I know I should have thinned this but I left it at is to prove a point. This is Nicole apricot. Phenomenal producer in low chill conditions, early, and the flavor is phenomenal also. It looks like a bunch of grapes. We will see how the flavor is without the thinning. My other grafts are more balanced.
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Plant some mulberries and loquats. You’ll not be disappointed
Thanks. What cultivars of mulberry are productive and flavorful and early and self-fertile? (sorry if any of those questions are novice questions but I don’t know much about them).
Pakistan (Black) is all you need. If you have space, Shangrila would be another option. Pakistan is very sweet and Shangrila is tart-sweet. Both are self-fertile and early (early April for you). Both are super-productive.
I think it was @Drew51 who suggested I try Josephine raspberries. They are making an abundance of fruit despite the low chill here. I am sure there are earlier cultivars but so far these are actually my earliest to form berries this year.
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Legacy northern highbush blueberry. I tried this because it worked in Santa Clara, and a different cultivar worked for Applenut. It has now been shown 3 times that you can get northern highbush blueberries in reasonably low chill areas of California.
Desert Dawn nectarines were early this year, first week of May. My aunt and uncle were amazed at how good they were. I was reminded of the gratitude I have for Dave Wilson nursery/Zaigers for the diversity of good cultivars they offer.
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Update:
First week they were ripe, brix was 11-12. Still good but not top tier. Just had one May 15 that was brix 21 and was high flavor. It has been 85 degrees, not sure if that is why the flavor improved.
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Desert Delight nectarines grown at a more coastal location than me were fully ripe today, and had brix of 20. The flavor was outstanding and tasted like peak season nectarines. They were grown with deficit irrigation. There are some changes in the skin making them “ugly fruit.” If anyone knows the pest or condition by sight, let me know! Was it just thrips or something more? Whatever it was did not diminish the flavor.
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@JamesN looks like thrips damage to me.
For the record - I ate 3 Sauzee Swirl peaches the first week in May off of a tiny tree. Very sweet, white peach flavor. Plant this one.
Ripening now are boysenberries, PAF blackberries, Flordaprince peach, pink lemonade blueberries and still slow picking other varieties.
Record year for grapes - especially the concords ( my favorite - I grew up eating them)
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Nicole apricot are ripening on one of the larger grafts. Flavor is outstanding again. The fruit is often cosmetically imperfect which I don’t care about, but might be important to anyone contemplating commercial use in southern California. There are minor cracks and the complexion is sometimes rather freckled.
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Flavor Delight aprium was good here in San Diego. I know it has mixed reviews elsewhere, sometimes very good, sometimes not so much. I will see how it does in future years but I was very pleasantly surprised. I was surprised it was not earlier than Nicole but a second year tree is still adjusting to the climate.
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“But dad, it looked ripe”
“Yeah, it tricked you, and it tricks the birds also. That’s what I like about Redsweet.”
Redsweet apricot looks red when it is rock hard and so far the birds have given up on it. Not sure how long that will last though.
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I love my sunwrinkled apricots. They get so sweet. This doesn’t happen in coastal San Diego and it does not happen in the Bay Area, but it happens in inland San Diego.
My theory: the outer sunburn breaches the water barrier somehow and it just dries up. It always happens right during ripening and it is perfect. The result is better than fresh and better than dried, it is like a crunchy hybrid of the two.
I normally get this on Blenheim and Tropic Gold and Redsweet (all sports of each other). Glad to see it on Bonny Royal also.
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I just finished the last of my arctic star nectarines, very juicy and sweet. We’re also eating donut stark Saturn and Blenheim apricots. Both very delicious with the recent warm weather.
What are your thoughts on Alameda hemskirke apricot?
Do you grow mariposa, satsuma, or improved satsuma plum? I have room for another tree, debating on sauzee swirl peach or one of the plums above.
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I don’t grow those plums. I have amazing success with Laroda.
Hemskirke, Alameda Hemskirke, and even Moorpark are not all that different for me. Moorpark is probably slightly better but they are all amazing. I have a massive crop of Hemskirke this year but it was a very healthy and vigorous tree so I don’t know how to credit that (healthier tree vs more productive cultivar).
Not sure if you already grow Blenheim apricots. If I had one fruit tree for my whole yard, that would be it!
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Did you try Gold Dust at your place (or in Bay Area)? I just got some from Andys and they were exceptional. The brix was around 17 and had everything - sweet, acid, perfect texture. Although, I am on a bit moderate climate than Andys, my guess is it will do well here. DWN lists it as 550 chill hours, so I am assuming it should be productive. Its ripening window will make a great first yellow peach for the season!
I just planted it this year. Same experience as you, it tastes amazing at Andy’s.
Last of the apricots:
Hemskirke colored up unevenly last week but tasted decently ripe even on the white parts. This week the color is more even and the flavor is very good despite me not thinning. This photo is after 50% harvest. It was an enormous yield this year.
Harvesting my annual 2 dozen Moorpark apricots. The tree is not that big or healthy and I suspect I actually could get a decent harvest if I got a more vigorous tree (though the cultivar itself is not vigorous). Sorry for the grainy photo.
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Geo pride was very productive. A little watery but picked too early. It just tasted like a good plum, was not all that unique beyond that. The tree it is on is exploding with growth so I suspect it will only taste better in the future. Seems like it had bloomed during a good time for pollination and it set well and it is off patent so this seems like a good cultivar to have if you are trying to dial in pollination for other cultivars. I am curious how others with mature trees find its flavor. I personally like Laroda much more. So far everything Geo Pride can do, Laroda can do better (produce in low chill areas, pollinate mid-season, fruit abundantly, balance acidity/sweetness/aroma). Laroda is slowly ripening but wont be ready for another week. It is purple but rock hard. My kids are confused by having to wait on a fruit that just colored purple.
Here is Geo Pride, picked a few days too early:
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Sounds like hemskirke is relatively late season for an apricot