October 14, 2010
“Tail end of a ragtag summer, Horse Apple Time"-- from 1997 poem "Horse Apples" by Nancy Fitz-Gerald Viens
When a young friend told me about her latest decorating passion, placing live Hedgeapples in glass vases around her house, I laughed out loud.
"Really," I asked her, "Are we talking about the same Hedgeapple--those bowling ball-size bright green, bumpy, smelly things that fall off hedge trees in the fall? You're bringing them inside?"
"Yes," she said, " I love them, and they are chic now, the hottest trend in home décor. My friend added that on a Martha Stewart episode Martha explained how she uses them in their natural state, not dried. They last about two months before turning black, my friend added.
Now, that part I agree with, after two months they turn black and rot outside, too.
"Hedgeapples? I asked again. "My great-aunt used to call them Green Brains, and as I recall they smell like a rotten orange."
"Oh, no," my friend argued, "They smell like the nice citrus smell of orange rind."
Indeed, maybe we are talking about two different things after all, but here is what I do know about Hedgeballs, although I admit, I am no Martha Stewart.
· When my grandmother was young probably in the late 1890s, Osage Orange trees, or hedge trees, were planted in rows in rural areas by the hundreds. Thus, the term--hedge rows.
· They were planted close together so, as the saying goes they were "horse high", no horse could jump over them; "bull strong", strong enough a bull would not push through them; and "hog tight", woven tightly so a hog couldn't wriggle through.
· Wood from these trees was used for fence posts, but long before that, the Osage Indians of the Great Plains used the strong but bendable branches to make bows. Some people still refer to hedge trees as "bow trees" as a result.
· Squirrels are known to chew the Hedgeballs wide open and carefully separate the seeds, the only part of the Hedgeapple squirrels will eat.
· Cattle sometimes choke on Hedgeapples if they don't chew them well, and the big, thick skin of the fruit gets stuck in their esophagus. Mostly, animals leave them alone.
· If you want to do what the squirrel does and pick out the seeds, go for it. Incidentally, Hedgeapples are not poisonous but the fruit is not what one would call edible by humans.
· I remember as a child trying to cut those green rough balls in two wondering what was inside. I found a white, milky, sticky substance and remember being surprised that was all there was.
· Sometimes, we kids referred to them as "bumpkins" because they were as big as some pumpkins and rough and potholed with bumps.
· If you want to grow your own hedge trees, you won't find them in nurseries, or I have never seen them there. Remove the seeds like the squirrels do by clawing them out or put the green Hedgeapples into water and soak for days or weeks until they are mushy. Easier to remove the seeds that way I am told, but who has time.
· One last pertinent comment to add: I believe the old wives' tale might be true that Hedgeapples do in fact keep spiders and insects away. But certainly the idea is to place them around the foundation on the outside of the house, not inside.
I think this is about the end of my Martha Stewart impression.
And come to think of it, I don't care if the live Hedgeapples are in the window of Pottery Barn; I am not bringing them in the house.
(Note: If you have Hedgeapple stories, I'd love to hear them.)
