That’s one big loquat. What cultivar may I ask?
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I would say Blackberries are my most rewarding. I have two trellised out and with little to no effort have enough blackberries to feed a small army. I simply suppress the canes that sprout up by snipping them off until about June and then take the canes that sprout after the fruit is gone from current canes and trellis them out while getting rid of last years canes. Takes about 30 mins sometime in August to get it ready for next year. I have Osage ( thornless) and Kiowa (vicious thorns).
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finally found a reliably hardy heavy fruiting blackberry that can thrive in my zone 4a. put in 5 nelsons a week ago. i love blackberries!
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Yeah please, what is the name of that variety?
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I’m going to second @brad 's vote for Contender peach. Thanks to a late freeze almost all my peach trees have little or no fruit this year, but thanks to Contender’s late blooming it is as loaded as ever. I’ve had this same thing happen other years. And its not only about it’s ability to produce in spite of late freezes- the peaches are large, beautiful, and incredible tasting. The trees always have a good crop and the fruit is outstanding- doesn’t get more rewarding than that!
A close second would be Saijo Persimmon. I don’t spray them at all, so is is one of my easiest fruits to grow. Additionally, the fruits are just out of this world good- probably my favorite tasting fruit I grow. My only complaint is that my fully grown tree- which produces well- isn’t big enough to provide all the fruit I can eat. That’s why I have just planted 3 more of these trees! 
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Glad to hear this about Contender. I bought a Contender in a pot and just got around to planting it in the ground. It has about 20 peaches (I refused to go another year without peaches)
So far the tree is holding on to the peaches. But I just transplanted the tree 2 days ago. Hopefully it won’t drop too many of them. Can’t wait to taste them after your nice words.
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Out here in the PNW, it has to be either the Methley Asian Plum that is the first tree fruit to ripen (early July) or Desert King fig tree. Both these are 100% carefree (except birds, raccoons, squirrels etc.)
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Mark,
Can you compare the size of the fruits and taste of World best mulberry to Illinois Everbearing. I got Pakistan, White Pakistan, IE, Kokuso, Girardi, Oscar, rooted some Thai mulberry, and I just grafted some World Best a few weeks ago. I just want to see the comparison for reference.
Tony
Sorry…I don’t have any ripe ‘Illinois’ yet. But ‘Illinois’ is similar in size (although sightly smaller and thinner) and taste to ‘Silk Hope’. For fresh eating, those two are hard to beat (In my opinion). ‘World’s Best’ lacks the flavor intensity and sweetness of ‘Illinois’ and ‘Silk Hope’, and is a more firm type of mulberry. But ‘World’s Best’ does have an agreeable flavor, with none of the after-taste of some mulberries (like ‘Issai’). Taste is very specific to the person. Still, it is my favorite for a couple reasons: It is the first mulberry to fruit…I picked over 30 pounds this year before I saw the first bug…Sure I have to throw a tarp over it on a couple cold nights…But bug-free fruit just seems more enjoyable. Also, the large size of the fruit and the abundance of fruit and the size of the bush makes picking a breeze. As I have said in another post…Only a small fraction of my mulberries are ever eaten fresh…Most get frozen or dehydrated to be used throughout the year. In most of the ways I use mulberries I can’t notice much of a difference between cultivars. Yesterday I started my third batch of wine using ‘World’s Best’ and (in my opinion) is better than wine from grapes.
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Mark,
Where are you located? Can any of your favorite varieties be grown in containers? Do they need cross-pollination or male/female trees? Sorry, but I know next to nothing about growing mulberries…
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I E fruits are about 1.25 to 1.5 inch. But from your photos of all the mulbs, the Pakistan blew them all away with sweetness and size 3 to 4 inches but no tang.
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I’m located in North Florida. Mulberries grow quite well in containers. I would suggest dwarfing and prolific bearers such as ‘World’s Best’ or ‘Gerardi’. ‘Gerardi’ is slow growing, but you won’t have to continually prune excessive growth, and it produces high quality and abundant fruit over a very long time. Its fruit size is medium…not quite as large as the fruit posted above. Most (if not all) mulberries do fine without cross-pollination, but there is some anecdotal evidence that cross-pollination can increase flavor and size of fruit.
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My most rewarding trees are my seedling apricots. I nursed them along for 7 years until I got my first few cots, but they are so good! It’s extra rewarding knowing that my old tree’s (RIP) children are so awesome, delicious and of my making. I had planned to graft one of them that has a really nice growth habit, but it didn’t fruit this year (fruited well last year, but but none of the cots on that side of the yard bore any this season…), so I’ll wait and see what it does this summer to learn more about it.
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For me it is my fig tree. There were several ripened everyday, so you have fruits everyday but not too many at once. And tree ripened figs are so good.
My best tree has been my home Depot $1 peach tree . It is full of peaches for the third year in a row. I have learned that many of these trees will have an off year after a good year, but not this tree. Last year I was able to make 2 and a half cases of peach wine, eat about 75 peaches and still give and sell some.
Here it is.
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Peaches, like apples, can overbear in a given year which then causes the tree to lose vigor in the following year leading to a much lower crop. The lower crop then gives time for the tree to recover for the next year, which can lead to another overbearing year, and the cycle continues. Sounds like your tree doesn’t have this issue, which is great!
Most people don’t mind the cycle, but if you want to have a more predictable crop from year to year you should be able to manage it by thinning and pruning the buds fairly aggressively every year. This has the added benefit of generally providing you with bigger, better quality fruits as the tree can focus its efforts into fewer buds than it would have otherwise.
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Yeah, I do thin it a few times up to harvest. I did my first pass through two nights ago and will wait till after “June Drop” to see what the tree wants to drop on its own. I will then go through again and thin to one peach per hand width, or there about.
thanks!
That’s why I love Sharpblue blueberries, great sweet flavor and they ripen a few at a time, sometimes all the way from April through November.
Single most rewarding fruit tree? Redfield apple.
In its short life this tree has demonstrated so many attributes: hardy to zone 3, maybe 2, self fertile and frost tolerant while bloomin’ first in line, precocious, disease & insect resistant - no need to guard it against codling moth, useful for sauce pie jelly and cider due to its acid, tannin & pectin levels, decorative - the foliage is dark while its blossoms are deep pink and purple. Fairly vigorous; good size apples.
I have friends who want an orchard large enough to support several families. Redfield is top of my list for them, and I hope to graft three trees for that orchard next year.
If I may mention the next in line? Hunt Russet is the contender:
Hardy to zone 3, light pink bloom that doesn’t fade much, beautiful tasty high Brix & balanced acid long keeping apples. I await a second taste this fall, which may secure its position. Moderate production, semi-spur (no spur makes seven flowers; I’ve seen from one to six so far), mid-late bloom, no disease or insect problems. Oh, the Brix on its first two samples was 18 & 19. (Single sample from '19 eaten January 4. 2020: 21 Brix & still so complex it didn’t seem sweet. Still nearly hard. too.)
Among the other apples that have fruited here to date: Liberty, Ashmead’s Kernel, Queen Cox, Winekist, Bardsey, Rambour Franc, Honeycrisp, (Claygate Pearmain & Edelborsdorfer each offered a single fruit last year & I covered them with orchard socks, so don’t know if they might be unattractive to codling moth), none have proven to be as easy to care for as Hunt and Redfield.
This list is subject to change in a few years. Connell Red, GoldRush, Lamb Abbey Pearmain & Rosemary Russet are gaining size and maturity. Connell just finished debut bloom over 1/3 third the tree and I’ll cover most of the fruit to see how codling moth acts with it. GoldRush may bloom next year, & Lamb Abbey the following year. Rosemary was grafted in '18, so expect to wait another three years to know more about its performance here at 2032 feet elevation, 2,000 chill hours, 15% relative humidity most summer days, temperature over 89°F 12-26 days annually, 150 days between frosts most years, in sandy soil to which I add eggshells & dolomite to the drip line.
Day before yesterday a graft of Orleans Reinette showed life, & I’m still awaiting results for Maiden Blush, Glockenapfel, Twenty Ounce, Ananas Reinette & MN 1734.
I’ll keep you posted.
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