Or you can start an espalier collection along your property line or against the south side of your house.
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I fell for the fig collecting trend four years ago. It is definitely fun, but I got bored and realized a few tasted exactly the same to me. I haven’t looked in a long time but Ross the fig boss had a Google spreadsheet with many varieties broken down into flavor profiles and I came to the conclusion that if I were to start all over I’d just pick one from each category.
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Aren’t you growing haskap too?
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I don’t feel like I fell for anything. I’m enjoying growing the cuttings just for the sake of growing things, weather I get fruit or not. I didn’t get into gardening to lament being able to grow things.
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Yep, the final frontier, espalier!
@FarmGirl-Z6A … i tried them… had blue pagota and blue sea from OGW.
I bought late bloomers because of my late frost issues… they did bloom late finally on year 4… and produced fruit… that my birds loved.
Problem is they turn blue (ripe color) but are not ripe for at least another week… so you have to let them hang on the bush… and well while hanging there looking ripe my birds would eat them all.
I did get a few… that had hung a while… but they did not taste good at all… nothing like a blueberry. Quite bland… a little moist and tart and that was about it.
I planted them expecting to have a decent tasting very early berry…
But no… strawberries and goumi ripened before my haskap and tasted way better.
I ended up yanking them.
A few other things that did not work out here… jostaberries, red currants, jujube, peaches…
I have added Crandall clove currants and Jeanne Goosberry this year after hearing reports that they should do well in my hot/humid southern TN climate.
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Why didn’t jujube do well? I’d imagine you can find a variety that thrives there
@Gkight … I planted 2 jujube trees (from OGW)… Shanx li and GA866 spring 2020.
This was like a year before i found the growingfruit board.
The descriptions from OGW catalog sounded good… but not long after joining here… I was informed that thise were not such good choices.
My Shanx li… 3 years later… when it fruited… was determined by others here to be Lang fruit (it was pear shaped).
My GA866 set a few small fruit in year 3… but dropped them later. Others here had warned me that GA866 may not even ripen properly for me here. Evidently it requires a long hot season to ripen properly.
I got a decent harvest of (Lang fruit) in year 3 and they were extremely dry, corky, a little sweet but no real flavor.
If you soaked a piece of Styrofoam in weak sugar water… then ate it… that is what Lang was like.
Very disappointing.
I had them planted in ground in a food forest bed… and had raspberries and strawberries growing under them and on up the bed between the jujube and first apple tree in the bed (gold rush).
In year 2… the jujubes started sending up root shoots all over the food forest bed… mostly within 5 or 6 ft of the jujubes.
.
The ones that came up in the yard got mowed… no problem there.
But the majority of those were coming up mixed in with my raspberry and strawberry. I had to dig those out.
In year 3… those root suckers were coming up in force… as much as 15 feet down the food forest bed. What a mess.
It was eventually so frustrating… all things considered… that i made the call to dig those jujube trees out and toss them.
I still had to battle jujube root suckers for months after that.
If I ever get crazy enough to try jujubes again (doubt it)… but i would plant 2 in a small bed by themselves… that could be mowed around to get rid of all the root suckers that come up.
But still in the bed… you would have to regularly cut off or dig up root shoots. I am much more into lower maintenance things today so I doubt my ground will ever welcome another jujube.
True… i did not give them 5 6 7 years to hopefully improve… the root shoot maintenance made that impossible.
So far this spring… i have seen no jujube root shoots… and i am GLAD of that.
TNHunter
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You could graft a better taste jujubee on the lang. Honey jar and sugar cane ripens here and should ripen in your area. Use the suckers to graft more jujubees
@IL847 … Annie… HJ would be one I would try… if I ever do add jujube again.
And… possibly one of the sweet/tart jujubes (chico, black sea ?) I dont care for sweet only fruits… got to have a combo of sweet and flavor… and prefer some tartness in the mix.
But i will not put them in a long bed with other things… the jujube root shoots take over the entire bed. Way too much maintenance keeping them in check.
I would do a 2 in 1 planting in a small round bed that was isolated (not near any other beds)… so weekly mowing would take care of most of the root shoots…
In year 3 with my jujubes… i bet i cut and dug out over 100 jujube root shoots. Way too much maintenance. They had to go.
Could try a 2 in 1 planting in a metal raised bed.
That should at least keep the root shoots contained in the bed space
I grafted GA866 and Chico on Lang three years ago. They both bloomed but didn’t have ripe fruits. I have heard that GA866 is a shy bearer
Yeah I got GA866 just before reading on here about how terrible they are (as producers) but I’m also stubborn so I think I need to learn for myself. Worst case I can graft over it in a few years. Honey jar is beside it so hopefully it will make up for the other
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A single fig costs $1.50? WTF?! I bought figs from the store one time in my life and that cured me of doing it ever again. They were not good at all compared to a tree ripened beauty. I suppose if I didn’t live in a fig growing region I might be inclined to buy them since they are one of my favorite fruits. To some extent store bought figs have to be better than no figs at all, right? That seems like reasonable logic.
I see you are in zone 6. In recent years I’ve learned that a few varieties can be grown quite well in that cold of an area. I don’t know exactly what method is used, but I know people get some good crops despite having such a short season. I’ve never tried it, but people often talk about liking the Chicago Hardy. Last year my favorite figs were brebas from s black zadar. It tasted like brown sugar and black currant jam.
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A fresh fig costs $1.5 each in grocery store is normal considering the shipping cost, on shelf cost, and leftover cost etc… more likely the store will not make money on selling the figs for that price in non-commercial fig grow areas.
Most of us here grow fruits not because cost is low. Growing fruits is a hobby, enjoyment, and achievement. Zone6 fig is not reliable in ground, it will cost more to produce a fig in zone 6.
Keep the Kieffer. I think part of the joy of fruit trees is sitting outside on a warm day and dreaming about the jars of fruit you will someday have in the basement. We planted 4 pear (3 Bartlett) and the Kieffer is the only one with more than 100 pears. My wife says that I buy fruit trees like she buys shoes. I have a little more than 1 acre and already have 40 fruit trees. Last week, I bought two persimmon and had to rip out one of the Bartletts because it was not producing. I plant everything 12 feet apart and the amount of ‘sunny’ spaces has dropped to zero. My favorite is peaches because they produce thousands of peaches within 3 years. One of them is a Contender. The apple trees are still not producing even though it has been 7-8 years and they are in prime sunny spots. And our cherry trees are wonderful for my wife. In May I will smile as she climbs the trees and complains how many cherries she “has to” pick.
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I feel you. I look at my yard and think “could I fit a tree there?”. On top of that I have been sprouting seeds to see what I get years from now.
glad i’m not the only one that bought a couple of plants… then suddenly felt like they had to buy every known variety of that same fruit
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I have 2 pears… grafted to callery rootstock… kieffer and improved kieffer.
It is rare to see any other pear variety surviving (fire blight) in my county.
I plan to graft orient and bell pear to mine for other varieties.
I don’t need fancy… just something that lives and produces.
Kieffer makes delicious pear preserves… and if ripened properly are fine for fresh eating. I will be glad when mine start producing.
My whole family will get pear preserves for Christmas… and love em.
TNHunter
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Best part of the popular all you can eat joint is they can their own pears and peaches from local sources. I love it when they break in a new jar and a fresh variety is in it. Kind of like a surprise. The peaches are good but not nearly as diverse.
Is your 1/2 acre your yard or your entire lot with the house?
I have 27 trees ranging from sprawling apples to a stick of a grafted Anjou pear, all on a 1/3 acre plot.
Wishing you health and fruitfulness of your orchard!
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