Today’s arrival is a new addition to the new orchard, that is to say a Nottingham Medlar or Dog’s Arse, or Open Arse fruit tree. These were apparently popular with both the Greeks and Romans and again in Victorian times and what follows may disgust you and explain why they are now rather rare.
The fruit is pretty ugly, looking like an apple that has gone wrong and it gets worse. After you pick the fruit in October, they must be “bletted” (left to rot a bit until they are soft). If you try to eat them when they are hard, they taste bitter. But after bletting, they are, apparently, like apple mixed with pear and great for sauces, jellies or jams, something I had good fun with last year.
It is a bit of an experiment. The trees are not common these days and I am all in favour of diversity so let’s see what happens.
