@JesseS
For me meader is usually the earliest.
Followed by early golden
Then prok
This year I had a garretson that had its first crop and it had some ripe 2 weeks befor meader, They were good early, later I am having a hard time telling which ones are astringent, several still on trees.
Meader seemed late this year. And I am sill eating some.
In defense of meader , ( some people don’t like it.). I do like it.
I have a tree on the path to my garden, it’s often the first to ripen , and has a long harvest season.not a concentrated drop. So I find myself eating some often when I pass by. They are smaller than some other varietys.
With less mass they often don’t splatter like bigger softer varietys when they hit the ground.Mine are seedless here, good. Still a few hanging now.
Early golden seams to be a good producer here, shorter harvest season , so more to pick during that time.soft, big all gone now.
Prok is my favorite to eat, very large ,very soft, often splatters when it hits the ground.very good flavor ! Still a few hanging now.
Ruby : 2 trees had a bad early leaf drop for many years. Not much fruit,
This year I gave them some borax and a good dose of nitrogen,and no leaf drop ,and a decent crop of fruit.unfortunatly I don’t really like the fruit.not as sweet kind of odd texture, but still a lot on the trees, slowly ripening , maybe next year they be different ? It seems each year they are all a little different than the year before
My sweet lent is not ripe yet
As for@cousinfloyd question about different tast of pulp purée , well I’dont know, I pick what I can each day, and mix different varietys together.
There are differences in tast ,texture etc. of different varietys for sure,although hard to put to words.
My biggest challenge is to find the ones without astringency ,
I look for ones that have changed to a more golden translucent color.soft and slightly wrinkling .come off tree easily (just befor they rot ?) try to pick ground clean each day.so the ones on the ground have only been there 1 day. This part is not a perfect science,there are still astringent ones that slip through the grading .