@Mtncj
I can’t help with the Autumn Olive part of this post as I never let this section fruit. I initially grafted one Autumn Olive to Red Gem and the other to Sweet Scarlet. This year I top worked both to larger fruiting varieties and substantially reduced the lower section to get more growth on the larger varieties. I plan to let a small amount of the lower limbs of RG and SS remain for cross pollination.
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I’ve never eaten a goumi until yesterday. My tillamook I planted last year is covered in fruit. They just turned red maybe a few days, ago. The fruit seemed soft so I gave it a go. This was absolutely disgusting and astringent. I will say the fruit to pit ratio was good though. I’m hoping they get a lot better with more time. I’ll try one again in a week if nothing else takes them.
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Try eating the seed along with the fruit. I think it balances the astringency.
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I wait at least 10 days after turning red. Softness of goumi isnt a good gage of ripeness. They will get soft soon after turning red but wait for 10 days before picking. Like persimmons they are astringent just under ripe but if allowed to hang 10 days or longer and they are good
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The seed has flavor? It seems like a little piece of cardboard or something inside. I haven’t noticed flavor, and can’t really break it down, just kind of mash the fibers up and make it flat.
The seed is rich in fat and protein if I remember correctly. It’s less that it has flavor in its own right and more that it seems to balance the astringency. If you try to eat too many too quickly you end up with a ball of fiber in your mouth that will need to be spit out, but worth it in my opinion. I would suspect it’s more nutritionally balanced if you you chew up the seed too (even if you spit out the fiber after).
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Plausible, but I’m skeptical. I’ll try to pay more attention.
I have tried eating the seeds and was not impressed. No real flavor. Like chewing up a piece of wood.
My goumi fruit RG SS and C… all become non astringent… once ripe.
Mine have so many fruit on… not sure how you could tell … or keep up with how many days any of them have been hanging red.
The first week or two that they are ripening… i just eat the darker red ones that are soft… and get no astringency.
The last week or two that they are ripening… they all seem to be good.
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@TNHunter thats a great point that i didnt think about. My bush is young but once older an with more fruit it would be very difficult to track days after turning red
I’m trying to remember what variety you grow. Also if you may have a high threshold for considering astringent.
I like some astringency in some foods and drinks, and I like ripe fresh guomi, some varieties better than others. But I still taste some astringency after they are colored and softening. 3 varieties.
Maybe climate or conditions make a difference.
Do you like fresh aronia or quince?
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I have red gem, sweet scarlet since 2020.
Last spring I added 3 grafts of carmine… which grew nicely and produced a nice amount of larger fruit this year.
They all taste very similar to me…
Not my fav fruit… but still worth having. They have a nice mild fruity flavor, and are mildly sweet and tart… it is a good combination.
I eat lots of them every year.
The first year or two that we had them i definately tasted the astringency in earlier berries… but the last few years not so much.
I just dont eat the firm red ones.
Wait for darker red and soft… and notice no astringency at all.
The only fruit that I eat and occasionally get some astringency is persimmons.
I have no problem at all recognizing that…
This spring my wife and I both got the crud… and it affected our taste and smell for several weeks
It was perfect time to not be able to taste goumi astringency.
TNHunter
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you ever try it in jams? mine survived the last 2 winters and are loaded with green fruit. named cultivars of autumn olive from fruitwood nursery are as well.
The best goumi I tasted this year was one that the birds and I had missed and must have hung dark red ripe for an extra week. It was quite soft, but not mushy, and had a pleasant fruit punch flavor with zero astringency. This was Carmine.
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@steveb4… I have not tried it in jams yet.
With red gem and sweet scarlet the seeds are smallish… but with carmine the seeds are quite a bit larger.
I have a potato ricer that i process small batches of persimmons with. It does a good job of getting the pulp out without seeds.
I bet it will work on carmine goumi too.
I will have to try that next year.
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im going to freeze what i get and try it. ill let you know how it goes.
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What did the plants you got from Fuitwood look like.
I tried another one today, and it was much better. Most of the astringency was gone. I detected faint fruit punch like flavor. It was not very sweet, but was also not very tart or bitter. I’m going to give them 5-7 more days then try again. If they sweeten up some they could be very good. Surprisingly the birds have not bothered with them so far. I imagine that will change when they figure out what they are.
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Wondering if anyone besides the originator has fruited and compared Pippi with other varieties? I have fruit on mine but not ripe yet
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I’m thinking about interplanting goumi with my fruit trees. We seem to be in the midst of an endless heatwave on the east coast. Should I just get a hold of myself and wait until spring to plant them or would fall planting be ok?
they were small, rooted cuttings about 6in.