Image courtesy of Sam Van Aken - treeof40fruit.com
This Tree of 40 Fruit, an extreme hybrid created by artist Sam Van Aken, made our jaws drop.
Van Aken uses “native and antique varieties” of stone fruit to produce this grafted blooming wonder.
As the artist explains in his Ted X Talk, the project is a piece of art, a research project on the unique characteristics of different varieties of fruit, and an act of preservation. By growing, incorporating, and studying over 250 varieties of stone fruit, Van Aken hopes to combat monocultures created by industrial agriculture and preserve the rich diversity of heirloom varieties not often available to consumers.
