Late Autumn Fruits Around the Farm
Here in Bedford, New York we're still enjoying the beautiful fall foliage despite some unseasonably mild weather. Following some overnight rain, today we're expecting temperatures in the mid- to high-60s Fahrenheit.
It's amazing how quickly plants and trees grow and change day to day. Starting in September, many of the trees in this area begin their autumn transformations - changing colors from bold green to various shades of red, yellow, and brown. Now in November, we see more bare branches, and in some cases, the late season fruits. Here at my farm, we see quince, persimmons, the berries on the Sargent crabapples, and those of the Cornus kousa, etc. While we've already picked and enjoyed the many apples, pears, and other autumn treats, these fruits continue to provide wildlife with sugar, protein, fat, and other crucial nutrients to sustain them through the season.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Just a couple of weeks ago, most of the trees around my farm were filled with gorgeous fall color. Foliage season here begins in late September and extends through early November. It’s one of the most beautiful times of year.
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- But it doesn’t last long. Now, more of the trees are bare. The term deciduous means “falling off at maturity” and “tending to fall off”, which refers to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed their leaves. These are two of the four Sargent crabapple trees outside my Tenant House and studio.
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- Looking closely, one can see the Sargent crabapple berries. The Sargent crabapple, Malus sargentii, is a dwarf fragrant, showy shrub with bright red berries. While these fruits are edible, they are also quite tart and are generally not consumed raw.
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- This is also a crabapple with fruits still hanging off its branches. While related to regular apples, crabapples are smaller in comparison and much more tart than regular apples.
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- Behind the main greenhouse, I have a grove of pawpaw trees. Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada.
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- The taste of a pawpaw is a mix of mango-banana-citrus all in one. It’s a big favorite for some here at the farm. We all enjoyed a nice bounty of these fruits a few weeks ago.
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- Near the pawpaw trees are two trifoliate orange trees, Citrus trifoliata or Poncirus trifoliata – a member of the family Rutaceae. Also known as the “hardy orange” or “flying dragon,” it is the most cold hardy of all citrus. It is a large, deciduous shrub that produces an unusually sour, downy fruit considered to be nearly inedible when raw, but medicinally beneficial and delicious when cooked. The fruit is commonly juiced, made into marmalades, jams, jellies, or candied. Trifoliate oranges are slightly smaller than conventional oranges and taste like a blend of lemon and grapefruit.
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- But watch out when picking – the thorns are long, thick, and very sharp.
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- Are you familiar with quince? Quince is a fall fruit that grows like apples and pears, but with an unusually irregular shape and often gray fuzz. These fruits turn a golden yellow when ready to pick in fall. The quince trees are all bare, but a few fruits remain.
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- These are also quince – ornamental quince, which are less known for their flavor.
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- The bright fruits of persimmons ripen in late fall, usually, after most of the leaves have fallen from the tree. I have a grove of these persimmon trees outside my flower cutting garden. The American persimmon, when picked at just the right time, can have a flavor that is rich, deep, and sweet.
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- Do you recognize these berries? They are the fruits of the American bittersweet weed, Celustus scandens L. On the branches are colorful berries and arils sometimes used in dry fall flower arrangements and winter decorations.
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- All parts of bittersweet are poisonous, but songbirds, ruffed grouse, pheasant, and fox squirrel eat the fruits.
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- Outside my Winter House kitchen is this beautiful Nyssa sylvatica, blackgum, or black tupelo. Its summer leaves are a dark green, but in the fall its foliage turns yellow, orange, bright red, purple or scarlet – all colors that may appear on the same branch.
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- In late September, small, striking, blue-black berries appear on the tree. These are technically edible but quite sour – the birds love them.
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- Along the carriage road near my back hayfield, I have several Cornus kousa trees – small deciduous trees in the flowering plant family Cornaceae. Common names include kousa, kousa dogwood, Chinese dogwood, Korean dogwood, and Japanese dogwood. The kousa has edible berries with soft pulp that is sweet with a similar flavor to a ripe persimmon.
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- Kousa trees also grow in Nepal, where several of my outdoor grounds crew are from – they always love snacking on the fruits of these dogwood trees.
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- I have beautiful healthy Osage orange trees along three sides of my North Maple Paddock surrounding the run-in field and shed, not far from my tennis court. These trees are bold green in summer and change to bright golden yellow in fall.
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- And although the trees did not fruit this year – some trees fruit every other year – these are Osage oranges. Have you ever heard of an Osage orange? The Osage orange, Maclura pomifera, is actually not an orange at all, and is more commonly known as a hedge-apple, horse-apple, or mock-orange. Each one is about four to five inches in diameter and filled with a dense cluster of hundreds of smaller fruits – some say it even resembles the many lobes of a brain. For the most part, the Osage orange is considered inedible because of its texture and taste, but they’re very interesting and fun to grow.
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- And beware… Osage orange branches are armed with stout, straight spines growing from the leaf axils.
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- And then there are the fruits of the mighty female ginkgo tree. The most noticeable thing about these is their smell. Have you ever smelled one? It is hard to miss, and the stench is quite disagreeable. The outer, nasty smelling pulp is known botanically as sarcotesta. Here is one seed separated from its fruit.
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- And of course, we still have a few late season apples on the trees. This one is hanging from my apple espalier outside my Winter House. What fruits do you still see where you live? I hope you can take some time to appreciate some of nature’s offerings, even if some of them are not for eating.
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