PHILOMATH, Ore. — At the Corvallis Farmers Market, Rob and Paula Siegel’s farm stand has a banner hanging above it: “Treat yourself to something new.”

On the table sits something that is indeed new to many American consumers’ palates: a basket of fuzzy, lemon-yellow, pear-shaped fruit called quinces.

Rob and Paula run a small organic farm in Philomath, Ore., where they co-own and manage their business, Quince Essential.

The couple grow 47 quince trees of seven varieties in a 1-acre orchard. They sell fresh quinces and jars of quince spread — a naturally thick, rose-colored jelly — to locals at the farmers market and to customers across the U.S. via their online store.

Rob Siegel, 74, said he delights in introducing people to quinces, one of the world’s oldest domesticated fruits.

According to a 2019 study published in the journal Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, the quince was first domesticated in Mesopotamia between 5000 and 4000 B.C.

Quince has a long history of cultivation in the Middle East and may have been the fruit of temptation featured in the Garden of Eden story, according to a USDA Agricultural Research Service publication. The fruit was revered in ancient Greece, where it was gifted to brides at their weddings. In Homer’s Odyssey, Pliny the Elder praised its medicinal properties.

Quince trees eventually spread to Asia and Europe and later to Latin America, introduced by Spanish and Portuguese settlers.

It was there — in Latin America — that the Siegels came to know and love the fruit.

For 25 years, Rob and Paula Siegel lived in Chile, where they worked at an English language school in Santiago.

Quince paste, a sweet, tart spread with floral notes, was popular in Chilean cuisine, often served for breakfast with cheese, crackers or toast.

When the Siegels moved to Oregon in 1997, they missed the Chilean quince paste and couldn’t find it in Oregon, so they decided to make it themselves.

With research and support from USDA, Oregon State University Extension Service and a nursery, the Siegels planted bare-root quince trees.

They had never farmed before, so they had a lot to learn.

“It was a steep learning curve for sure,” said Rob Siegel.

Over the years, they learned to prune, improve soil quality and tend to the crop’s needs.

This year’s harvest is underway. Although quinces tend to be hardy, 2022 has been a difficult year. The cold snap this spring, paired with extended rainfall, meant the Siegels’ mason bees could not pollinate the orchard, so the crop is half its normal size.

After harvest, Quince Essential sells some of the crop fresh and turns the rest into a spread, cooked with just two ingredients: quinces and sugar.

Quince is rarely eaten raw, as it tastes stringent and woody in that form. Instead, it is cooked into spreads, desserts or meat dishes.

Siegel has two favorite ways to eat quinces: in pies or as a spread with sharp cheddar.

He said many customers who buy his farm’s fruits online are immigrants familiar with quinces and who plan to cook them in family recipes.

Meanwhile, at the farmers market, Siegel encourages customers who haven’t tasted quinces to “try something new.”