Sorry. I had to wait until it was less hot to go outside and pick these to compare.
I chose two of the same size and you can see that they are nearly identical in look. Both taste very good. When I closed my eyes, I couldn’t tell which one I was eating.
Emerald Beaut plum (left) vs Emerald Drop pluot (right)
Neither images nor descriptions exactly match what I have.
I bought two “Emerald Beaut” with the DWN tag from Bay Laurel. The fruits are supposed to be a little pointed at the bottom The one in shade had less fruits and none this year. The one under the sun is loaded every year.
The “Emerald Drop” with the DWN tag from Bay Laurel have some fruits each year. The fruits are supposed to have green skin.
It maybe a case of polllinating variation. I have many pluots and plums. I know that the Splash fruits each year can be different in shape and taste, based on what is blooming at the same time, which is unpredictable.
I like the so called “Emeald Beaut” because this tree has a lot of fruits which can be much bigger, and last a long time on the tree. We got the first one on 8/1, and still have a lot more on the tree.
They are both semi-clingstone. I got the two halves by cutting and twisting around the pit.
Please look at this page and you can see how different they can be from different sites. Some even list Emerald Beaut as “plumcot” or “pluot”.
It is also possible that all three were labeled as supposed to be. They are hybrid so the surrounding pollens can affect the outcome. I know the shape of the Flavor Grenade I have is not the same as the ones in the supermarkets.
I only remember buying them at different times. They are all in 25 gallon containers buried half way on the slope a few years ago. I will clear up the surrounding this fall to let more sunlight on the one in the shade, and see if it changes anything next year.
This shows the shape is closer to Emerald Drop but not the color, they never have that intensely green skin.
Today I picked prunes off two different trees. Both were planted in 1992 by my grandparents, but sadly they didn’t write down the variety.
Both are on the smaller side and quite round, untypical for the common prunes like Fellenberg, Bühler or Ersinger.
This tree grows on the northwestern corner of the house. The prunes are very small, freestone and very aromatic. If they are still crisp, there is some bitterness, astringency in the skin. If they’re soft, they’re just sweet with an almost caramel-like flavour.
The other tree beside the compost has bigger fruit. They’re mostly freestone, too. These have a simpler flavour, but I like them well. I tried to shake the tree but sadly the fruit split if they fall on the ground. The damaged fruit on top happened this way.
I like Madison a lot. They’ve been 17 brix for me this year. They taste similar to Redhaven but 3-4 weeks later and maybe a little bigger. Veteran ripens in between those two and is a little smaller. All produced some peaches this year after an extended period of frost after main bloom. I think this was mainly due to a small number of flowers blooming after the frost/freeze events.
Everything here was organically grown in colorado and everything except the beef and cauliflower was grown by my Wife and I. This is roasted vegetables, blistered shishitos and reverse seared beef.
Nubiana plums: the long heat wave makes them smaller than last year. The inside is a little dry but good and sweet, the skin is not sour, and the pit is tiny. I actually like the small size fruits that leave room for tasting something else.
I tried pulverizing the skin and pulp to make Damson jam, thinking it would be even more flavorful, but it had more of a “prune” taste. That was OK, but the jelly I made with the steam juicer last year was about the best jelly I’ve ever had, so I’ll go that route with this bunch.
Today, on a camera, I saw some squirrels climbing up a corner trying to get in the backyard. Not wanting to take any chance, I cut and put up five soap bars around that corner, and didn’t see them anymore. Last year I had the soap up all around the back yard at the beginning of spring and saw no squirrels later. This year I didn’t want to do it with all the random rain that came until May. Hopefully with all the added hardware cloth on top of the fence they will give up.
These are some of the fruits we picked today: asian pears, apples, figs, passion fruit, Flavor Grenade, Emerald Drop, and Prime Ark Freedom blackberries
Not shown was the perfect Elephant Heart plum I let my daughter tried today. The picky eater thought it was very good, just a little less than Flavor King. She didn’t like the Emerald Beaut plum because the skin is too sour even when the inside is very sweet.
The skin of the Elephant Heart is thin, so it adds just a little sour taste which is good. The skin of the Emerald Beaut is thick and kind of chewy so the sour tatse is more dominant. Don’t let the Elephant Heart get over ripe because the flavor will be very bad.
