Medlars

[Mel]

Tried medlars for the first time this week. It's a bit strange eating a fruit after it has started to go rotten but they were delicious, a bit like a boozy fruit cake.

I was lucky enough to be given them by someone who works as a gardener at a large estate but have no idea where to look for them in the wild or even if they grow wild. Does anybody know where they are likey to be?

 

[Keith_Beef]

Tried medlars for the first time this week. It's a bit strange eating a fruit after it has started to go rotten but they were delicious, a bit like a boozy fruit cake.

I was lucky enough to be given them by someone who works as a gardener at a large estate but have no idea where to look for them in the wild or even if they grow wild. Does anybody know where they are likey to be?

You find them on Medlar trees....

I may be wrong, but I've read that you should only pick them after the first frosts have hit them, by which time all the leaves have probably goe. So if you see a leafless tree with some medlars on it (and since you've eaten some, you know what they look like), you know you've found your medlar tree...

The wood from the medlar tree is one of those traditionally used to make the Basque "makila" trail stick.


Keith.

 

[Mel]

Thanks Keith - but I managed to work out for myself that they grow on Medlar trees :-D

I really meant what areas of the country are you likely to find them in? What kind of woddland/hedgerow etc?