A Specialty Gin (and a New Orchard!) with a Fruit That's Making a Comeback

Jane Steward, author of 'Medlars – Growing & Cooking,' talks about how to grow medlar, how to cook medlar — and shares some fascinating medlar history.

Show Notes

How to Grow and Cook Medlar

Jane Steward, author of Medlars – Growing & Cooking, talks about how to grow medlar, how to cook medlar, and shares some fascinating medlar facts. (Find out how medlar wood was used in Dutch windmills!)

Steward planted a medlar orchard, holds the UK National Collection of medlars, and runs Eastgate Larder—a food business where she processes medlar.

We talk about:

• How to grow medlar (Mespilus germanica)
• How to cook medlar
• Steward’s journey into planting a medlar orchard and starting a food-processing business 
• How to “blet” medlar 
• Medlar rootstock
• Medlar fruit in Turkey and around the Caspian Sea
• (Spoiler alert: we also hear about medlar gin and a delicious medlar chutney)

“If you want to have medlars in your life you really need to have a tree!”

---

• Join the 5,000+ gardeners in The Food Garden Gang who stay on top of home food-growing ideas with our weekly e-mail. We’re making the world a better place one garden at a time!
• Grab the free e-book: Small-Space Food-Gardening Hacks.
• Find out more about the Canada Gardener’s Journal: It’s a gardening journal, gardening log, and garden planner—with an all-Canadian sources list.

What is Food Garden Life Show: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping?

Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden.

We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.

There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation.

Host Steven Biggs was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in Canadian horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. He's a horticulturist, award-winning broadcaster and author, and former horticulture instructor with George Brown and Durham Colleges in Ontario, Canada.

Get started with one of our fan favourites. Season 6, Episode 10: Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden.