Visitors! (And a comparison of cherries)

[jcguarneri]

Yesterday, I was fortunate to have a visit from @mamuang herself! It’s always interesting to meet people in real life. She gave me some great advice on how to plan out and for the rest of my plantings. She was also kind enough to share some of her homegrown fruit and asked that I write up my thoughts.

First up, the cherries. From left to right, White Gold, Black Gold, Carmine Jewel, and Juliet.

White Gold: Nice sweet cherry, good texture and sweet/tart balance. Good cherry flavor, with some plum notes as well.

Black Gold: More typical sweet cherry flavor. Nice solid flavor, to my mind slightly tarter than Bing, but I didn’t have any handy for a direct comparison.

Carmine Jewel: very bright, tart cherry flavor. Acidity is spot on for a pie cherry.

Juliet: less sour than Carmine Jewel, but still definitely tart. To my palate, had the most depth of flavor out of the bunch. I detected a faint almond flavor at the finish. I think this one would be good both for processing and fresh eating. I like to eat plain fresh cranberries, so take my opinion with a grain of salt there.

For another perspective, my 2.5 year old declared them all to be “good.”

Here are the pits in the same order. Notice how much smaller Carmine Jewel is. Juliet is more in line with standard cherry sizing inside and out, so it’s probably a better choice for pitting devices.

Tippy also brought some Tomcot apricots. She said the quality is not as good due to recent rains. I would say they were still some of the closest to perfect fresh cots I’ve eaten. I’m thrilled to learn that the apricots I’m growing have the potential to be anywhere near as good in New England. I know there’s more to it than just variety, soil and, climate, but it gives me something to strive for.

Thanks again for the visit and for sharing!

[mamuang]

Jay,
You definitely has sophisticated taste buds. I had a few cherries each of Utah Giant and Sweet Heart(all cracked). I did not have enough to bring them over.

I like Utah Giant the most.

I don’t think I like either Carmine Jewel or Juliet, too tart for me.

Glad you like Tomcot. Last year, Orangered tasted better than Tomcot. If you need scionwood, let me know.

Thank you very much for the two Manchurian rootstocks (already grafted with Tomcot) you kindly gave me.

Glad to meet you, your wife and your cutie daughter. Your have a good supporting team right there!!! You and your wife are raising a nature-loving, beautiful budding gardener.

Hope you will come down to visit us one of these days.

[mamuang]

Jay,
Here is the pic of Black Gold, Utah Giant and An Unknown (from left to right). The latter two (and White Gold) were grafted on my Black Gold tree.

All had brix at 15 but Utah Giant and the Unknown had firmer texture than Black Gold.

I put a tarp “roof” over the tree to protect them againt recent rain. Still, the Unknown all cracked while Utah Giant (and White Gold, Black Gold) did not.

In my opinion, Utah Giant is the winner for taste, texture and size.

[mamuang]

Today, worried that it would rain and my remaining cherries would crack, I picked pretty much all my sweet and sour cherries.

I had only one branch of Carmine Jewel on a Juliet. That branch produced about a dozen cherries and the whole Juliet bush produced about two dozens total!!
Juliet is larger and slightly sweeter (still tart, however).
Juliet is brighter red and Carmine Jewel was darker red.

[mamuang]

On sweet cherries, I found out that what I thought was Sweet Heart was not SH. Sweet Heart was brighter red, smaller and not that sweet (first year producing).

Don’t know what the unknown is. Still, Utah Giant won the taste test.

From top to bottom:
Black Gold
Utah Giant
Unknown
White Gold
Sweet Heart

[SpokanePeach]

Nice comparison!

[galinas]

I got a visit from @mamuang as well! We exchanged cherries - same cherries from her side and cherry tomatoes from mine . One thing i can tell for sure - my “cherries” bigger

[mamuang]

Galina,
Hey, size does not matter

Your cherries tasted really good, too. Thank you very much.

[jcguarneri]

They all look so good! I like the presentation on the square bowl, too. I really need to add a Carmine Jewel bush. I’d been thinking about it, and the fruits you shared with me made up my mind.

Thanks again for the visit!

[mamuang]

Jay,
Glad the post helps.

Opposite to you, I am not a fan of sour fruit. Nor is my family. A thought of removing Juliet to put another sweet cherry tree in its place has crossed my mind.