North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kurt Brubaker" <kbrubaker@nc.rr.com>]

Hello,

 

Does anyone grow the "big apple" variety of cornus kousa?  I am looking for suggestions on ways to use/process the fruit.

 

We put in a couple of trees in the spring of 2005 and this year they gave us a modest sampling crop (~100 fruits).  The fruits are about one and a half inches in diameter with a very tough (and somewhat bitter) exterior and soft sweet pulp.  The texture of the pulp is fairly dry and has a fair amount of grit, but is sweet enough that I am hopeful it could be processed in some way into a more tasty product.

 

The trees like they will be easily maintained at around 7-8 feet in height.  I have them at a 4 foot spacing and are filling in as a nice hedge along the deck.  They have beautiful white flowers in the late spring which last for several weeks.

 

If I can't find a good use other than fresh eating (we are currently splitting the fruit in half and scooping out the fruit with a small spoon), I will probably move them to a more marginal spot to make room for a more useful plant.

 

Thank you,

Kurt Brubaker

Durham, NC (zone 7-8)