Yes, they are fast growers! What size are your plants now, Jerry Grapenut? Also do you know what cultivars you have?
What about the black sea region? Northern Turkey, Western Georgia, etc… They grow apples and pears there, and Turkey’s black sea provinces are known for their hazelnuts. The climate is humid subtropical.
Maybe they have varieties better suited to your climate. I think places along the black sea may still not have as high humidity as you and might have colder winters, I’m not too sure.
Putting an insulated cooler over them with a big block of ice might be more effective. You should see the lengths people go through to grow high-elevation carnivorous pitcher plants.
About 2 feet tall but very sparse, although they appear to be putting out new shoots some distance away from the main plants too. They started out tiny. I’m not sure what cultivars I have. They were sold generically as Chilean guava by a local nursery.
For hazelnuts specifically the Eastern US is a no go because of a native fungal disease that’s almost 100% fatal. It’s called Eastern filbert blight. Our native hazelnuts are more resistant but much smaller and lower quality.
Similar issues with grapes, Pierce disease and phylloxera are both native here.
Also, I’d expect apples and pears are mostly grown at elevation in Georgia and northern Turkey? I can’t imagine they’re growing many in Batumi for example.
At least by iNaturlist, they aren’t grown much in the low land areas, or much at all starting around Abkhazia.
Apricots are much more difficult in the NE than here in west Texas where greendumb and I call home. In the NE they tend to die for no reason. Here they’re one of the best adapted fruit trees after jujube.
Without having had the fruit, I would say yes. Everyone that has had it has rave reviews on it. I hope to add myself into that column this year. Granted it seems near impossible in the East to be successful with it. But I have hope now
Mulberries for sure. They grow so fast and so well here in East Texas 8b. I got some Pakistan mulberry cuttings and they’re over 6 feet tall in less than a year. They fruit quickly and I haven’t had a nasty mulberry yet.
Leaves are medicinal, and big, which is good for shade.
They produce for decades. We have one that’s over 30 years old at least that still makes berries every year.
I wanted to add a fruit I didn’t see in this thread yet, and I plan to grow in the future. Especially for northern climates or those without much sun, cornelian cherry is a must grow!
That is a shame, but maybe you are not missing out too much…
I think that the taste quality between supermarket nuts and homegrown nuts is probably less dramatic than with fruits. And nuts of course are naturally designed for long storage unlike picked-too-early supermarket fruits. But I could be wrong…
I wonder if you can grow tiger nuts in the Carolinas? Have you tried? They are not really nuts but the tubers look and taste like sweet nuts and Spaniards make “nut milk” horchata with them. It is sedge, it won’t grow to the size of a skyscraper like many tree nuts like pecans and walnuts
I guess that is probably so. I have been to Batumi but I don’t remember what fruit they grew there… I just remember seeing a giant kiwi vine in someone’s garden, and of course the Georgians love growing grapes. They make great wine!
Hazelnuts aren’t usually available around here unfortunately. I see them sometimes, but not often, and they are expensive. But at least pistachio, almonds, and pecans are unusually common and affordable in the US, macadamia nuts to an extent as well. And of course walnuts and cashews.
I’ve considered it but haven’t tried yet.
I actually ordered some hybrid hazelnuts a few weeks ago. Hopefully it works out, they’re supposed to be resistant to the blight, though not immune.
What variety of Cornelian cherries are you enjoying? They are on my “interested bit need more research” list. How do you propagate? Do they graft to native dogwood?
I’m living in Australia for a year and forced to be away from all of the fruits and vegetables in my garden, but I’ve found a decent, if expensive, substitute in the form of Ooooby, a coop of sorts that collects what’s in season from ‘local’ farms and delivers it directly to our door every Wednesday. It’s like night-and-day compared to what I usually get from the grocery stores in the US.
And, as an example, the figs are in season right now so, for all of you who were lamenting the inabiltiy to get fresh figs from the grocerty store, we literally have that option this coming week.
I think there are a handful of Ooooby locations around the world now – they seem to be licensing their software platform to local groups – including US and UK although I can’t seem to find a definitive list. But that may be something to look into both: a) if you’re looking for fresh fruit and vegetables or b) if you have an excess that you’d like to sell and market to likeminded individuals without having to operate a farm stand and such.
(Ooooby = Out Of Our Own Back Yards… I think the original concept was for backyard growers to market their excess goods, but it now seems to be more focused on local commercial growers.)
I’m definitely missing fresh fruit season. Your gloating about fresh figs just rubbed salt in the wound. Maybe I should become migratory and move to the southern hemisphere for the winter.
