While in Galesburg: Hedge Balls

I have several stories to share about my trip to Illinois so get ready for an exciting series of blog posts that I call "While in Galesburg."

While in Galesburg I saw the strangest things on the trees: They were odd neon green balls. I noticed them while driving with my uncle Gary. We had left Galesburg and were on our way to go hiking around a state fish and wildlife area called Snakeden Hollow.

At first I thought the trees were decorated with tennis balls. But I couldn't think of a reason why anyone would do that. I finally asked my uncle what they were. He shrugged and said "Those are just hedge balls."

What are hedge balls?

My uncle wasn't entirely sure but he did say that people often placed them in their houses to repel insects.
Interesting.

I found one tree that had dropped hedge balls all over the place. I grabbed one to bring to my dad. When I showed him he wasn't as excited as I was. Actually, he pretended to be excited but it was the kind of pretend-to-be excited a father does when their kid brings them ordinary objects like a leaf or a piece of gravel. "Neat, you found a hedgeapple."

Hedgeapple? Hedge ball? What the heck are these things?

Unfortunately my Dad knew about as much as Gary, that people use them to repel bugs.

But what are they? Fungus? A fruit? Do people eat them? Is a giant spider going to hatch from it?

By now the suspense is killing you, isn't it!! You are one second away from google-ing, I know it. Well, don't waste the key strokes. I did it for you. And it turns out there is an entire website dedicated to these things.

http://hedgeapple.com/

And, whoa, is this website fun. From it I have learned that:

1. A hedgeapple is the fruit of the Osage orange tree.
2. Poems have been written about hedgeapples.
3. Cows have suffocated from these things because they can get lodged in their esophagus.
4. Martha Stewart gave a nod to hedgeapples in her 2001 November issue of Living (see page 5). While some people dry slices of them to mimic flowers, Martha prefers to decorate with them in their natural sate. Perhaps like this:
   

(I call this one "how not to decorate with hedgeapples")

Or this:
(Right now I hope Jenn is thinking of a dozen ways to incorporate hedgeapples into her home decor.)

If you think that hedgeapples couldn't possibly get more interesting then I challenge you to explore the hedgeapple website. I highly recommend the FAQ's section. Here are a few of my faves:

Do hedgeapples really repel lawyers?

Yes they do and all other types of insects!

How many colors do your hedgeapple earrings come in?

Color doesn't make any difference; they usually turn the color of blood once you hang them on your ears.