Welcome to the Garden of Eden, circa 2014.
Having grown up on a farm in Reading, Pa., New York artist Sam Van Aken has spent the past five years
planting veritable Trees of Life all over the United States. Officially called Trees of 40 Fruit, these bountiful
timbers are capable of growing forty different varieties of stone fruits including cherries, plums, apricots,
and peaches, all on a single tree.
Working with the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Aken used a process called chip grafting
to map the different fruits to different parts of the tree, depending on how they would bloom in relation
to one another. According to Epicurious, each Tree of 40 Fruit looks normal through most of the year,
but bloom in spring and summer to produce vibrantly pink-hued flowers and fruits.
So far, Aken has planted 16 Trees of 40 Fruit in public spaces like museums and community centers
as well as private collections throughout the U.S. His ultimate goal is to plant a small orchard
of them in an urban setting. Just watch out for snakes.
..
..
.jpg)
