North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

If you had some sort of name or identification for the medlars, they might be in the National Clonal Germplasm Repository collection at Corvallis, OR.  Last I knew, they had collected about every known medlar in the world.  I've tried a number of them, though I have to say that the old "Nottingham" still seems to be the one I prefer.
I have some quinces that could qualify as ones your Greek acquaintance spoke about.  They have very tender flesh, and in a couple of extra-long summers they have ripened to the point where they were about like eating a somewhat tart apple.  
-Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com  Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003. 
For even more grape lessons, go to  http://www.grapeschool.com
For all other things grape,   http://www.vitisearch.com

On Nov 4, 2007, at 9:24 PM, Douglas Woodard wrote:

About 25 years ago an immigrant from Greece ( a barber in Kingston, 
Ontario) told me that in Greece there were medlars and quinces that 
ripened enough for fresh eating, due to the long growing season.

About 28 years ago when I was living in eastern Ontario I got some 
fruits of ornamental medlars for seed from the late Dr. Fleming of the 
Vineland station in the Niagara peninsula (he told me that the seedling 
line came originally form the Royal Horticultural Society in Britain). I 
put them in the freezer compartment of a rather weak old refrigerator I 
had where they were maintained just above freezing. Along about February 
I checked them and some (not all) were delicious with a spicy 
super-apple-sauce like flavour and texture. I deduce that lower 
temperature bletting is good, at least for some strains of medlar.

Unfortunately I was never able to plant the seed.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario


Lon J. Rombough wrote:
> Had a surprise today. I went to check my medlars and found that a fair 
> number had already bletted on one of the tree medlar trees I have. They 
> are all the same variety, "Nottingham". That was the first time that has 
> happened here. Usually the fruits drop before they blet. Another aspect 
> of the different weather, apparently. There weren't any marks or 
> indications of injury that might have sped up the process, either. The 
> flavor seemed more intense than the usual ones, bletted off the tree. If 
> there was a way to breed for "tree ripened" medlars, it could be useful. 
> No storing or bletting needed, just process the picked fruit into pulp 
> immediately.
> -Lon Rombough
> Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, *The Grape Grower, *at 
> http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association 
> "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
> For even more grape lessons, go to http://www.grapeschool.com
> For all other things grape, http://www.vitisearch.com
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