The other difficulty, aside from getting the vines established, is danger
from frost. The hardy kiwi begins growing and flowering early and thus is
susceptible to spring frost. If the flowers are killed, then, of course,
there won't be a harvest. Also, the trunks of young plants can be injured
by frost and so it is recommended that trunks should be covered by laying
the plants on the ground and covering them with leaves or wrapping the
trunks with newspapers.
That said, I am not an attentive gardener; for the most part, after the
initial planting is done, I mostly come around for the harvesting and a
little bit of pruning. Despite my negligence, my hardy kiwis are
thriving, so perhaps they're not too hard to grow. I bought my vines from
Raintree nursery but they can also be purchased from
GoodKarmaCo.com and I
found seeds on Ebay.com.
Medlar – Mespilus germanica
And now, a fruit tree.
Apparently, the medlar used to be fairly popular in Europe and very old trees can be found in abandoned orchards
and homesteads. Medlar is native to the eastern parts of the Mediterranean
and Turkey.
The Medlar is closely
related to pear, quinces, and apples and is part of the rose family. It
grows very slowly to a height of 10 to 20 feet tall and is long lived.
The large leaves are oval-shaped and the flowers bloom in late spring,
large white flowers that look like a pink tinged rose.
The fruit is a couple inches in diameter and ripens from green to dark
orange to reddish brown in late autumn. First harvest doesn't usually occur
until the third or fourth year. It is best to leave them on the trees
until they drop or after the first frost and when they can be easily
harvested; if picked too soon, they have a high amount of tannin and are
inedible. These fruits can be used in wine making and made into jelly
(they have a large amount of pectin). Most connoisseurs blet them - store
them, stem down, in a cool, dark place on top of some absorbent material
for a few weeks until they over-ripen and turn into an edible mush. The
pulp from bletting is similar in taste to apple butter. One benefit of
this fruit is that it is harvested later than most fruits and, because of
the time spent bletting, it is one of the few sources of a “natural” fresh
fruit during the winter.
The only drawback for the gardener is that these trees grow slowly.
Other than that, they are easier than to grow than most trees. The planting
site should be in a sunny position that is sheltered from the wind. Medlars can tolerate most types of soil as long as it is well drained.
The trees have few maintenance requirements: minimal watering, an
application of manure or fertilizer in the spring, and pruning for dead,
diseased, or overcrowded branches. They are hardy through zones 5-9 and
are self-fertile.
As far as I can tell, the only source for medlars in the U.S.
is from Raintree nursery.
Homesteaders are an individualistic bunch with a rebellious
streak – as such, I believe some of you will try these unique edibles just
because of they're different. Enjoy the gardening adventure!
