Another reasoning for mentioning some of these other species?
Many of these species lack a lot of usages.
Gleditsia triacanthos, has a similar quality to Kentucky Coffee Tree, in that its pods can be ground up as a Coffee substitute or made into a flour.
But, it also produces an edible gel or goo.
There's Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis, which I've read has been considered a subspecies or a full on
species in its own right.
There are populations and stands of these, which are found in different areas than the typical type.
Their pods, reportedly don't always have as much edible pulp / lack better flavors.
Thorns and things, likely kept things other than ground sloths from eating the pods - smaller things probably didn't disperse the seeds efficiently.
I don't know if smaller animals began dispersing seeds or if some mutant without thorns popped up and somehow became more widespread and lacked tastier pods just somehow managed to pop up or what.
Either way, those seem to exist.
There's a variety or selection called "Big Fatty."
It's thornless and produces pods annually - most types are biannual. And it's highly productive.
There's also a bunch of other improved types out there.
There isn't much gel / goo.
Decaisnea fargesii, is of interest to me for the same reasons.
There are wild types or other selections from Nepal or wherever. Far Reaches Farm, was selling their own selection from a higher mountain area, with much larger fruit than usual.
Akebia and some other species also have similar sorts of gel / goo. Boquila trifoliolata is very interesting and it's another relative of theirs.
The goo of Gleditsia triacanthos, can be dried. Mixing it with Decaisnea fargesii goo, could make for a dried pulp, with interesting usages.
I've been seeing old traditional usages of certain species, which stopped being used in those ways after Europeans came over.
It's not just Europeans. Genghis Khan, took over areas and forced new territories to use crops from his own lands, and to stop growing what they used to - even if the new crops don't grow well there.
You can find mention of "Pickling Plume Lettuce", which is like Celtuce is, to Salad Lettuce or heading Lettuce. The type also almost went extinct. The stems are pickled and used like Asparagus.
Some types of Squash, were cut and dried outside - and used as food in the winter.
It's occurred to me, that Europeans don't have the greatest cropping systems or other systems to ever exist.
Mayans had cities, which used excess
water overflow from cities, flowing into areas where crops were grown - and other systems.
There's also a known Chia seed drink, which is used for to give a
boost of
energy. Honey Locust goo has also been used in drinks for similar purposes.
It's less known, that Chia was also used alongside wild grains and oats - and made into things akin to granola bars.
They'd carry these around in bags of sorts - maybe even inside of gourds.
I don't know of a ton of grain snacks which use Chia.
Its usage in these bars made sense. They bind to grains and other things.
There's also dried Squash chunks, as mentioned. And dried Honey Locust goo can be used in that same way.
Dried Squash and dried goo. There's canned squash, pureed squash, fresh eating squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkin squash.
Dried squash. Isn't really a known thing. Or it's unpopular.
Now, where I'm going with this.
It's probably possible, to make a bar that's full of dried squash bits, dried bits of honey locust innards - plus other things.
Most people will stare at those things by themselves as some form of military food.
Sugary / Acorn squash derived dried squash chunks may impart some flavors.
There's also a other thing. Coffee just won't really grow anywhere in the United States.
Using the basis that it won't grow here - its also not all too healthy.
Honey Locust seeds can be used as a Coffee substitute. They also lack some if the things that make Coffee efficient.
I believe, that using the pods ground up into such a substitute along with the gel / goo inside of a grain bar or mixed in with a cereal box or something, would be wonderful.
I have relatives who are truck drivers. They known other truck drivers.
Most of them pop in 5 hour energy drinks, drink coffee before leaving, every day they work.
They usually don't stop for coffee, because most people dislike carrying
urine bottles around with them.
Carrying liquids on the go, or around computers and things is also inconvenient.
Making a flour or something out of Kentucky Coffee Tree beans, could be used to make chips. Homemade chips - not the industrial slow death things.
There's Zucchini bread and banana bread.
Banana bread has some flavor to it.
I've been thinking about making chips, using Melothria scabra - The Mexican Sour Gherkin.
Mixing in other types of things - maybe even cornmeal to help make a chip, could help.
Looking into old or ancient chips, these had grains mixed into them. Chips themselves aren't new.
There are native grains in North America.
I personally detest the taste that Coffee has. I don't know if Kentucky Coffee Tree tastes similar.
A sour, healthier chip, that tastes good.
Many people try making these and create bland things that lack anything unhealthy to any extent.
It's also possible to make chips, which lack some bad preservatives. It's just not done. It's not that it isn't possible.
I see potential for fruit or vegetable infused flour used for chips. Some flavors vanish when cooked - but juicing and intermixing would allow for flavors to be retained.
When flour and things are prepared in certain ways, you can mix in other ingredients without a real risk of mold or any loss of flavor. The chips may not look like standard ones.
This is akin to imbuing some skins or goo / flesh and things into each other.
This could be done with the granola bar idea as well.
I'm half basing those, on older practices in parts of Europe and Asia, which are largely lost.
Now, I just wanted to mention my general ideas and reasons for wanting to start this project.
People are breeding crops or trying to bring back old ones. Most people fall flat on what to do with their crops.
Jerusalem artichokes, or sunchokes. They failed, largely because of poor marketing and a lack of many usages, plus their fuel alternative possibilities weren't as widespread of a concept.
If I'm breeding things, I need to find multiple purposes for crops.
If I'm breeding multiple things, I can think about the possibilities of using the end products together.
Some things may compliment each other.
Different grain bars could be for different parts of the year, so that people aren't eating too much of one energy booster.
Now, Medlar.
One of my favorite preserves, is blended up apples, mixed with cinnamon along with fruit chunks inside of it.
Applesauce. It's also healthy.
Babies love it.
I've never eaten a persimmon. The same goes for Pawpaws. I'm from Pennsylvania originally.
I just never saw them often in my area for sale or anything.
Medlar, isn't even a fruit that most people have even heard of in many parts of the United States.
I've heard, that it has a consistency of
apple sauce when bletted.
And similar flavors, they are relatives.
The fruits are also available when many other things, aren't.
So, I'd want to see if I can't create a Medlar cross with Mayhaws, Crataegus mexicana plus Chinese species used in the same ways, to make something more efficient. Disease resistant wise.
Apples, pears and things are carrier's of fire blight and other diseases. They just have a tendency to die off more quickly than Crabapples, Hawthorns and some lesser used species.
Landraces also tend to fair better, but
Apple landraces are a bit rare.
Medlar isn't widely cultivated and things probably haven't adapted to infect it.
Obviously, an anthocyanin quality to it, would be amazing.
It's probably possible to make one that's usable fresh.
Or available during different seasons.
Some crosses would require storing pollen.
Different flowering times, can give you hybrids which won't flower at the same time as other plants.
Medlar doesn't require chill, to blett. I've heard that it does. It just needs to rot - or turn mushy.
Mayhaws and Crataegus mexicana are also bletted to my understanding, as are Persimmoms.
So, that's cool.
Plus I mentioned other relatives which can be or need bletted.
I've mentioned old practices falling out of favor with industrialization and colonization of territories.
If you goto Walmart, there's strawberry jelly, blueberry jelly, blackberry jelly and raspberry jelly.
There's also some mixed jellies.
You can find hazelnut / peanut butter mixed spreads or mixed with pecan butter.
I knew of Amish families in Pennsylvania who canned strawberries with ground cherries but didn't sell them.
They sold more general things.
And they made pies using both of them.
In Japan, you'll see multiple vegetables canned and eaten together.
Not just shiso and radishes.
Mountain vegetables and herbs made into canned goods, altogether.
Or garden vegetables in the same way.
Very old recipes exist for making pear / applesauce mixes. Or canning apples and pears together.
I don't think I've seen a ton of slices of canned apples and things for sale in many places to begin with. Mashing them is honestly better.
Blueberry relatives also exist in Europe. They don't have a long shelf life. As with most berries.
Some very old records also show, that they were canned with strawberries into jams and jellies.
It's a waste of space to not to so if they're available at the same time.
Plus the end product tastes better.
It's probably seen as expensive or too labor intensive to make a ton of mixes.
But they're also probably healthier than by themselves.
I tend to see jelly mixes sell out faster than any other ones. Multiple flavors and things mixed into one can.
Now.
I see no reason not to bring this practice back.
I call it a practice, because you don't see any mixes of any sorts sold to general populations.
The best you'll see is horseradish mixes and some other things. Italian stuff.
With canning, you do want to have some of the same textures and points of where some things settle down or can be stored in the same temperatures.
Contrasting textures would be frowned on.
Sauces, are the most varied mixes. Ketchup, can have garlic, onions and many other things - it usually doesn't even taste like tomatoes.
I've been seeing sauces being made with the more pineapple or fruity tasting tomatoes.
Those, are pretty interesting. I don't like the taste of tomatoes - standard ones.
You can puree and mix up some vegetables and make a consistency that meshes well with some fruits and things.
Canning wise at least.
Some things just don't mesh.
Texture, flavor or shelf life wise.
Besides Medlar. What else could be canned with it.
Sometimes it's used in place of lemons, for pectin.
Texture wise, Loquats, Quince and things - they can be bletted. Otherwise they're pretty hard.
I don't know how soft they can get.
Persimmons, American Persimmoms especially. They are usually bletted and should have textures similar to medlar.
I haven't had either of them, but I believe that their flavors and textures could possibly work together pretty well.
And, they aren't closely related.
Diospyros and Mespilus / Crataegus.
Crataegus species can have some possibly valuable lumber tree potential.
Diospyros, has trees known as Ebony trees.
Eventually these things hit a point in their lives, where their production simmers down.
If we aren't spraying trees, they'd be great for lumber. Apple trees are used for apple
wood in grills and for other purposes.
There's Texas Sapote and some other Black Sapote, with pudding textures, that I'd like to try crossing over to American Persimmom or hybrids which exist with related species from Asia.
It's probably possible to create pudding that still tastes pretty good, without using eggs or
milk.
There's some gross alternatives for lactose intolerant people.
Mixing in other things, into the medlar goop - could also be fun to play around with.
I realized that I never said what my plans are here.
Also, with industrialization and everything else - the same foods are eaten on a regular basis, which means that some foods vanish or aren't consumed as often.
This is all just some ideas. I don't know if these will make anyone more interested in this stuff or not.
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