Osage Oranges

No one seems to be able to give me a definite answer on what these cool things are called, so I Googled them and found out that they're called Osage Oranges or Hedge Apples.  (I like Osage Oranges better, so that's what I'm calling them.)

These trees are everywhere on my morning walking trail.   And the bright green fruit they produce is also everywhere on the trail.  They're about the size of a grapefruit and they're very dense and heavy, so they end up on the ground pretty quickly.  

Google says that these "oranges" are inedible, but I've noticed that the squirrels seem to really like them.  In fact, this morning a squirrel tossed a half eaten one out of a tree and it barely missed hitting me in the head!

Last year, I noticed these giant green "oranges" littering the ground around town, but it wasn't until late September that I convinced my husband and TCD to take a walk with me to go find out what they were.   We ended up picking up all the ones that hadn't turned brown or been eaten by anything.  I brought them home and put them into a container and they sat next to my fireplace until almost Thanksgiving.  
 
This year, I was much more clever, though.  I knew what they were this time, so instead of waiting for them to fall, I found a small tree with lots of "low hanging fruit."  And tonight, my very sweet husband took a step ladder over to my walking trail and snipped off a few perfect osage oranges for me.  Here's where they are now...

aren't they so cool???

I totally LOVE that there are free decorations hanging from the trees here!