North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[John S <swim_at_svc@yahoo.com>]

Kurt, 

Around here, the kousa's are considered just a decorative dogwood.  I had to mail order my Big Apple.  So far, I am not overly impressed by the size of the fruit.  It's only slightly bigger than the other more common kousa's at the local nurseries.

I do not consider the pith inside the fruit as the edible portion, for me, there is a clear jell coating around the hard seeds contained in the pith that has an excellent flavor, but very little to consume.  If there was a way of increasing that portion of the fruit, or extracting it or its flavor, then I think we would have something. I am hoping that with time the fruit size of my 5' tree will increase and after hearing about yours, I' also hoping that the pith will improve.  I guess I should ask if you are sure that flavor is coming from the pith or the seed coating in the pith?

John



--- On Wed, 9/3/08, Kurt Brubaker <kbrubaker@nc.rr.com> wrote:

From: Kurt Brubaker <kbrubaker@nc.rr.com>
Subject: [NAFEX] cornus kousa
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 7:20 PM

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)

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