Aronia berries. I didn’t think they’d be great, but dang—mealy, astringent and generally unpleasant. Hope they can be cooked into something good, because they sure aren’t worth eating raw. Was going to experiment with them some this fall/winter, but fruit set got gonked by our late freezes. Oh well.
I actually really like good figs. Some well-ripened Malta Black figs are among the very best-tasting things I’ve ever grown. We’re talking about little bags of excellent strawberry jam here! (And who wouldn’t like that?) Figs are disappointing, though, insofar as they have a hard time producing their best in my humid Kentucky climate. Too much rain (and we often get way too much), and they’re terrible—and in rainy, humid weather the skins sometimes get fungal infections that make them taste like old, moldy leaves . . . .yech! The hairy-fruited ones—like the Mt. Etna types—seem to be the most susceptible to these nasty skin infections. And then there are the SWDs, which start becoming a problem in September. Maggot-filled balls of corruption are always disappointing.
Some individual cultivars are also disappointing. Ronde de Bordeaux figs looks tasty—but, thus far, I have not enjoyed eating them, except those very few that got to hang until wrinkly-ripe. Those were good, and had a hint of something spicy that reminded me a little of glazed beets. They usually don’t get to hang that long here, though—especially with their very open eye. When picked merely ripe, the skin has an unpleasant green flavor. I dunno, maybe the fruit will get better as the plants age? I hope so.
Actually, all of my biggest plant disappointments usually involve finding that something touted as “problem-free” is anything but. For instance, I love ground cherries—generally regarded as an easy-to-grow plant—, but for the past several years mine have gotten some sort of disease that takes them out before I can get a decent harvest. (BTW, I think it’s a virus—possibly transmitted by thrips. Am going to spray religiously this year). And then there are figs again. Spray-free? Not for me. Somebody sent me fig bud mites (+FMD!) along with my first sticks. They infested everything and spread fig mosaic to most of what I had. I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. And they may (or may not!) be gone, but I’m still spraying!