Weird alien fruit

[Cat]

Ok, so while we were eating dinner hubby asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. Ok. Then he tells me we are going back into the woods where the horses ran to the other day. HUH?:huh:

He then starts telling me about this freaky weird-almost neon - green fruit he saw almost he size of grapefruit but it was wrinkly and weird. He even called it "alien fruit". I told him he must have been halucinating due to exhaustion or something the other day. "No, No, its there!"

So I do a google search for "fruit trees in kentucky" and all these different things and come up with nothing. So I agree to go out there. Well he gets turned around about where we are at and I figure that's it, he just lost it. :p

But then we stumbled upon that fruit! Yes its weird. We got back and I hoped on the net again to search, but this time I typed in "Green wrinkly fruit" and I believe I found what it is. Its inedible and its called "osage orange" or something like that. Also called Hedge balls and Horse apples.

Now if I could figure out how to attach a photo from my photo album here on the forum, I will put it here...

[Cat]

Guess this will work...

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=173&pictureid=1448

[carla]

Wow, sounds very strange! I would like to see pics when you can get some up.

[carla]

Well heck, how's that for service? LOL

Eeww! Weird is right! What does it taste like?

edit: Oooh, did you wiki it yet?

Today, the fruit is sometimes used to deter spiders, cockroaches, boxelder bugs, crickets, fleas, and other arthropods. An article posted by the Burke Museum in Washington State claims that this usage, in the case of spiders, has no evidence to support it.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osage-orange

[doc_western]

whoa!! that's some weird fruit!!:D

[Diane of Buck's Hollow]

eewwww! Looks yummy.....NOT

[vicklynn]

Ya, we have them here. I didnt know they were fruit. They get ran over here, thunk thunk, and you never see them in the store. Not sure they are edible, and I wouldnt feed them to the horse.
Vick makes note to ask vet.

[vicklynn]

Or I could just post a link
http://hedgeapple.com/

[WashingtonBay]

Looks like brains... :)

[carla]

Way-cool site, Vick. :)

[HeartofSteel]

Ahhh!! http://bestsmileys.com/scared/3.gif
That is the scariest fruit I have ever seen!

[Cat]

People sell these things?!?! There were several trees of them in the little section of woods.

[zoel_222]

When I went to Florida we used to find those and take them back with us. We'd keep them in our house to keep the bugs away. They only keep the bugs away from like a 12"x12" area but they look cool lol.

[carla]

Yep, so when/where do we place our orders?

[lovesfortune]

Okay, strange. i was JUST at the grocery store today and saw a basket with "hedgeballs" in it!!! I thought they looked strange and was going to check them out, but with my kids, I didn't have the chance. I had never seen them before either.

*off to check out Vick's site*

[Equine_Woman]

I could send you a ton!! My dad says they are good at repelling mosquitos if you rub the juice on your skin and they are poisonous. We have them all over the place around here.

[42many]

Right on!! Brain fruit. We used to have a whole orchard load of those things at the edge of my field near the road before I moved. They are terrible trees - pokey and mean - but the green osage oranges (NOT edible!) are indeed supposed to be good to keep nasty buggers away (like roaches - ew). We used to have people stop by the edge of the road periodically and ask if they could have some (haul them suckers away - as many as you want!). We even considered actually packaging and selling them online since some people seem to make a fair amount from them - too much work though. Also, my husband used the wood sometimes for various projects.

[lovesfortune]

Okay, I think I am going to go back to the store and get a few to try out and see if they work. I hate spiders and our old farmhouse has them.

[gabhainn]

the osage orange is actually the bois d'arc (or as we say in East Texas bowdark), it is poisonous and is a natural bug repellent, other than that the fruit is useless. The wood however is another thing entirely green it is fairly easy to cut but when it is dried it is hard as iron, makes great fence posts, and if you are patient many good wood products. My halfwit err half brother cuts it into thin ,like 1/16th of an inch, laminates it and makes very popular recurve bows for the traditional bowhunters here abouts also makes good arrows if you can find a 30 inch piece that is straight, but like I said you have to work it green once it dries it will take the edge of an axe, knife, or chainsaw in a blink....K

[cloedoll]

Lol, very interesting!!

Have you all ever had dragon fruit? 'Tis good!

http://gothamist.com/attachments/goth_hugh/2007_07_dragonfruit.jpg

I've eaten so many odd fruits because I lived in Hawai'i, ha ha. xD

[Cat]

Never heard of it, but it sure does look pretty. What does it taste like?

[Gret<3sBub]

we have them in il too, they aren't usually used for eating though

[cloedoll]

Never heard of it, but it sure does look pretty. What does it taste like?

They are vury pretty. Not *quite* sure how to explain it, but it's sweet sour and soft all at once...the texture is kind of like a kiwi would be. Really good, though. I miss them!

[rums_mom]

We have them in NC too. Very cool...........I liked the info on the website, I never knew much about them.

[starkitten]

My mom used to keep them in our basement when I was a kid - apparently they are supposed to repel bugs or something :)

I see them in the grocery stores all the time here labeled as hedge balls.

[miatapony]

ok thank you Appylover this is the greatest thing in the world .... brain fruit.... ... YUMMY NOT......why on earth would you want to rub it on your SKIN??????

[TheRedHayflinger]

they are all over the place here....very weird looking things :)

[BlaiseGlaze]

that there is a hedge apple!
ewe
dont eat it.

[3equines]

I remember Petra posting about these last year. Very intriguing. Right up there with the quince on strange things that grow on trees.

[Cat]

Hey - its the alien fruit thread! LOL. Wonder if we still get google hits on this thread?

[WashingtonBay]

Yes, we still get lots of them :)