As we enter September, trees in the Northern Hemisphere are changing: the leaves are morphing and showing new colors, readying for autumn. And many trees are sharing a glorious late summer bounty of fruit: peaches, plums, apples, pears, and more. This month I asked for posts that celebrate fruiting trees from all over the world.
Later this month, I will travel to the Brushwood Folklore Center for their yearly autumn festival known as Heartsong, where we will pick apples and press cider! Last year, a late frost killed the blossoms on most of the widld apple trees, and the harvest was so slim that our coder pressing had to be augmented with apples purchased from a nearby farm stand. But this year the trees are full of fruit! The header photo for my blog was taken there this past July.
From Australia, the Box Elder blog shares a wonderful journey past several fruiting trees and vines, to see the mirabelle trees full of deep red juicy fruit. What a beautiful name for a beautiful tree and fruit.Are nuts a fruit? Well they are most certainly a food, and for that reason we are grateful for them, as are many woodland creatures who use this nutritious bounty to get them through the winter. From the Beneath the Water blog, we go on a magical journey through the woods to a hazel tree coppice, seeing some stunning images along the way.
The Growing with Science blog tells us all about the lemon tree; where would we be without this nutrient-packed, flavorful fruit? I use it in my cooking at least twice every week, sometimes more. Lemon trees are also lovely to look at, like the song says: "Lemon Tree, very pretty!"
I've never eaten a paw-paw, and I'll bet most of you haven't, either, but after hearing that it tastes like a divine combination of cantaloupe, mango and banana, I am curious! This blog tells us all about this native fruit which is now ripening all over North Carolina, and shoes us some lovely paw-paw trees. Now, doesn't that look simply delicious?
Speaking of exotic native fruits, the persimmon has always fascinated me: dreadfully sour until the perfect moment of ripeness, it is an elusive treat. The blogger at Anybody seen my focus? shows us some local persimmon trees in flower and fruit.
Some trees fruit so heavily, they can become a burden to the very branches that bore them. Via Negativa tells us about the black cherry tree, and a quote from the blogger's mother talks of the many birds that feed on its fruit, and the black bears that will break the trees in order to get at the abundant fruits. I have never been a fan of cherries, but I love seeing the trees in fruit in the summer, and Black Cherry was my favorite Koolaid flavor as a kid!
Speaking of black bears, the blogger at Yips and Yowls tells us of her yearly race to get to the sweet crunchy fruits of her local pear trees before the bears do. Will she be successful?
What about trees that provide food to the soul? This thoughtful post from the Hillstead Blog tells us all about the Tree of Heaven, and its fascinating folklore. And from the Nutcase blog, a view of the ancient bristlecone pines of California's White Mountains; surely these stately, serene trees nurture us with their wisdom and beauty.
Over at Rock Paper Lizard, we visit a Pacific crabapple tree. These curmudgeons of the fruit tree family flower beautifully in spring but then give us small sour fruits. But some people enjoy the jelly made from crabapples (I am about to send some to my friend Wren in Florida so she can make jelly), and the birds eat the plentiful fruits.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this month's 51st edition of Festival of the Trees! Next month, the festival will be hosted at Kind of Curious. The theme is open, and submissions may be sent to John at kindofcurious2000 [at] gmail [dot] com. The deadline is September 28th.
