I know this has been done before, but the thread I found was a decade ago and didn’t go far.
What is your “must grow” fruit and why?
For me it’s hard. Blueberry is probably my favorite for fresh eating, blackberry for processing, but I’ll probably say fig just because I can buy blueberries (albeit often pitiful quality fruit) blackberries grow wild, but fig is a close contender for favorite fresh fruit and if I want a fresh fig, I have to grow it. It isn’t a matter of cost or the convenience of having them in the yard. I’ve never seen a fresh fig for sale ever. The only figs I’ve ever eaten fresh, I grew.
I didn’t intend to be zone specific. I’m curious to see everyone’s answer and reasoning. Obviously answers outside mine won’t directly help me though lol.
Perfectly ripe astringent persimmons and premium variety figs are some of the best eating experiences you can have.
I’d be willing to accept that the best nectarines, very good cherimoya or mangoes, and exceptional citrus like dekopan can rival my picks, but by and large I can’t really grow any of those.
The amount of effort between growing no fruit and growing some fruit is far greater than the difference between an easy fruit and a difficult fruit. So I’m not going to consider what’s easiest to grow or hardiest to manage (excluding extremes since the assumption is we’re taking about fruit that can realistically be grown where one lives). If you’re already putting in the effort of growing fruit, and you live someplace where they grow, then to my mind there’s no sense in not growing astringent persimmons and premium figs.
Mulberries and pawpaws grow in my area but you won’t find them in stores. Peaches are everywhere in stores here but store/farmers market isn’t the same as tree ripened
Peaches! Definitely not the same anywhere else. Only very few farmers markets have given me home grown, ripened peaches.
Mangos, specifically the improved varieties: Mahachanok, lemon zest, lemon meringue, coconut cream, honey kiss, the list goes on… I’m working on a deal to get a giant greenhouse to grow these.
Ruby supreme guava - best guava variety ever in my opinion
Blueberries - i love fried fish with unripe Blueberries and no store sells unripe Blueberries. I’ve gotten in trouble at some blueberry farms in the old past for asking for the unripe ones to eat. However, i did find out some childhood friends started running one nearby funded by the state and they sold them to me afterwards this was before I had any of my own.
Cherry plums - stores are always too ripe and mushy and that’s if you can find any. Only been able to find them in Florida in the grocery stores
Passion Fruit - was told it was impossible at my last location by the local gardening group so i made it happen and proved everyone wrong. Surprised myself as well because they were so delicious. My super tropical varieties keep dying except a very few so I’ve been replacing them year after year but I think it’s worth it. Only other place that had decent Passion Fruit = Florida small groceries stores from someone’s backyard
Premium fig varieties as well. Costco sometimes sells random figs but most are unripe and don’t taste very good. However they must have something i need vitamin/mineral wise because i keep craving even the unripe ones.
Cherries - personally, I’m allergic to whatever pesticide they put on them so i can’t eat the ones from the grocery stores but i can eat the ones that have been bagged and never sprayed
Mulberries too! Had my first one a few years ago and i love the plants already. I’m slowly collecting these because some are harder to get than others and not every variety tastes the same
I just want better tasting produce. Some of it we can’t grow because it’s impractical – our outdoor space is limited to about 8k sq.ft. Some items such as root vegetables and tomatoes are outstanding at the local store and there’s no reason to labor for them here. There’s also fruits that simply won’t grow here in our emerging 11A climate. The rest … well, we’re probably growing it. Our favorite one? The one that’s currently ripe, or the shelled walnuts waiting to be rediscovered, or the frozen portions in the freezer. For example, we had turkey+pear burritos for dinner last night.
Apricots! One of my very favorite fruits and I an in a zone and place where they are grown. We also have our local outdoor markets that have them in summer. But I am spoiled and like them right off of my trees on my terrace. I now have 26 Fruits trees and 3 of them are apricots.
That’s a pretty good answer. Really it’s one of the main reasons I’ve planted so many different things. It’s hard to beat going outside and picking a perfectly, totally ripe (fill in the blank) and eating it right there beside the plant it grew on. Anything that adds time to the season I can do that is a welcome addition.
Strawberries early spring… ripen for about a month.
Goumies next… ripen for about a month.
Raspberries / Loganberries… ripen for 1.5 months in late spring.
Blackberries … ripen for 1.5 months
Blueberries… ripen for 2 months
Mulberries… ripen for close to 2 months
Novamac apples… start ripening here Aug 1.
Figs (ripen for 3 months)
Fall Raspberries start ripening late August and continue until first hard frost (end of November)
Persimmons… ripen for 2-3 months
CHE ripen for about a month.
Medlar… last to ripen
I have 2 muscadines that have not ripened fruit yet… may get a taste this year and first big crop next year. They are going to be a big late summer/fall contributer.
I have 3 pear trees that have not ripened fruit yet… when they do expecting them to be big fall contributor.
Depending upon how much space you have, but if you have space I’d say mulberries, figs, persimmons, Che, blueberries, brambles, and jujube. I list these for the ease and how applicable to such a wide range of zones. These are all no spray, almost no work fruit. I am always recommending things like these to everyone who wants to grow things but isnt obsessed like me. In some areas I’d add loquat and citrus for the same reasons as the aforementioned. The list would change depending upon the zone so 10+ I’d of course add Mangos and guavas. But the first list applies to likely 90% of site members.
To say something different from some that have already been mentioned, I’d say Chilean guavas (Ugni molinae)!
The berries taste sweet, fruity, floral, with a bubblegum-like sapidity, totally moreish and addictive.
They are evergreen, which is much appreciated in winter when the majority of my fruit plants are reduced to depressing bare twigs.
I have just purchased three new non-variegated cultivars but they are too young to hold fruit, so can’t comment on how they differ to my large, variegated ‘Flambeau’.
‘Flambeau’ has beautiful pink, cream, and light green foliage so it is a great ornamental, but I don’t think it was selected for taste or berry size like some of the named cultivars like ‘Ka Pow’, or ‘Big Burning Pink’
Also, as a lazy fart who hates pruning, they are super simple to grow, only needing light trimming to maintain shape.
That’s a great shame! They seem to love the very mild winters and cool summers here. But at least you can grow many things I can’t as I lack the summer heat
this was before I had any of my own.