An ancient fruit thrives in my food forest

[@bor3549]

I've always thought of bletting more like black bananas. NOT rotten, just an extra stage of ripeness. Medlars, persimmons and quince all come to my mind. A nice winter crop along with crabapples and rugosas.

[@anhaicapitomaking8102]

Tamarind! That's what it tastes like: it's like the European version. I used to have tamarind syrup in water on very hot days with my grandma, back home after grocery shopping. This can be the perfect local substitute! I wonder if I can find recipes. As always, you are enlightening, Angela. Thank you!

[@linditakola1148]

I am growing Medlar in Toronto, Canada, in my back yard. They are delicious fruit 😋

[@cholcombe973]

Medlar is surprisingly drought tolerant. Same as you I don't water it at all and it just cranks out fruit every year.

[@SuperLincoln31]

My medlar tree has been drought tolerant in past years, buts it’s dropped a lot of dry brown leaves in the last 2 months. It still has a good crop of fruit. I’m rather puzzled.

[@permiebird937]

My neighbor across the street has 2 medlars. I think they taste a lot like applesauce. It took me a couple years to try a properly bletted one. In the Caucuses, they pick tiny wild medlar in late fall and make a syrup out of them.

[@coaxihuitl]

I love this, thank you! I started germination on some medlar seeds last year, and pawpaw seeds this year so I’m loving your video choices! Thanks again, looking forward to your medlar tasting video.

[@Acts-1322]

Love all your good info in every video. I can count on your opinion, thanks!

[@alexriddles492]

The big blossom end, the leaf shape and the bletting all remind me of a persimmon.

[@vesnadjokic4985]

This is one of my favourite when I was growing up in Europe.I miss this in North America. I would definitely plant this in my forest ❤

[@diannaodman2847]

I live in zone 8 b also (Silverton Oregon) and grow 2 varieties of medlars, they are okay for flavor i use them for wine.

[@deborahcoyle7612]

I’m very excited to see that I can grow this in New England.

[@angh18]

I have a wonderful Medlar, she loves 'worm-juice' for feeding/watering. She grew the 'normal' sized fruit, many fell off before I could crop. Earlier this year I gave her quite a large cut/prune back, and when she bloomed I only left 15ish flowers on her. She has 6/7 'giant' medlars growing, and even though it's towards the end of October - they are still green with the usual 'blush'. The fruit that have very strong stems have the approximate diameter of 4 inches. She's thriving beautifully for a 6-8 year old.

[@dawnhood3666]

Wish I could send you some of my cold gray Michigan your way. It is raining for the second day in a row and we may have more to go.

[@foggycoast]

Bletting is so underrated. I blet some cooking apples until they're edible without cooking too. Delicious. Most fruit taste sweeter and better a little over ripe anyway.

[@tyraeshields498]

Thank you for the information!

[@catherine8332]

I’d love to try one

[@jonroberts2445]

My favourite tree!

[@darthfiende1]

I might have to try these! We have such a dearth of fruit this late in the year and the "spiced applesauce" flavor I've heard them described as sound appealing. Maybe these guys can handle our zone 5 clay.

[@Iris_van_Vulpen]

Hello from the Netherlands (where this is a native tree). I really like them. They are like a nice apple pie in a bite. Our young trees are setting fruit for their first year. I'm very interested to see and taste the difference between our grafted variety and the wild one.

[@gunning6407]

I'm interested to hear your take on acid levels of the medlars you've tried. For example, we had (US grown) Karmijn apples for the first time this year, too acidic for my wife but kids and I enjoyed. On the other end, I found Tsugaru apples boring-sweet but the kids quite liked them...

[@Yggdrasil30]

a native tree?.. I barely know anyone here that knows of this fruit. Nor the Japanese version. I'm from the Netherlands, as well, now living in Belgium with a large mispel tree in my backyard, but it's not so common, in my experience

[@Iris_van_Vulpen]

@@Yggdrasil30 it is a native yes. Are there lots of them? No, unfortunately not. That's because it's not a fruit that's easy to market. Like for instance Elstar apples. Mispelus used to grow around fields. Due to ruilverkaveling a lot of those patches of threes and hedges were lost. That's the thing about this cultural manmade land... We decide what grows where and we lose species because they're not as convenient. There are still sayings around these plants though. It's just a couple of generations ago we started to loose these trees in our landscape. And now more and more people are trying to get these species back. Not in the least because it's good for our biodiversity. Lots of it is because of the growing interest in alternative farming methods and foodforrest.

[@Iris_van_Vulpen]

@@gunning6407 unfortunately there aren't very many medlars left. And the window to find and eat them is small. So I didn't try many. The vew I've had were sweet. And for the apples; did you leave them to ripen after picking them? Most apples are acidic if you just picked them. I don't know this specific variety so can't say anything about that.

[@Yggdrasil30]

@@Iris_van_Vulpen thanks for the enlightenment! I never knew that. I visited this plant nursery in Scherpenheuvel-Zichem last month. They also have a 4 hectare food forest, and the owner told us that some trees like the ginkgo biloba were also native to Europe long ago. Very interesting. I'm gunning for a 10 year old pawpaw tree, bur they're very expensive

[@charlesbale8376]

I am also in 8b and I am always, always looking for more fruiting small trees and shrubs I can add to my food forest

[@ellysmother]

Can you explain to me why you bury the graft?

[@yochanontheseeker1942]

Hi there PNW neighbor, I’m a couple hours north of you. Love your videos and I take your recommendations on types for my food forest. Was wondering if you did anything special w it when planted? Other then burying the graft (I haven’t seen any other info on this). Just bought one today and it’s like a 6’ whip....should I prune when I plant or wait until next season after it starts branching out?

[@jazstar7681]

So interesting! ❤

[@Hayley-sl9lm]

Weather is going to turn this Friday, it's going to drop like 20° and we're going to get a huge rain dump. Great video, is medlar affected by other pests that affect apples? Codling moth, or cedar Apple rust etc?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Not susceptible to codling moth or cedar apple rust :)

[@kcwilcox1]

Excellent video! I bought that same Breda about 2 years ago, talk about slow growing, WOW takes forever. I’m in 9b, any idea when they should start producing fruit? Also, do you prune your medlar or just let it go? Mine is having a hard time producing side branches. I appreciate this video very much, thank you!

[@vivienmaverley22]

I grow a meddlers and love your video my tree fruited very quickly in the uk I had a small amount of fruit when my tree was only about 3 ft I now have an abundance of fruit yearly my favourite is a liquor and a jelly made from the fruit

[@gunning6407]

Thanks for the details. I'm having a hard time finding fruit to try, but I'm very interested in the tamarind comparison (love love love). Am I correct in assuming there's some acidity here? How much tannin ("mouth pucker") do you get?

[@drpk6514]

It is actually originated in Western Asia and then taken to Europe. Eating too much of it makes your stomach upset, so watch out. Delicious fruits indeed.

[@barbarasimoes9463]

Angela, first, thank you for putting out so many quality and informational videos. I especially love that you really show the plant that you're talking about. I planted a medlar two seasons ago and am waiting for it to fruit. I've never tasted one, so I'm curious, but I like most things, so I'm not really worried. If nothing else, it's a beautiful little tree in all seasons. My question is whether you've ever just tossed the fruit into the freezer for safe keeping. If so, would you blet them before or after you take them out to thaw? I have a Squeezo, and was thinking about getting some different sized inserts to separate skin and seeds from the fruit. Would they need to be cooked first, or if bletted, would they be soft enough to go through? Do you think that would work? I would love to have the pulp frozen in cup containers so I could bring some out and enjoy in the off-season.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I have not tossed the whole fruit in the freezer. That would be a good experiment!! I blet them, and then I scoop the pulp out, discard the seeds and freeze them in 1-2 cup quantities.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I think if bletted they’d be fine. They’re a bit gritty but should strain well?

[@barbarasimoes9463]

@@ParkrosePermaculture I will let you know when that time comes!

[@karlfrench8538]

Curious where you found the reference for burying the graft union. Most of these are grafted onto pear rootstock (OHxF87) in US. Which generally is planted with the union a few inches above the soil line. Just ordered my first medlar tree for Fall planting.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

When I purchased mine, it came with directions to bury the graft. I also had been told that during a Home Orchard Society lecture. I’ve had zero issues with suckering.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Also my tree is grafted on Provence quince, not pear.

[@karlfrench8538]

@@ParkrosePermaculture Interesting. Any idea why? I thought about quince rootstock since I have a leftover BA-29C from a failed Pineapple quince graft this year. Fruitwood Nursery has a good selection of Medlar scionwood.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

That was the only option at the nursery. My understanding is that quince rootstock is more resilient if you are planting Medlar in Clay wet soil, which is what I have. Hawthorne is supposed to be better if you live in an arid climate.

[@karlfrench8538]

@@ParkrosePermaculture Thanks for that info. Raintree is selling on pear rootstock. I ordered the Royal medlar from them. I may buy Nottingham medlar from the place on the east coast that I got some of my quince from last year. Puciu Mol also looks like an interesting variety. I have clay loam down in here in Paso Robles, but it's hot and dry for most of the year.

[@anniehosking2408]

It's old common country name in England was open arse. I belive it has similar names in many European countries. We are vulgar lot over here.😀

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Hahahaha! Scandalous to our Portland sensibilities! 😂

[@geriannroth449]

Interesting where can I get seeds for these plants?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I'm not sure where you can purchase seeds, but One Green World Nursery carries the plants and they ship

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

I have a Brahma named Brabra! Does your Brabra have a Bret and Jemaine too? Looking forward to your Medlar tasting video, thank you!

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Our other adolescent runner is Barbara. Our female Turkey is Leggy Blonde. My kids get to pick all the names and FotC is hip again, I guess. 😂

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

@@ParkrosePermaculture Awesome! I have a Carol Brown and am reserving the Brit and Jemaine for whichever roos come along that I can't bear to part with, unless I end up changing a couple names 😁 I have a special needs cochin whose favorite show is fotc. She'll watch it all day if I let her, having intense convos and all. This is great! I love that you have some fotc birds as well!

[@NelsonZAPTM]

Ah the Medlar, such a wonderful fruit. Maligned and loved by poets, princesses, and peasants.

[@geriannroth449]

Would it grow in the tropics?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

No, only Hardy to zone 9 or 9b

[@foxgloved8922]

When I saw the preview picture last night I thought they look like giant blueberries! Turns out they aren’t at all closely related, not even the same family. Huh!

[@tleeonly]

I had to put a barrier on my medlar tree, the ants and aphids were attacking it.

[@ichymcgee2315]

I have covid now so all my plans have been shattered. I was going to over winter my peppers, etc and now I just don't have what it takes to get the job done. It's going to get down to 31 degrees tonight.

[@anthonybc]

Hopefully you get well soon!

[@tonyfoster5013]

Acclimate is not a word

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

Um. It is, though.

[@kevinh6008]

Aren't all plants ancient?

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

No. Many of the cultivated fruit crops we grow - especially tree crops - are less than 150 years old. Medlars have been cultivated since the Roman times. A true “fruit of antiquity”