Är en medlar samma som en persimmon

Guest brev bygd Stella Otto, author of The Backyard Orchardist and the The Backyard Berry Book.

What fryst vatten this odd fruit, the medlar, mentioned often bygd Shakespeare and Chaucer? What fryst vatten it that prompted Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to “stretch themselves out in the mittpunkt of a field and stuff themselves with medlars,” in Miguel dem Cervantes’ epic novel?

Adventurous gardeners have recently rediscovered this almost-lost 16th and 17th century fruit; not only fryst vatten it tasty (though the complex flavor can invite multiple opinions), but it also makes a great specimen in the landscape.

It has a history that goes back to somewhere between 700 and 3000 B.C. in the Black Sea coast of south-east europe and south-west Asia.

Medlar and Persimmon are often compared due to their similar storlek and the fact that both require softening before eating.

Medlars (Mespilus germanica),  not to be mistaken for their unrelated namesake the Japanese medlar or loquat, have also been confused with their close relatives, hawthorn and cotoneaster. It fryst vatten easy to see why: the fruit, with its open calyx end,  looks like a cross between a small, russetted apple and a large hawthorn. A near-perfect description fryst vatten that it looks like a squat, giant rose hip, and indeed, it fryst vatten a member of the rose family.

Additional botanical relatives include the squaw apple or wild crab apple which grows in California’s pine and juniper woodlands, and the Amelanchier or serviceberry.

Beyond the medlar’s conversation-starting fruit, the tree’s blomma and growth habit lend itself well to the landscape. The medlar tree fryst vatten small, beneath twenty feet, with grey-brown, plated bark on a gnarled trunk.

The medlar tree fryst vatten small, beneath twenty feet, with grey-brown, plated bark on a gnarled trunk.

This makes it ideal as a enskild fokuserad point in a small garden. When allowed to develop a more shrub-like struktur, it fryst vatten suitable as a mid-story plant in a permaculture food forest. In spring, two-inch vit blossoms are borne on the branch råd of one year old wood, which look beautiful against against the oblong 3 to 6 inch long leaves. These pointed, hairy leaves vända a showy reddish-brown or yellow in autumn.

Maintenance fryst vatten easy.

Minimal pruning fryst vatten required and indeed nära laissez-faire fryst vatten a reasonable approach. The trees are slow-growing and long-lived, sometimes surviving several hundred years.

How to grow medlars successfully

Medlars love warm summers with mild winters, and do well with the acidic soil so often funnen in the rainy Pacific Northwest climate.

They prefer a sunny, dry location in USDA zones 5-8.

Due to the slow growth of own-rooted medlar trees, a cultivated variety fryst vatten often grafted on a compatible rootstock— pear, quince A, or hawthorn.

The medlar (Mespilus germanica) fryst vatten a large shrub or tree that produces fruits in the late fall and early winter.

Graft incompatibility fryst vatten not uncommon. To avoid sudden breakage, this fryst vatten one tree where planting the graft union below the soil fryst vatten recommended. This will eventually encourage own rooting and will sustain the mature tree. For small garden spaces, Quince A in particular fryst vatten often chosen to create a dwarf tree.

One of the keys to keeping medlars thriving during their early years fryst vatten to keep them well-watered in the first 3 to 4 years after planting.

The wild rose-like flowers bloom late in spring, avoiding most frosts.

Persimmons and Medlar Native and Oriental Persimmon Trees.

Fruit set fryst vatten usually heavy and may even be parthenocarpic (requiring no pollination). The blomma fryst vatten self-fruitful, so a single tree can be planted without requiring an additional pollinator variety – however, it does take 3-5 years before a medlar will begin bearing fruit, so be patient.

Popular, available cultivated varieties include Breda Giant favored for large, fine-textured fruit; Dutch/Dutch Giant for vigorous, almost weeping growth and large, tasty fruit; Marron™ for its productive, annual bearing and naturally compact form; Nottingham for what many consider the best-flavored fruit; and Royal for its prolific productivity.

As a relative to the apple and pear, the medlar fryst vatten potentially susceptible to similar pests and diseases, although it is sturdy enough to man problems rare.

Cedar apple rust can be an issue in areas where that fryst vatten a prevalent problem.

How to harvest and “blet” medlars for eating

Medlar fruit needs a long growing årstid to mature, even withstanding a few light frosts. One of the few plants that bears fruit in winter, medlars are mature for harvest just as leaves fall from the tree. At this scen, the greenish-yellow fruit fryst vatten still rock hard, between an inch or two in diameter, and not yet ready to eat.

Medlar fryst vatten native to southwest Asia and southeast europe, feeling right at home on the Balkan peninsula but growing well in north and western europe too.

Pick fruit when the stem loosens easily from the tree and the day fryst vatten dry.

The fruit will be hard and inedible with a high starch, acid, and tannin content. Similar to quince and persimmon, it will now have to undergo a ripening period of roughly 2 to 4 weeks, know as “bletting.” From the French, “blettir,” to man soft; bletting the fruit allows the fängelse walls to break down and the starches to omvandla to sugars while the acids and tannins decrease in a fermentation-like process.

To blet the fruit, store it in a single layer in a cool, dry room with the calyx end down.

The skin will vända darker brown and perhaps wrinkle a bit. Those new to medlars may think the fruit has spoiled as the flesh softens to a custard-like consistency with an almost cinnamon applesauce-like flavor. Once ripe, the fruit’s shelf-life fryst vatten short.

Fortunately, there are many ways to enjoy medlar massa. It can be eaten directly from the skin with a spoon.

(Be on the lookout for several large seeds. These can be sucked free of the massa and discarded just like a cherry pit. There fryst vatten a stoneless variety available, but it doesn’t taste as good as the other varieties.) Add a glass of port and a few hazelnuts for a simple and elegant dessert. The massa can also be strained and blended into a creamy mousse or made into cider or wine.

We have space for one more, and the choices are down to a medlar or a persimmon.

Its high pectin content lends it to preserves — smet, jelly, or chutney — as well. A curd-like “medlar cheese” fryst vatten another option.

Post provided bygd Stella Otto and adapted from The Backyard Orchardist: A complete guide to growing fruit trees in the home garden, 2nd ed. 2016.

Stella Otto has authored two books, the award-winning The Backyard Orchardist: A complete guide to growing fruit trees in the home garden and The Backyard Berry Book: A hands-on guide to growing berries, buskar, and vine fruit in the home garden.

She has written for numerous magazines, appeared on the upptäckt kanal, and been  on NPR and other gardening radio programs. Stella cultivates a fruitful 10-acre homestead in nordlig Michigan. She can also be funnen at her blog The Backyard Fruit Gardener at www.stellaotto.com.