Trees of Antiquity bare root trees arrived today!

General Fruit Growing
#1

My high density food forest will be growing. I’m a little surprised to have received the trees in January, since it’s still pretty chilly, but since it never freezes here, anyway, I’m sure it’s no big deal. Here’s what I got:

Golden Nectar plum
Hachiya persimmon (for mom)
Burbank plumcot
Lapins cherry
Magness pear

I found out recently that the Fruitvale district of Oakland used to be planted to cherries and apricots, almost exclusively. I’m about a mile from there as the crow flies, so while I wasn’t going to try to plant cherries initially, I’m giving it a shot. I think we’ve gotten enough chill this winter to actually make them work.

I haven’t had Golden Nectar, Burbank, or Magness, but I’m a sucker for well-written copy and I figure I can dry them, if nothing else. My goal is to extend the growing season from May to December, if possible.

I also have coming from the Arboreum Company:

Howard’s Miracle plum
Padre plum
Hesse (Weinberger) plumcot
Spring Ruby plumcot
des Urbanistes pear
Merton Bigarreau cherry
Cristobalina cherry
Giant cherry

Unfortunately, Arboreum wasn’t carrying some of the other plums I wanted this year, like the Broken Heart, Sierra and Laetitia, but maybe I can squeeze a couple more in next year. Plus I’ll probably be removing one or two trees in the next year or two, like Sweet Treat, and we’ll see about the Splash pluot. It might be, too, that trying to grow any peach-like fruit in my area is folly, despite the fact that the Babcock was developed in Berkeley. The powdery mildew in my backyard seems to want to latch onto Peach leaves, but not plum, pear, or apricot. My neighbor’s peach tree does well, but it only crops every 3 years or so, since she doesn’t take care of it at all.

What have you got coming???

2 Likes
#2

Quite a list sir, I really like T of A stock. I ordered a couple Vidal Blanc and a couple Chambourcin from Fairhaven Nursery in Texas last week and they shipped immediately. We’re having a very snowy cold winter here in SLC but they grow in 1 liter plastic liners I repotted into #1 pulp pots, good for trauma free transplant, so I won’t worry about setting out until at least the last of March. I have 8 Teroldego ordered from Novavine in Santa Rosa but I won’t have them shipped 'til late March too. I also plant very densely but it kind of looks like these grapes will have me planted out except for failures and rejections getting replaced. Happy planting.

1 Like
#3

I’ve got some jujubes coming from ToA. But I hope they don’t come for a while (late March per the invoice). Most, if not all of this batch is not for my yard (getting pretty full), but instead landscaping for rentals. Nice to have a fruit tree that takes care of itself…

Li
Lang
Sugar Cane (3x)
Shanxi Li
Sherwood

2 Likes
#4

have you ordered jujus from toa before? If so, what are the general sizes?
burntridge seems to be the most reasonably-priced, considering the tree sizes

#5

Yup- I did a comparison between 6 different jujube vendors last year. ToA and Sanhedrin had the largest trees, with lots of roots. They also grew the most in year #1.

All the trees from ToA were 5/8"+ caliper, with one (Li) almost reaching 1".

I gave BR a “B”, in 4th place. But, they have a decent selection and are probably the best value (medium sized tree for 25% to 35% less $$.

Just to complete the list, I also got a few from Burnt Ridge and Just Fruits and Exotics this year.

Burnt Ridge:
Chico
Honey Jar
Lang (described as XLarge, so I’ll probably use it as an extra large rootstock…)
Shanxi Li (wanted to try another source of Shanxi, given how mine seem a bit small)

Just Fruits and Exotics (on own roots):
Honey Jar
Sugar Cane

  • hoping to add 1 or two others when their spring inventory gets added. I may also be able to stop by the nursery at some point this winter and see what they have…
3 Likes
#6

Hope you have another pear on the property as Magness is supposed to be worthless as a pollinator. Are you in touch with the Rare Fruit Growers group in CA (think that’s the name). They probably have a lot of information about best tasting varieties you can grow there. How are you deciding what varieties to grow now? I expect I’d be growing at least a couple of DW creations in your location. Plus an Orange Red apricot or one Fruitnut would recommend.

1 Like
#7

senile amnesia is slowly afflicting my gray matter… i saw your post last year but for some reason didn’t remember toa being on the list :neutral_face:

so again, your report there was outstanding!

#8

Well sure because Bob is outstanding…!!

1 Like
#9

Yes, I actually have quite a few pears. I planted a Passe Crassane and Packham’s Pride last year. I also have the des Urbanistes from Arboreum coming. On top of that, I have 2 espalier pears with 6 kinds of pears on each tree (though some of arms have died…I inherited these trees from my sister and they were always on the verge of death, so it’s not surprising). So I SHOULD be ok, but we’ll see.

I will check out Rare Fruit Growers! I do have some DW selections, like Candy Heart, Sweet Treat, Splash, Flavor Grenade, Flavor King, Double Delight nectarine, Donut peach, an aprium, Dapple Supreme…a couple of European plums…and then the “antique” plums like Elephant Heart, Mariposa, Inca…I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two. Of course a Santa Rosa.

I’m not a huge fan of apricots, since they’re so difficult to do right, but the aprium, Hesse, and Burbank are pretty much covering me there. My neighbor across the street has a full grown apricot which he never touches, so I should be ok with pollination.

#10

Yes, you have a very impressive and wide selection.

When I lived in CA I considered apricots very easy. Neglected trees bore beautifully, in the relatively hot Topanga Canyon where I was raised and right near the beach where I often played (surfed, etc.). There, June was considered the winter and July was usually pretty cool but the cots did just as well as up the canyon. Some people don’t like them, but most who have eaten them dead ripe, sweet and juicy do. I assume you have eaten them in that state.

1 Like
#11

I consider apricots to be relatively easy to grow and fruit here in Nor. Cal. The key is not to touch them with pruners until the weather is completely dry, to avoid bacterial canker.

3 Likes
#12

Amen to that. I learned it the hard way, unfortunately.

#13

Oh my, yes. A good apricot is quite a lovely thing. There have been nights when I slipped into my neighbor’s yard and picked a bunch off the ground, since he was just letting them rot. That always pains me. But I’ve made a few amazing cobblers with them, and I even cracked the nuts and added them, too.

The climate here in the banana belt of Oakland (yes, that does exist) is really right for them, for sure, and now that I’m actually growing some form of them, maybe I’ll totally get into having them. But I never buy them at the store. What’s the point?

I have high hopes for the Spring Ruby (formerly a DW/Zaiger product, according to Arboreum) and aprium. I don’t like it when apricots get mealy, so my hope is a little plum will add some luscious juiciness. The Burbank plumcot could also be quite delicious…I put it in the ground yesterday!