Prune d’Ente: best tasting fruit in America?

[fruitnut]

I also like prunes. The common ones in the store aren’t great but can be good. I don’t buy very much fresh or dried fruit. I’ve got so much dried fruit I made this summer I’m giving a good deal of it away. I can only eat so much.

[BobVance]

Last year I found Honey Royale at Stop and Shop (they often have the name stamped on the box). Most were OK, but a bit bland at ~16 brix. I think one or two of them was in the 20-22 brix range and those were pretty good. I’m sure 26 would be great.

I’m not sure if I like prune plums so much simply because of the high brix (something not often found in the store outside cherries and occasionally nectarines/mangos/lychees).

@jujubemulberry

french plum prunes are one of my two favored prunus fruits

I’ve had them several times and thought that they were very good, but wouldn’t put them on a pedestal. Valor, President, and Empress are just as good and maybe a bit better. And maybe a bit larger too, based on the ones I’ve seen.

Here’s a pic of some President and Empress from earlier this summer:

Plums 2015

I’ll third that. Similar to Scott, I had a bit more come through the early frost. But I lost almost everything to bugs and animals. I got about 10 Toka, which held up very well through the frost and the bugs. I got some, at which point the animals saw “their” crop being pick and devoured the rest. I suspect that it was raccoon as well and am attempting to remedy the situation (10 so far in a few weeks). Since I don’t have any more from the yard, here is what I’m eating from the farmer’s m…

@jujubemulberry

Some of the unnamed mango varieties are actually superior to the fancy-named mangoes sold here.

This is the first year I’ve sampled a mango I really liked. The (huge) Keitt from Mexico are so tasty that I’ve been giving other mangoes another chance.

[jujubemulberry]

prunes have this rich, complex flavor couldn’t get enough of. And intrigued how that taste could possibly develop from the fresh fruit it came from.

@BobVance

but a bit bland at ~16 brix. I think one or two of them was in the 20-22 brix range and those were pretty good.

as with other fruits, many drupes are of better quality better when home-grown, since could pick them at their prime.

@BobVance

Valor, President, and Empress are just as good and maybe a bit better. And maybe a bit larger too, based on the ones I’ve seen.

may already have tried those, but not sure… will check the labels and boxes next time!

@BobVance

But I lost almost everything to bugs and animals.

here, fruit-eating bugs/animals are sadly not as much a concern for many prunus species as sudden death/short-life syndromes are.
i believe i posted this picture last May in admiration of this tree in our neighborhood, as the size and estimated age indicate a good deal of hardiness

it changed its appearance just a couple of months ago, and one could tell by the leaves it was not because it slipped into early dormancy…

@BobVance

The (huge) Keitt from Mexico are so tasty

with mangoes, the bigger and plumper ones are typically the more mature ones. You could anticipate better quality/bigger mangoes as years go by. Mexican mangoes are getting incredibly cheap and abundant nowadays due to the increase in acreage.
the handling and shipping costs to CT should soon be offset with agreeable price points for both sellers and buyers…

[ross]

A little off topic, but as someone that enjoys prunes should I have a prune plum type? I’m assuming the french varieties mentioned are quite hard to find. Can anyone recommend one for the humid northeast?

[fruitnut]

@ross

Can anyone recommend one for the humid northeast?

Alan can if you can get his attention. Maybe his favorites aren’t prune plums but European plums which to me is about the same thing. I believe a true prune is a plum that can be dried with the seed in the fruit.

[SMC_zone6]

Here’s a good thread about that: Valor hits 27%!

[mrsg47]

Ross, I’m in humid RI and I have ‘Green Reine Claude de Bavay’, 'Bavay d’Oullins,
Two Nancy Mirabelle, one Metz mirabelle and one Italian plum prune. The mirabelles take a while to fruit, about six years and Italian prune plum is excellent, the Bavay’s are very slow growers, but the fruits is the sweetest I’ve ever eaten.

[ross]

@mrsg47 @SMC_zone6 @fruitnut

I’m assuming they are MUCH better than the prunes you’d get canned at the grocery store?

[mrsg47]

Yes. The thought of eating a canned plum is scary.

[mamuang]

Mrs. G,
What is the difference taste-wise between Reine Claude de Bavay and Bavay d’ Oullins?

[ross]

Well I’m sold if they do ok with disease!

[mrsg47]

Reine Claude is sweeter. You will have to spray for curcs, borers, scab, black knot, mold of all sorts. They come with a price.

[mamuang]

Last year I got Bavay scionwood from you. The graft took but I don’t know which Bavay it is?

[Bradybb]

I thought of fruitnut when seeing this picture.Did they leave an “e” off the end or is this another fruit,maybe Apricots?
The photo may be from Andy Mariani’s Orchard in Morgan Hill,CA Brady

[Bradybb]

Thanks everyone.A lot of good info here. Brady

[mrsg47]

It is Reine Claude (the really good one!)

[jujubemulberry]

probably peach or nects, they seem too big to be cots

[Stan]

My bet would be those are apricots.

[mrsg47]

Very similar.

[Vincent_8B]

My prune plum D’enty 707 from Raintree nursery finally has fruits after 6 years of planting. During that time a couple of big branches trimming because I thought it was not suitable to fruit in Western Washington. The tree most the time very clean from diseases and never spray any chemicals yet. I almost remove the tree away. Now every excited looking forward for tasting the fruits this summer 2023.