This year I have quite a few fruits that I’m getting to try for the time which is always exciting. These are 3-4 year old trees for the most part. I’m just a bit excited about them and wanted to see if my feelings about them match yours if anyone wants to comment. If not, I just have to tell someone about my new, first time fruits so you guys are the ones that have to endure it.
I am getting 2 yellow plums for the first time. One is shiro. My small tree was LOADED with them (this is its 3rd year!). I must say, I’m not thrilled at all. They aren’t bad, just a bit bland. Not very sweet- below average sweetness compared to my other 15 or so plum varieties I’d say. They also get very soft- even mushy if left too long.
I am also getting Byron Gold for the first time. For whatever reason, my 5 year old tree set a very light crop- like probably 20 on the whole tree which is about 8 ft and bushy but with a nice clear center. I have about 15 varieties of plums very close by, so its hard to imagine its a pollination issue. ANyway, I rate it far above Shiro. WAY better. Its also about twice as big. They are very pretty and almost all have a red blush on the sun facing side. They are very firm even when I let them hang a long time after ripening.
I love giving away boxes of mixed fruit to everyone I know, and whatever I think of the yellow plums, they certainly add a beautiful pop of color to my fruit boxes where almost everything else is SOME shade of red.
Carored Peach- Its an early peach for sure. Just about 1 week after my very earliest peaches (which are Florida King and an unknown). I put Carored pretty high on my early peaches, but honestly that’s a not saying all that much- early peaches just aren’t that great including Carored. But I like it pretty well and enjoy early peaches more than most of you probably do just because its so fun to get the first peaches of the year after a winter with nothing fresh (store bought doesn’t even count!)
Carolina Gold Peach- This is one of my very earliest freestones. It is WONDERFUL. The fruit have the classic red on yellow look and they are VERY VERY large. Probably my largest peach besides J.H. Hale. It did, however, set a very light crop (which may explain the large size) But they are beautiful, juicy, just as good as peaches get.
Coronet-N Peach - this is a great peach! It is tied with above as my earliest freestone and it has a taste comparable to many later peaches. Here on the TN/KY line it just ripened this week. Its also interesting to look at. It is solid red all over, and the flesh is fairly red as well. Not totally, but its the reddist flesh peach I grow.
Harvester Peach- OK, I am very suspicious that these (i have 2 that were planted at same time 4 years ago) are mislabled based on them ripening here in late june and most harvest charts showing them as a later peach. I also bought them from a big box store so we all know that means the label is almost worthless!!! Still, I have to call them that until they get another year or two experience. I find first time fruit can come in at strange times and as tree matures its ripening time can as well. Also, my ripening times for my older trees are all over the place this year, so its a strange year. Still, hard to imagine a late summer peach ripening in late June…but we’ll see. They are actually really good, slightly larger than an average peach, free stone, sweet, juicy, all that. They do, however, seem to be more susceptible to brown rot than almost any of my other peaches. But again, its hard to know in 1 year if that is true. My whole orchard is absolutely being consumed by BR this year anyway, so these 2 could just be getting the worst of it. But I lost the vast majority of them to it.
OK, if you folks don’t mind, I’ll be returning to this thread a few times in the comming months. I have other peaches, apples, pears, plums, and other things that have a variety with fruit this year that I’ve never gotten before but which aren’t ripe YET.
Thanks for letting me share. My “normal” friends and family have stood about all the fruit talk they can for this year! ha
