Recently I learned there are over 200 Hawthorne varieties some of which are better for food value than others. Like quince the Hawthorne seems very closely related to pears. Tejocote is a variety said to be grown in Honduras, Mexico, and the United States. Is anyone growing Tejocote or another variety of Hawthorne that is particularly good? Pear, Hawthorne, and quince are all semi-compatable for grafting and could possibly be used for rootstocks for one another.
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Clark,
I’ve got 6-8 mayhaw selections grafted & growing here; have been fruiting for several years, and I have managed to get enough fruit to make a few batches of mayhaw jelly. Cedar-hawthorn rust has been the biggest issue I’ve had to deal with… some years worse than others.
All grafted onto native cockspur hawthorn (C.crus-galli) understock.
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I read an article about Tejocote the other day that caught my interest. Apparently it is the most smuggled food from Mexico to the US.
Does anybody know how hardy they are? I’ve assumed that Hawthorne in general should be no problem in my moderate climate but when I hear that something is popular in Mexico and smuggled across the border, it makes me wonder. Have they just not caught on yet in the US, or do they have special growing requirements.
Apparently they are now being commercially grown in California.
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Precious little information is available on the Tejocote or any Hawthornes for that matter. Like the quince they are virtually unheard of in the U.S. . Thanks lucky for the information you provided. Murky those are good questions as I to have only heard of it being grown in California. The fruit is very large for a Hawthorne.
Here’s a little web research, in case it’s helpful.
Apparently hardy to zone 7. pfaf database see link for more info.
Label.Tejocotes
SFGate artilcle - available in N. Calif. “* for adventurous backyard growers, a rare-fruit nursery in Santa Clara County is poised to release its first generation of tejocote trees - the first such trees certified disease-free and legally available in Northern California.*” also "Tejocotes look like crabapples and smell like the tropics, a sweet aroma with startling hints of grape soda and bubblegum. "
At the end of the SFGate article - "
The Arboreum Co. A small number of bare-root ‘Castenada’ tejocote trees will be available online only in January for $50 each. www.arboreumco.com.
They have zero in stock
Melissa’s Produce offers them. Maybe if they can be found in grocery store, they can be grown from the seeds.
Maybe they can be found in a Mexican market such as Becerras or Supermercado Mexico for a taste.
.
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Thanks for the info that leaves me out on being able to grow them.
I bought a handful to try. So far they dont seem that special, Sort of “I could have been an apple if I would have studied harder”. There are few more to try.
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Good find. I might have gone right past them. They look like little tangerines in the picture.
This is the article I read I think. I’ll read just about anything by David Karp: Amazon.com
He says:
The flesh is mealy and not very tasty raw but has a sweet-tart apple-like flavor when cooked, and is rich in pectin, which contributes an appealing unctuousness to ponche.
So it sounds like its primarily for cooking and for ponche. Maybe we should compare it to quince instead of apple.
Murky, maybe we should cross them with Chinese haw for better texture and more tartness.
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One Green World is offering tejocote trees for spring. They have red fruited and yellow fruited varieties.
I love trying new things. Maybe the ones in the grocery store were not fresh?
However, maybe because Im getting older… it seems like a lot of money for something so nebulous. Any new thoughts on these since this old posting? Anybody try growing these?
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i bought some fruit and will plant the seeds. excited to see how they grow.
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I bought the last 2 Golden Azarole trees Rolling River Nursery had.
Yeah, they are expensive, but stuff that has a chance of adapting to our area is very limited.
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Curious About Crataegus azarolus Looked at the rolling river Nursery
How is gthis coming along I read about this before I believe
(also recently on a french Nursery mediterranean Hawthorn )
Tejocote Hawthorn out of hand has no flavor really,
but That is a amazing fruit Got to make it boiled just cover fruit with water
Bring to rolling boil then turn down heat boil 45 minutes
At least this is what I do
IF you drink this with no sugar added it will have no flavor
I make a syrup so it is concentrated takes up less space
tastes like apple juice with vanilla added
(after adding water ,and sugar to make a juice ,
but syrup sure is filling if drinking before bed,
and do not care about flavor with no sugar added just want to feel fullness I discovered)
Last year they were only 1 buck a pound if I had the time I would of went back
, and bought much more only got about 5 pounds or so
(seriously if I had the money a couple hundred pounds to have all year)
I did de seed them (which took time as I could of just boiled)
so have some seed .
I think this might grow in zone 5
Un related In Chicago If anyone lives close by we have a large fruited Hawthorn (about same size) along lake in lakeview (not far from Montrose beach kind of hard to explain though as you’d have to walk down lake shore drive in the grass.
This has been a bad year for Fungal stuff at least for the June berries so I am not sure if I can report on our landscape trees of what the good Juice they would make (tea) as well , but I can tell they would just need to boil a lot of fruit since flavors are diluted – those have more of a sweet sour diluted crab apple flavor kind of .
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My friend in Santa Rosa sent me a little seedling of Tejocote. It was rough, dried out and looked dead but we potted it and now 6 weeks later it has finially sent out some shoots! I am so excited. This fruit is so rare here in USA. I remember they used to smuggle the fruit here for the MX groceries at Xmas time. The seeds need to be cold stratified for 6 months to germinate. I think I got some started as well (or are those apple seeds (lost tag:()… Update in a few months…
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I bought whole bunch of these back in Xmas time and still have some kinda dried. I might try to grow some seedings just for fun.
Depends on where are you live, it is readily available here in Chicago land area.
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I’m told they need to be cold stratified in the refrigerator for several months. Otherwise it takes quite a while for them to germinate so you need to have patience. I got lucky and was given a plant which is finally starting to grow. It is a rare plant here in usa. I am wondering if anybody knows how cold hardy they are? I used to grow hawthorns in Pennsylvania where I got 20 below zero. Here I am in San francisco. No freezes but pretty cool in the summer. Apples do well here and hawthorns also.
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Saw tejocote, in fruit, in the botanical gardens in SF when I visited my daughter in 2018. Scared some fruits from the ground below it with the intent of trying to grow some seedlings, but misplaced them somewhere along the way
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Did your tejocote seeds ever sprout?
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As I mentioned a friend gave me a newly sprouted tejocote seedling. I thought it was a goner but it miraciously survived and is now thriving. It is still in a pot but I will transplant it into my garden soon.
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There were some hawthorn fruit in a mexican grocery I used to frequent. they looked interesting and I bought a few. No flavor at all. They must require some kind of processing.
I’ve planted some chinese hawthorns and they wither in our Summer. I have had success with mayhaws, although they do get a mild case of rust some years, but I just cut the affected parts off and destroy the cuttings.
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