It is not a common fruit within the United States. There are several grafted trees of it offered by nurseries. At one time I decided to plant as many as I could find. I grew eight varieties of the medlar which was all I could find. The trees were usually on hawthorn rootstock. Even if you decide to produce the medlar fruit, you wonder what to do with it. The grafted varieties were not what I was searching for. Maybe I was doing something wrong. I don’t know. The flavor was bland to me with too much astrigency and tartness to eat off the tree. The medlar looks a little like a brown russet potato crabapple dropped from great heights directly on a hot sidewalk and then stepped on. There it simmers looking quite saucy. That’s the medlar on its best day.
When I began the growing medlars at my farm in bulk, I did it from seed from a tree not far from my home at that time. It was from a nursery that specialized in fruits for birds. The medlar has the ability to retain its quality fruit on the tree for a long period of time in the fall. This is an ideal situation for birds. The armored seeds are also consumed by squirrels and white footed mice. I had no idea what to expect.
I wanted to try it because I had heard it had a large following in the middle Eastern Countries as well as Russian, Latvia, Romania, Germany and the Netherlands. I had never eaten the fruit. Finally I figured it out. Both the variety and the timing of harvest ensures a great medlar experience. Today the Walters strain medlar and the Beacon variety that came from it is by far the best in flavor and yield. But I live in Michigan and it is likely that varies depending on where you live. Here the fruit ripening coincides with cold weather. Its perfectly adapted here. This is critical overwise it has a dry bland texture similar to freeze dried corn flakes. It is not pleasant this way.
The medlar fruit should have a thick apple sauce like consistency with a pear flavor. It usually is tart with a bit of astringency. Sugar and cooking takes this out. The fruits hang on the tree for a month or more after ripening. This brings out the best flavors. They do not require spray and it is easily cultivated without the fear of frost nailing the blossoms. Usually my plantings are biennial bearing but there is always some fruit. They blossom around apple time or later. I still maintain my grafted varieties but do not harvest them anymore. The seeds within them are blanks usually. All of the Russian seedlings I grew perished in the great heat wave of the early 2000’s where fireblight took them out quickly. It is most adapted to the northern locations than southern zones but likely can handle down to Zone 8. Some of these varietal selections with the large fruit are better in southern locations. Fruits can be shaken from the tree onto a tarp very easily. Blet is one of the few words meant just for medlar because it needs to break down to ripen fully. The pulp is smooth and easily processed into syrup, sauce and spreads mixing with apple quite easily. The fruits are high in antioxidants and phenolic compounds which help the gastrointestinal tract. The tree itself is actually a colonizer and can spread by underground stolons. It takes roughly 30 years before this characteristic becomes evident and slowly makes it outward from the central trunk. These sprouts can be used as new trees or you can limb them upwards and carefully select the sprouts to become part of a larger planting the same way pawpaw grows.
A LIMITED AMOUNT OF SEEDS ARE AVAILABLE PER 1000 AMOUNT
Tree crops use the farmerless field philosophy to create and enhance all food crops used today. All plants are used to bring health to the human family. Its the only way to enhance the environment we live in today.
