The idea came from Van Aken's early fascination with grafting. "When I had seen it done as a child, it was Dr. Seuss and Frankenstein," Van Aken told National Geographic.
He traveled around New York to find different varieties of stone fruit for the tree over the past several years.
Each fruit blossoms on the tree at different times. He told National Geographic, "For each of the trees I keep a map, or essentially, a diagram of the tree."
After the "working tree" gets its three years of growth, he will graft onto those limbs. He slices part of the branch off and then wraps clear plastic to mold the new branch onto the old one, like magic!
In the spring, the tree starts blossoming into a beautiful creation. Then, in the summer, the tree bears fruits in sequence. The hard work and time pays off with a beautiful and diverse harvest.
