You've never seen grafting like this before. Grafting is the process by which tissues from on plant are inserted to another so that the two sets of tissue join together.
Sam Van Aken, an artist and professor at Syracuse University, became fascinated with the idea of "chip grafting."
His big idea: create one tree that would bear 40 different fruits.
The process requires slicing a branch with a bud from a tree of one of the varieties and putting it into a slit in a branch on the "working tree." Then he wraps the wound with tape until it heals and the bud begins to grow into a new branch.
Over the course of years, he adds new branches to the working tree. During spring the tree is beautifully blossomed with pinks and purples. Then, in summer, it begins to grow fruit.
Van Aken considers the accomplishment a work of art and a science project that details the timeline of blooming and fruiting.
Nature is amazing: just check out what happens when you play the grooves of a tree on a record player. All beauty comes back to Mother Earth.
With his unique idea and old school process, he has created dozens of trees that have been planted all over the country, including museums and gardens. If trees like this were planted all over the world, imagine their potential to feed the hungry!
See the tree and Van Aken's process below and SHARE if you think nature, and what man can do with it, is amazing!
