The Medlar Tree
The first tree to come into leaf in the Green’s Community Orchard is the Medlar. There are two Medlars in the orchard and they start to green-up in March and are well covered by early April.
Medlars are a hardy tree probably brought to the UK by the Romans from Iran or south west Asia where it has been cultivated for over 3000 years. It was widely grown in medieval times because it provided fruit into the winter months. In modern times it lost much of its popularity as other fruits became available and now is little grown other than for its appearance.
The fruit is very sour and almost inedible until it has gone soft after being caught by frost or picked and left to mature naturally. When it gets to the edible stage it doesn’t look very attractive, but if tasted it resembles the constituency and flavour of apple sauce.
The Medlars in the orchard are an old cultivated variety called Nottingham which has an attractive white, cupped shaped flower in spring and produces great flavoured fruit.
Medlars are a hardy tree probably brought to the UK by the Romans from Iran or south west Asia where it has been cultivated for over 3000 years. It was widely grown in medieval times because it provided fruit into the winter months. In modern times it lost much of its popularity as other fruits became available and now is little grown other than for its appearance.
The fruit is very sour and almost inedible until it has gone soft after being caught by frost or picked and left to mature naturally. When it gets to the edible stage it doesn’t look very attractive, but if tasted it resembles the constituency and flavour of apple sauce.
The Medlars in the orchard are an old cultivated variety called Nottingham which has an attractive white, cupped shaped flower in spring and produces great flavoured fruit.