When visiting the San Francisco Bay area this September,I walked around Chinatown and bought some Rambutans at a produce stand that looked like ones in Kevin’s photo for 99 cents a pound.Every other place there,while moving along and checking things out,the prices were at least double.
First time trying them and I like the flavor.I picked up some Longan there too,but these taste better to me.
A little Mangosteen at an Asian supermarket in Seattle was selling for at least $5 a piece.Too much money. Brady
Kevin,
Rambutans, longan, mangosteen are hugely popular in Thailand. They are seasonal, though. It’s a lot cheaper to buy them in season. A lot of tropical fruit look “funny” to westerners. Most of them are very sweet.
@Bradybb, I was told that Chinatown in San Fran is the largest one in the US while Chinatown in Toronto is the largest in the continent. Love to visit those places.
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We’re eating our last, very much appreciated, Black Oxford apple today. In spite of having been picked too early (thanks to a flock of migrant bluejays) and stored too warm (thanks to unusually warm fall so my roote cellar didn’t cool down till just a few weeks ago), it is still very good eating. Slightly rubbery but very good flavor–not too dry not too juicy, enough sweet enough tart. I really like this apple. Am so looking forward to the next harvest. This was the largest and best of the harvest, and our last fresh home grown fruit till next year. Sigh…
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Still eating my Fuji’s and Cripps. Found one lone Rescue pear still hanging, but it’s hard as a rock. Not sure it’s ready, yet, even though they’re supposed to be ripe in September. Have two lovely mangos still surviving the varmints, but also hard as a rock. Hoping to pick all in the next few weeks. Citrus is ripening up. Hoping to have some nice mandarins here in the next week or so.
Patty S.
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My ‘Pink Lady’ apples have been tasty but rock hard this year. Am I wrong to think this is due to water deficit? Hoping So Cal or other drought region apple growers could weigh in (@applenut) .
I’ve had a seedling apple given to me by the postman - quite sure it is a Golden Del. x Jonathan cross. Color and flavor are better than GD, but the tree is strictly biennial - on rotating thirds of the tree! In off years it sets 9 fruits, no matter how hard I thin in fruiting years. We got a lovely crop this year, pretty pink blush on the sunny side and golden flesh. They’ve gone soft already, and I had to cut away what looks to be Jonathan Spot on the apple I had with lunch today. I cut the tree down last month to make room for an annual bearer.
Our thornless and nameless raspberry produced about 14 gallons of fruit last summer. Had some from the freezer with granola this morning. It also makes fine jam, which I had on toast today.
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We’re on timed drip irrigation, so drought really doesn’t mean much to us. Maybe someone in Mass.
Yesterday I saw these at Marshalls. They always have weird unusual things there. These actually tasted pretty good. More like dried cranberry than mulberry. Tasted better than the fresh Issai off my own bush this summer.
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KIKU Apple, was very sweet, not real juicy, yellow flesh from Walmart. I would of taken a picture… but I ate it to quick! It was good… I’d eat again!
I am eating the last fruit that’s hanging on my trees - medlar.
Still got about 20 fruits left. They are a bit shriveled but still tasty here in my zone 7A
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Arkansas Black apple, Fuyu/Jiro persimmon, Green Dragon apple.
So could you please describe the taste, texture, and flavor of medlar? I know zero about the fruit.
Well I am not very good at taste evaluations but to me it tastes like an apple sauce, just not that sweet and a bit denser (you have to let it blet). The biggest advantage to me is that it lasts about 2+ months on the tree and in my area it’s also care free, no spraying required. My tree is 6 year old and I got about 100 fruit this year, kids love it.
The disadvantages would be the use for it. If you have a young tree like me it’s ok. Once you get to 50 or more pounds it’s hard to find out what to do with it. It loses it’s taste in the fridge (it keeps the taste in freezer). It’s also on the smaller size, the usable pulp is only about 30-40% of the fruit (the skin and seeds take up majority of the fruit).
There are big fruit cultivars like Monstrueuse d’Evreinoff that might be worth trying but I wasn’t aware of them at the time of planting.
If you have the space definitely plant one, I think it would do well in WV. It’s not apple or pear but it’s always nice to taste something different when there is not much around. And you can’t buy it in the store, so that’s another reason why to have your own
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The Satsuma Mandarins shipped out of Reedley, Calif are amazing right now! Get them if you can. I found these at the local Wegman’s. These oranges are incredibly sweet and juicy.
The pomegranates are nice too.
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Cortland apple is losing moisture in the basement, but flavor still a mile ahead of anything at the Supermarket. Very little rot this year, even those that lost the stem in picking. These apples I picked at a nearby orchard mid-October.
Small home grown Sturmer Pippin was loaded with bitter pit. I tried to cut all that away and still found spots as I ate the 1/3 that remained at lunch. Substantial gas in the evening. Ugh; am thinking Sturmer needs to grow in limestone country. The fruit really suffers from calcium deficiency despite inoculated roots with two Myko Paks at planting and we have laid plenty of crushed eggshells around it for the worms to drag underground. Looks as though it needs top working. Brownlees Russet is top contender.
If I top work it to Brownlees, will the Sturmer interstem hinder calcium uptake?
Enjoying the last of the sirenevyi pomegranates. I think I was eating them way too early as they’ve gotten much darker and better flavored.
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Ate my last mango - ripened very late, but it was just absolutely delicious. It was one of the low chill cultivars being trialed here in my area. It was ‘Tequila Sunrise’, and it was as good as my earlier ‘Pineapple’ mango. Could not be happier with two of my three mango cultivars. Hoping ‘Gold Coast’ will set this next year for me. And, finishing up the last of my Sweet pomegranates. Have quite a few citrus coming ripe, so excited to get started on those!
Patty S.
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Mango needs chilling?? Never would have thought that.
Patty, do you grow papayas too? Mango trees are beautiful, I had one in my front yard in Puerto Rico, too many years ago!
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Sorry, fruitnut, was really tired last night, meant to say “cold tolerant”. Ugh. No, mangos to my knowledge do not need any chill hours (or, it is so insignificant, that anyone would be able to achieve those hours). This grower has been developing several mango cultivars that are more tolerant to lower temps. Not that we have very low temps here very often, but with young mangoes, even a few hours below 32 degrees spells death. So, our local CRFG chapter did a large group buy a couple of years ago, and I picked out 3 cultivars to try out in my yard. 2 of the 3 set fruit this year, 2nd leaf, and they were just outstanding. I was very, very pleased with the quality of the fruit. Very delicious, not very fibrous. Big fruits. Very happy, and cannot wait to see how ‘Gold Coast’ does next year. And mrsg47, I have not have very much success with papayas, which I dearly love, but this year, I decided to make more of an effort. You can grow them here, if you spend a little more time getting them established, and preventing a fungus from getting to them in the winter. Papayas like weather that is the exact oposite of our weather here: They like hot, wet summers, and cool (not too cool) dry winters. Our rainy season is December through about March, so we get our rains at the exact time papayas do not like to have wet feet. So, after taking some precautions, I have this very lovely Solo papaya tree growing extremely well. I have several fruit set already, and it is surviving our cool and rainy winters, which they just hate (develops a specific fungus that causes stem root, and instant death). It is the absolute warmest part of my yard, I treat it every 6 to 8 weeks with Agrifos soil soak, as well as spray the trunks/stem with mancozeb fungicide. I also fertilize at the same time as I treat with Agrifos, and it is planted in a big hold backfilled with a mixture of vermiculite and GrowMulch, then topped with more GroMulch. I will also lay plastic under the plant when we have our winter rains, to keep the soil from getting too soggy. And, having some warm temps between our rains, is making it very happy (80’s here yesterday and today.) So far, knock on wood, so good.
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