North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Hans Brinkmann <hans-brinkmann@t-online.de>]

Hallo Donna,
only a very few people will like medlars  for their taste only, but many 
people will like medlars also for their
history (at Babylon it was traded already), ornamental character because 
of the very large and attractive
flowers..., interesting fruits (Hunds-ärschle = Dog's-backside), and  
late dropping of the fruits.
Regular at winter times, up to the variety.
People say (in Europe) some medlars have a better taste, when grafted 
onto pear instead of Crataegus.
But they live longer onto Crataegus. In Central Europe we have approx. 
15 varieties.
Anyhow, medlars are - even in Europe - not very known and planted 
usually only from collectors.
ciao
hans Germany

dwoodard@becon.org schrieb:
> Medlars when properly bletted are *delicious*. The flesh goes soft and 
> brown, turning to something like a spicy super-applesauce.
>
> The classical method is to put them in trays on straw, not touching if I 
> recall rightly, in an unheated (English) building. I only did it once, by 
> accident. I had put some seedling medlars in the freezer compartment of a 
> very feeble refrigerator, hoping to plant the seeds (never did get around 
> to that). A few months later (February? it was 28 or 29 years ago) they 
> were exquisite. If the fruit of seedling trees (planted as ornamentals
> at Vineland station) were that good, the fruit of selected cultivars
> might be something pretty special.
>
> I surmise that keeping them just above freezing might be best. It might be 
> good to experiment with different cool temperatures.
>
> I have not read anything about when they should be picked. Again, I would 
> be inclined to try several picking dates and try a batch picked as late as 
> possible. My guess is that that might have been the method of medieval 
> and Renaissance times when medlars were popular.
>
> I have a notion that they were a treat for the rural well-to-do 
> (including maybe senior monks and nuns) involving 
> a fair amount of labour and storage space to get just right.
>
> A Greek immigrant barber I talked to about 25 years ago (in his forties
> at the time I think) told me that they were grown in Greece when he
> was young. I'm not sure, but I think he may have said that they were
> picked late and were soon ready to eat there. I may be congfusing what he 
> told me about medlars with what he told me about quinces though.
>
> Doug Woodard
> St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
>
>
>
> On Fri, 12 Jan 2007, Donna &/or Kieran wrote:
>
>   
> > Hmmm... I'd just as soon skip the medlars, though it's true they
> >     
> seem to do fine here.  I've just never figured out what they are
> good for.
>
>      Donna
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