three, the snorkels started to sprout. When the green sprouts were about an inch or two, they are ready to plant. Many people use old bath tubs. Our 55 gallon food grade barrels were cut in half and fille 3/4 the way up with a 50/50 mixture of garden dirt and manure. You saturate it with water until you have about an inch of water standing above the dirt(think rice patty). I think we had about 5 corns per half barrel and spread them evenly apart, again on top of the soil with the snorkel sprouts breaking the top of the water surface. Push the corns in firmly but not necessary to bury them. Let them do their thing, allow the water to evaporate to where there is no standing water for a couple days as is normal, then top off again to about an inch standing and repeat. Near the end of the 6 month period and the green shoots turn brown, it's ok if they dry up a bit. It will still be mucky down deep where the goodies are. We used a pitch fork to dig it all up. We harvested about a dozen or so per corn planted. They are hard to find, they are all over the place. Keep the small ones to replant(we hope) Our first year was OK. Peel them and eat a sweet, milky, crunchy delite. We have stir fried them with fresh shrimp and and other veggies. Awesome! We froze some. We have not tried those yet. Not sure about how our next year starts will be, still experimenting. Good luck!