Buzz
For most of the year, the Trees of 40 Fruits, which are numerous, resemble any typical tree. However, with the arrival of spring, various hues of pink, red, and white begin to bloom, and by the close of summer, the tree yields a bounty of over 40 distinct types of stone fruit.
These remarkable trees are the creation of Sam Van Aken, an award-winning contemporary artist and professor of art at Syracuse University. Van Aken shared with Epicurious.com that, "Above all, I see the tree as a work of art." Despite this, his living masterpieces also provide a captivating exploration of agriculture and culinary heritage.
As Van Aken explained, "As the project progressed, its purpose evolved. While searching for diverse varieties of stone fruit to build the Tree of 40 Fruit, I realized that, due to factors like industrialization and large-scale monocultures, food production diversity is diminishing. Heirloom, antique, and native varieties, which were less commercially viable, were disappearing."
Each tree typically ends up with around 40 species of stone fruit—such as peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, cherries, and almonds—chosen for their variety and compatibility. Van Aken works with over 250 different varieties, carefully studying their blooming schedules and selecting the best to craft his artistic trees.
The process of grafting these different species together takes approximately five years. Van Aken visits the trees—found in museums, community centers, and private art collections across locations from Massachusetts to California—twice a year for pruning. And for those curious, yes, all the fruit is entirely edible (and likely delicious), especially now that Van Aken has solved the issue of deer eating the crops.
National Geographic interviewed Van Aken about the years of care devoted to each tree, which he views as a form of living art. Watch the grafting process in action in the video below:
