osage orange "balls"

[Chris Ricker]

It's getting close to the time (here in Ohio) to collect the fruit of the Osage Orange tree.
If you haven't seen them, they look like weird little "brains" about the size of an orange( go figure!) and a greenish color.
If you put the fruit in the basement or shop, they'll keep the spiders and such away till spring!!
It's true, I do it every year
Be sure to get the ones that fall to the ground, as the ones in the trees are not ripe enough yet.

[John Keeton]

A hedgeapple by any other name is still a hedgeapple! But, osage orange ball works, too!

[Tom Veatch]

...
If you put the fruit in the basement or shop, they'll keep the spiders and such away till spring!!...

Interesting!

I'd never heard that. But since there's a shelter belt of Osage Orange trees on our north boundary line, I'll just have to collect some hedgeapples and give it a try.

They've always seemed just to be a nuisance. Thanks for the tip!

[Rick Moyer]

Where I grew up there were A LOT of those along the roadway where we used to hike when I was a kid. We used to "bowl" with them, seeing how far one could roll one down the road before it fell off the berm or crossed over to the other ditch. Simple fun in another era!

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I hate to tell you, but you're both wrong. They're horse apples and come from the bois d'arc tree. I guess because they are so widespread is the reason for so many names. Horse apples are the first name I ever heard for them and I have no idea from where it came unless it was someone's misunderstanding of the word hedge. I have also heard about the spider repellant qualities of the fruit but have no experience with them.

[Paul Atkins]

Just saw a bunch fallen on the side of the road the other day -(watching those trees for 20 years or so) - and wondered what you could do with the fruit. I'm really waiting for them to fall down or break in the wind so I can get a nice piece. They must be 30-40 inches in diameter.

[John Keeton]

Paul, eventually fall down maybe, but it is going to have to be a pretty strong wind!! Osage is a tough tree, and I rarely see one break out or blow down.

One often sees the hedgeapples cut in slices, and dried. They are used in flower arrangements and other craft projects. Deer will eat them if other food is scarce - and after they have dried for awhile, they are fun to shoot at with a rifle!!

[ROY DICK]

http://www.osagehedgeballs.com/
Same things, just a different name.

Roy

[Chuck Saunders]

The day I would pay $1.75 ea plus shipping would be the last day I would have legal control of my finances

[Russ Filtz]

Though not correct, we always called them crab apples growing up.

[Rob Cunningham]

When I was growing up, horse apples were what came out of the back end of the horse, aka road apples.
We used to roll the osage oranges out into the street when trucks went by. You had to time it just right so it would get run over by the rear tire. Ah, the simple pleasures of a simpler time.

[Francis Robinson]

When I was growing up, horse apples were what came out of the back end of the horse, aka road apples.

Yep. Also meadow muffins...

[Francis Robinson]

On a WW note... I sawed up some maybe 12" hedge trunks years ago and air dried it. Really pretty stuff but really tough to plane down without chipping out. Planer blades have to be extremely sharp and take very light cuts...

[Brian Kent]

It's getting close to the time (here in Ohio) to collect the fruit of the Osage Orange tree.
If you haven't seen them, they look like weird little "brains" about the size of an orange( go figure!) and a greenish color.
If you put the fruit in the basement or shop, they'll keep the spiders and such away till spring!!
It's true, I do it every year
Be sure to get the ones that fall to the ground, as the ones in the trees are not ripe enough yet.

Yup, Keeps the bear cubs out of the basement too. Works every year. Hasn't failed me yet.

Brian

[David Epperson]

Just saw a bunch fallen on the side of the road the other day -(watching those trees for 20 years or so) - and wondered what you could do with the fruit.

First time I tried to cut one open I was convinced that that was where white glue came from.