How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit
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0:02 - 0:03100 years ago,
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0:03 - 0:07there were 2,000 varieties of peaches,
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0:07 - 0:10nearly 2,000 different varieties of plums
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0:10 - 0:15and almost 800 named varieties
of apples growing in the United States. -
0:15 - 0:18Today, only a fraction of those remain,
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0:18 - 0:22and what is left is threatened
by industrialization of agriculture, -
0:22 - 0:24disease and climate change.
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0:24 - 0:28Those varieties that are threatened
include the Blood Cling, -
0:28 - 0:33a red-flesh peach brought
by Spanish missionaries to the Americas, -
0:33 - 0:37then cultivated by Native
Americans for centuries; -
0:37 - 0:39an apricot that was brought
by Chinese immigrants -
0:39 - 0:43who came to work
on the Transcontinental Railroad; -
0:43 - 0:47and countless varieties of plums
that originated in the Middle East -
0:47 - 0:51and were then brought by Italian,
French and German immigrants. -
0:51 - 0:53None of these varieties are indigenous.
-
0:53 - 0:58In fact, almost all of our fruit trees
were brought here, -
0:58 - 1:01including apples and peaches and cherries.
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1:01 - 1:03So more than just food,
-
1:03 - 1:06embedded within these fruit
is our culture. -
1:06 - 1:09It's the people who cared for
and cultivated them, -
1:09 - 1:13who valued them so much
that they brought them here with them -
1:13 - 1:15as a connection to their home,
-
1:15 - 1:18and it's the way that they've passed
them on and shared them. -
1:18 - 1:20In many ways, these fruit are our story.
-
1:21 - 1:25And I was fortunate enough
to learn about it -
1:25 - 1:28through an artwork that I created
entitled the "Tree of 40 Fruit." -
1:28 - 1:31The Tree of 40 Fruit is a single tree
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1:31 - 1:34that grows 40 different
varieties of stone fruit. -
1:34 - 1:39So that's peaches, plums, apricots,
nectarines and cherries -
1:39 - 1:41all growing on one tree.
-
1:41 - 1:45It's designed to be a normal-looking tree
throughout the majority of the year, -
1:45 - 1:48until spring, when it blossoms
in pink and white -
1:48 - 1:52and then in summer,
bears a multitude of different fruit. -
1:52 - 1:55I began the project
for purely artistic reasons: -
1:55 - 1:58I wanted to change
the reality of the everyday, -
1:58 - 1:59and to be honest,
-
1:59 - 2:02create this startling moment
when people would see this tree -
2:02 - 2:05blossom in all these different colors
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2:05 - 2:07and bear all of these different fruit.
-
2:07 - 2:10I created the Tree of 40 Fruit
through the process of grafting. -
2:11 - 2:14I'll collect cuttings
in winter, store them, -
2:14 - 2:17and then graft them
onto the ends of branches in spring. -
2:17 - 2:20In fact, almost all
fruit trees are grafted, -
2:20 - 2:24because the seed of a fruit tree
is a genetic variant of the parent. -
2:24 - 2:27So when we find a variety
that we really like, -
2:27 - 2:31the way that we propagate it
is by taking a cutting off of one tree -
2:31 - 2:32and putting it onto another --
-
2:32 - 2:35which is kind of crazy to think
-
2:35 - 2:39that every single Macintosh apple
came from one tree -
2:39 - 2:43that's been grafted over and over
from generation to generation. -
2:44 - 2:48But it also means that fruit trees
can't be preserved by seed. -
2:48 - 2:51I've known about grafting
as long as I can remember. -
2:51 - 2:54My great-grandfather made a living
grafting peach orchards -
2:54 - 2:56in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
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2:56 - 2:57And although I never met him,
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2:57 - 2:59any time anyone would mention his name,
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3:00 - 3:01they were quick to note
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3:01 - 3:04that he knew how to graft as if he had
a magical or mystical capability. -
3:05 - 3:08I decided on the number 40
for the Tree of 40 Fruit -
3:08 - 3:10because it's found
throughout Western religion -
3:10 - 3:13as not the quantifiable dozen
and not the infinite -
3:13 - 3:15but a number that's beyond counting.
-
3:15 - 3:17It's a bounty or a multitude.
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3:18 - 3:20But the problem was that when I started,
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3:20 - 3:23I couldn't find 40 different
varieties of these fruit, -
3:23 - 3:26and this is despite the fact
that I live in New York state, -
3:26 - 3:28which, a century ago,
-
3:28 - 3:30was one of the leading
producers of these fruit. -
3:31 - 3:33So as they were tearing out
research orchards -
3:33 - 3:35and old, vintage orchards,
-
3:35 - 3:36I would collect branches off them
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3:36 - 3:39and graft them onto trees in my nursery.
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3:39 - 3:43So this is what the Tree of 40 Fruit
look like when they were first planted, -
3:43 - 3:45and this is what they look like
six years later. -
3:45 - 3:48This is definitely not a sport
of immediate gratification -- -
3:48 - 3:50(Laughter)
-
3:50 - 3:53It takes a year to know
if a graft has succeeded; -
3:53 - 3:56it takes two to three years
to know if it produces fruit; -
3:56 - 3:59and it takes up to eight years
to create just one of the trees. -
4:01 - 4:04Each of the varieties grafted
to the Tree of 40 Fruit -
4:04 - 4:07has a slightly different form
and a slightly different color. -
4:07 - 4:11And I realized that by creating a timeline
of when all these blossomed -
4:11 - 4:13in relationship to each other,
-
4:13 - 4:17I can essentially shape or design
how the tree appears during spring. -
4:17 - 4:19And this is how they appear during summer.
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4:19 - 4:22They produce fruit from June
through September. -
4:22 - 4:24First is cherries, then apricots,
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4:25 - 4:28Asian plums, nectarines and peaches,
-
4:28 - 4:30and I think I forgot one
in there, somewhere ... -
4:30 - 4:31(Laughter)
-
4:32 - 4:35Although it's an artwork
that exists outside of the gallery, -
4:35 - 4:36as the project continues,
-
4:36 - 4:39it's been conservation
by way of the art world. -
4:39 - 4:42As I've been asked to create
these in different locations, -
4:42 - 4:44what I'll do is I'll research varieties
-
4:44 - 4:48that originated or were
historically grown in that area, -
4:48 - 4:51I'll source them locally
and graft them to the tree -
4:51 - 4:54so that it becomes an agricultural history
of the area where they're located. -
4:54 - 4:57And then the project got picked up online,
-
4:57 - 4:59which was horrifying and humbling.
-
4:59 - 5:03The horrifying part
was all of the tattoos that I saw -
5:03 - 5:05of images of the Tree of 40 Fruit.
-
5:05 - 5:06(Laughter)
-
5:06 - 5:08Which I was like, "Why would
you do that to your body?" -
5:09 - 5:10(Laughter)
-
5:10 - 5:13And the humbling part
was all of the requests that I received -
5:13 - 5:16from pastors, from rabbis and priests
-
5:16 - 5:19who asked to use the tree
as a central part within their service. -
5:19 - 5:21And then it became a meme --
-
5:21 - 5:24and the answer to that question
is "I hope not?" -
5:24 - 5:26[Is your marriage
like the Tree of 40 Fruit?] -
5:26 - 5:28(Laughter)
-
5:28 - 5:29Like all good memes,
-
5:29 - 5:32this has led to an interview
on NPR's "Weekend Edition," -
5:32 - 5:36and as a college professor,
I thought I peaked -- -
5:36 - 5:39like, that was the pinnacle
of my career -- -
5:39 - 5:42but you never know who's listening to NPR.
-
5:42 - 5:45And several weeks after the NPR interview,
-
5:45 - 5:48I received an email
from the Department of Defense. -
5:48 - 5:52The Defense Advanced Research
Project Administration invited me -
5:52 - 5:55to come talk about
innovation and creativity, -
5:55 - 5:59and it's a conversation that quickly
shifted to a discussion of food security. -
6:00 - 6:04You see, our national security
is dependent upon our food security. -
6:05 - 6:07Now that we've created these monocultures
-
6:07 - 6:10that only grow a few
varieties of each crop, -
6:10 - 6:13if something happens
to just one of those varieties, -
6:13 - 6:16it can have a dramatic impact
upon our food supply. -
6:16 - 6:19And the key to maintaining
our food security -
6:19 - 6:21is preserving our biodiversity.
-
6:22 - 6:26100 years ago, this was done
by everybody that had a garden -
6:26 - 6:29or a small stand of trees
in their backyard, -
6:29 - 6:32and grew varieties that were
passed down through their family. -
6:32 - 6:37These are plums from just one Tree
of 40 Fruit in one week in August. -
6:37 - 6:38Several years into the project,
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6:38 - 6:42I was told that I have one of the largest
collections of these fruit -
6:42 - 6:44in the Eastern United States,
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6:44 - 6:47which, as an artist,
is absolutely terrifying. -
6:47 - 6:48(Laughter)
-
6:48 - 6:51But in many ways,
I didn't know what I had. -
6:51 - 6:53I discovered that the majority
of the varieties I had -
6:53 - 6:54were heirloom varieties,
-
6:54 - 6:57so those that were grown before 1945,
-
6:57 - 7:01which is seen as the dawn
of the industrialization of agriculture. -
7:01 - 7:05Several of the varieties dated back
thousands and thousands of years. -
7:06 - 7:09And finding out how rare they were,
-
7:09 - 7:12I became obsessed
with trying to preserve them, -
7:12 - 7:14and the vehicle for this became art.
-
7:14 - 7:17I would go into old, vintage orchards
before they were torn out -
7:17 - 7:19and I would save the bowl
or the trunk section -
7:19 - 7:22that possessed the original graft union.
-
7:22 - 7:25I started doing pressings
of flowers and the leaves -
7:25 - 7:27to create herbarium specimens.
-
7:27 - 7:29I started to sequence the DNA.
-
7:29 - 7:33But ultimately, I set out
to preserve the story -
7:33 - 7:36through these copper-plate etchings
and letterpress descriptions. -
7:36 - 7:40To tell the story of the George IV peach,
-
7:40 - 7:44which took root between
two buildings in New York City -- -
7:44 - 7:46someone walks by, tastes it,
-
7:46 - 7:50it becomes a major commercial
variety in the 19th century -
7:50 - 7:52because it tastes just that good.
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7:53 - 7:55Then all but vanishes,
-
7:55 - 7:56because it doesn't ship well
-
7:56 - 7:59and it doesn't conform
to modern agriculture. -
8:00 - 8:03But I realize that as a story,
it needs to be told. -
8:03 - 8:05And in the telling of that story,
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8:05 - 8:09it has to include the experience
of being able to touch, -
8:09 - 8:12to smell and to taste those varieties.
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8:12 - 8:14So I set out to create an orchard
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8:14 - 8:16to make these fruit
available to the public, -
8:16 - 8:20and have the aim of placing them
in the highest density of people -
8:20 - 8:22that I could possibly find.
-
8:22 - 8:25Naturally, I started looking for an acre
of land in New York City -- -
8:25 - 8:26(Laughter)
-
8:26 - 8:31which, in retrospect,
seemed, like, rather ambitious, -
8:31 - 8:35and probably the reason why nobody
was returning my phone calls or emails -- -
8:35 - 8:36(Laughter)
-
8:36 - 8:41until eventually, four years later,
I heard back from Governors Island. -
8:41 - 8:45So Governors Island is a former naval base
-
8:45 - 8:47that was given
to the City of New York in 2000. -
8:47 - 8:49And it opened up all of this land
-
8:49 - 8:51just a five-minute ferry ride
from New York. -
8:51 - 8:56And they invited me to create a project
that we're calling the "Open Orchard" -
8:56 - 8:57that will bring back fruit varieties
-
8:57 - 9:00that haven't been grown
in New York for over a century. -
9:01 - 9:02Currently in progress,
-
9:02 - 9:06The Open Orchard
will be 50 multigrafted trees -
9:06 - 9:11that possess 200 heirloom
and antique fruit varieties. -
9:12 - 9:16So these are varieties that originated
or were historically grown in the region. -
9:16 - 9:19Varieties like the Early Strawberry apple,
-
9:19 - 9:22which originated on 13th Street
and Third Avenue. -
9:22 - 9:25Since a fruit tree
can't be preserved by seed, -
9:25 - 9:28The Open Orchard will act
like a living gene bank, -
9:28 - 9:30or an archive of these fruit.
-
9:30 - 9:31Like the Tree of 40 Fruit,
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9:31 - 9:32it will be experiential;
-
9:32 - 9:34it will also be symbolic.
-
9:34 - 9:39Most importantly, it's going to invite
people to participate in conservation -
9:39 - 9:41and to learn more about their food.
-
9:41 - 9:43Through the Tree of 40 Fruit,
-
9:43 - 9:46I've received thousands
and thousands of emails from people, -
9:46 - 9:49asking basic questions
about "How do you plant a tree?" -
9:50 - 9:52With less than three percent
of the population -
9:52 - 9:54having any direct tie to agriculture,
-
9:54 - 9:57the Open Orchard
is going to invite people -
9:57 - 10:01to come take part in public programming
and to take part in workshops, -
10:01 - 10:06to learn how to graft, to grow,
to prune and to harvest a tree; -
10:06 - 10:08to take part in fresh eating
and blossom tours; -
10:08 - 10:11to work with local chefs
to learn how to use these fruit -
10:11 - 10:13and to recreate centuries-old dishes
-
10:13 - 10:17that many of these varieties
were grown specifically for. -
10:17 - 10:19Extending beyond the physical
site of the orchard, -
10:19 - 10:22it will be a cookbook
that compiles all of those recipes. -
10:23 - 10:24It will be a field guide
-
10:24 - 10:28that talks about the characteristics
and traits of those fruit, -
10:28 - 10:29their origin and their story.
-
10:29 - 10:33Growing up on a farm,
I thought I understood agriculture, -
10:33 - 10:35and I didn't want anything to do with it.
-
10:36 - 10:37So I became an artist --
-
10:37 - 10:39(Laughter)
-
10:39 - 10:43But I have to admit that it's something
within my own DNA. -
10:43 - 10:45And I don't think that I'm the only one.
-
10:46 - 10:51100 years ago, we were all much more
closely tied to the culture, -
10:51 - 10:54the cultivation
and the story of our food, -
10:54 - 10:56and we've been separated from that.
-
10:56 - 10:59The Open Orchard creates the opportunity
-
10:59 - 11:02not just to reconnect
to this unknown past, -
11:02 - 11:06but a way for us to consider
what the future of our food could be. -
11:06 - 11:08Thank you.
-
11:08 - 11:11(Applause)
- Title:
- How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit
- Speaker:
- Sam Van Aken
- Description:
-
Artist Sam Van Aken shares the breathtaking work behind the "Tree of 40 Fruit," an ongoing series of hybridized fruit trees that grow 40 different varieties of peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines and cherries -- all on the same tree. What began as an art project to showcase beautiful, multi-hued blossoms has become a living archive of rare heirloom specimens and their histories, a hands-on (and delicious!) way to teach people about cultivation and a vivid symbol of the need for biodiversity to ensure food security. "More than just food, embedded in these fruit is our culture ... In many ways, these fruit are our story," Van Aken says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:24
Lucas Kaimaras commented on English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How one tree grows 40 different kinds of fruit |
Lucas Kaimaras
7:17 - 7:19 and I would save the BOWL or the trunk section
I think the word "bowl" should be changed to "bole"
See the link below:
https://www.dropbox.com/preview/Public/bole-bowl.jpg?role=personal