My Flavor Grenades had a lot of split pits too, but not much rotting, perhaps due to my sprays. Wait till they become kind of red (could be 3-4 weeks from now) and they will be a lot better!
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I made red currant jam the other weekend with fruit from my one bush, which I posted about in the Red Currant jam thread.
Last weekend I made a cake to bring to a July 4th party that had been put off due to rain. It was a chiffon type cake made into 4 layers, each coated with red currant jam and filled with mascarpone stabilized whipped cream. Mostly commercial berries with a few homegrown raspberries on top. It was very tasty!
That day I picked the stuff in this bowl, which we just ate while working on the cake. Some tomatoes, jostas, gooseberries, raspberries.
Also picked a kale salad to take to the party but I didnāt take a picture of it. I seem to have no trouble growing way more kale than anyone wants to eat at my house. We like kale salad best with a tahini and lemon based dressing.
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Kevin, the yellow plum in my picture is Shiro. Majority of Shiro are still unripe yet. These have some damages ripe earlier. I have to beat squirrels, raccoons to harvest the fruits
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Holly, fabulous looking cake. Too perfect to cut!
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Wow those berries look great! Iāve been eating cherry tomatoes daily, and last night I made a fresh sauce from Roma tomatoes for some pasta. I have a couple of berry plants but the birds get them before I do. I did manage to grab a couple of blackberries last week to include with my breakfast. This morning I picked green beans, those will be for dinner tonight.
Are the basil leaves for flavor? 
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Yeah, a little flavor. And also because it smells so good while itās drying.
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Iām just trying to keep up with the black raspberry production so it was jam today. ( with some of the frozen haskap added in)
I bought a large wheel of Brie since it on toast, with some of this jam is just amazing. ( so good, my father found it hard to decide between that and a cheeseburger. In the end, he went for a half portion of both)
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@speedster1 and others on your Shiro plum.
I hear they do better than most plums on late frostā¦ which is a problem for me.
I am considering adding one next spring.
I think they are listed as being self fertileā¦ or partially self fertile.
I would not mind at all doing a 2 in 1 planting with Shiro + ???
What would you all say would be a good pollinator for Shiro ?
Thanks
TNHunter
I have Shiro grafted to two different plum trees, Methley and Emerald Beaut. I do not have a stand alone Shiro tree. What I can tell you is that I havenāt noticed a significant difference in bloom time or in fruit set between the Japanese plums and even pluots. I had fruit set on both grafts. Shiro does produce a lot of blooms and honestly I canāt really imagine it having trouble finding a pollination partner. Whatever you pick Iād stagger them slightly so that one ripens as the other one finishes. For me in the mid Atlantic Methley is my first plum. I started picking them July 5th and they are about done here. Shiro on the other hand is just now getting ripe. So itās a nice transition. Others may chime in and have far more knowledge than myself. Good luck
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Frost peaches!
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When I first started, I had only two J plum trees, Shiro and Satsuma.
Satsuma flower buds got killed quite a few times when we had bad winter or yo-yo s spring. When Satsuma had no flowers, Shiro which had tons of flowers would set fruit and they would all turned yellow and dropped dye to lack of pollination. In my experience, Shiro is nit self fruitful or even partially fruitful. It needs cross pollination.
Shiro is very productive and a good pollination partner to manny J plums and hybrids (possible pluots, too) .
Tastes-wise, It was fine. However, there are several plums I like more. I think @thecityman may be able to tell you what plums do well for a late frost issue you often have.
just picked half of my consort black currants. lower half not colored completely yet. got 2.5 gal out of 2 bushes. ran out of the jam last week. blueberries, royalty purple raspberries, perfection/ johnkeer von teets red currant and jeanne gooseberry all starting to ripen. a few more days for the U of SK cherries. summer raspberries should start coloring soon also.
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Been picking blueberries for over a monthā¦got almost a gallon Thursday from 10 plants that are netted. First ripe rabbiteyeā¦a āPremierā. Young plants in one or 1.5 gallon pots, but have several berries.
By first of August most of the highbush blueberries will be finishedā¦but the variety āAuroraā still are green and not yet turning blue.
Mostly eating them fresh/raw and freezingā¦but plan to make some into an āupside-downā cake in a few hours.
Also had fresh kale mixed with dandelions and a couple young shoots of poke. I guess I more āfoundā the poke and dandelions, instead of āgrewā them!
@mamuang - you are rightā¦ I need to hear from someone local like @thecityman, or other TN folksā¦
I went back and read several post here talking about Shiro and pollinators, and it seems there is no real consensusā¦ It seems what works for one person in one location does not work for others in other locationsā¦ and even the weather (little warmer or cooler spring) can change which other tree actually pollinates with Shiro.
Below is some info I found onlineā¦
Below from Goog.
āMethleyā is a low-chill-requirement plum tree with hardy blossoms, making it compatible with Shiro plum in mild-winter locations. āStarking Deliciousā is a registered cultivar that shares the same bloom period and cultural requirements as Shiro plum, making this tree a suitable pollinator for Shiro plum.
Stark recommendsā¦ Ozark Premier, Burbank Elephant Heart, Bubblegum, Alderman
Raintree recommendsā¦ Early Golden Asian, Emerald Beaut Asian, Golden Nectar Asian
Burnt Ridge says Shiro + Methley on a pollination chart.
For the most part ā seems to be no real consensus on the best pollinator for Shiro.
I did find a youtube last night (link provided) and this guy has two Ozark Premier and a Shiro.
His Ozark Premier trees are well into blooming, and his Shiro has just a few early blooms on it. It looked to me like his Shiro had just a few early blooms on it, but the Ozark Premier was a little ahead of the Shiro.
So at least in his location (and not real sure where that was) and in that year, Ozark Premier and Shiro were blooming at the same time.
I found another guy that has a Shiro, Sweet Treat Pluerry and Weeping Santa Rosa and his Shiro wasā¦ 4-5 years old and loaded with fruit. I am not sure if those were the only varieties he had, those were the only ones he mentioned. He shows all 3 well, does a taste test, etcā¦
I think ideally for me, I wouild want a pollinator for Shiro, that is known to be as late frost hardy as Shiro (if possible)ā¦
I grew two varieties of J Plums for 13 and 14 yearsā¦ donāt remember the variety name, but they bloomed in Febā¦ one started blooming Mid Feb, and the other about a 5-6 days after it.
In 13, 14 years we got one good crop off them, and a couple small crops.
I had no pest or disease issues with themā¦ just could not get them to crop often enough.
@steveb4 - glad to hear you finally have some stuff ripening up thereā¦
From an old movieā¦ Jerimiah Johnstonā¦ winter sure stays long this far north 
@blueberry - I picked a pile of rabbiteye berries last night tiffblue, brightwell, powderblue, but they are starting to slow down here now. the end is coming.
PSā¦ on Blueberry fertilizationā¦ I fertilized mine early (before bloom)ā¦ and now once all fruit is harvestedā¦ Fertilize again ? That is what I have been doingā¦ Hollytone, and some bloodmeal, epson salt. Seems right to me, but let me know how you do that please.
Thanks
TNHunter
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I cut into one of my grapefruit-sized Aunt Rachel apples.
NOT impressed.
I picked them because they had started āpicking themselvesā - falling and coming off at the lightest touch. And, on the advice of others - put them in the fridge for a week or so. They are juicier - but I would not say āJuicyā. And they are tart - but no particular āflavorā . . . if that makes sense. Maybe they would be good for sauce - or baked apples? Anyone have any āAunt Rachelā experience to add?
I think Iāll try to graft some different varieties to the trees this coming year - and leave just a branch or two of āAunt Rachelā.
@TNHunter
I just lost my 2 Shiro grafts this week. They were on my Toka plum and were doing well - till now. My Toka and my Santa Rosa are both very well established . . . but weāve never gotten a single plum to fully develop on either tree.
The only plum that seems to do well for us is Methley. And that needs lots of spray attention.
I read somewhere lately - that both Toka and Santa Rosa - maybe Methley too . . . (canāt recall) - need another tree of the SAME variety to produce fruit. ? I do have 2 Methleys . . . but only one of the other varieties. Donāt know if this is true - but that is what the article stated.
Damson grafts are doing fine so far. And Superior. And a couple of others. I was hoping for Shiro - but Japanese plums seem to struggle here. Canker problems. And the Japanese Beetles love love love them.
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Karen,
The seed of the piece of your apple on the top of the pic was almost white. These apples are a long way to ripen. This picking was too soon.
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This morning for breakfast, included some early mcintosh apple, and blackberries (ps those are the blackberries that I bagged to keep the swd out)ā¦ worked nicelyā¦ but you know the bagging is a painā¦ but it does work.
We sautĆ©ed those in butter to soften, and added some cinnamon and a little maple syrup. Ate it on some sourdough bread toastā¦
Mmmmmm Good.
TNHunter
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I didnāt really have much choice . . . one fell off and was bruised. The other came off when I barely touched it. ? And they are HUGE! They look so funny on that little dwarf tree! Are other peopleās Aunt Rachels so enormous?
King David is nearby and those apples are small. I was really shocked to see how large the Aunt Rachel ones grew - on a dwarf tree. There were only a few of them - and they are all gone now. Maybe it was just too soon for them to be supported by the young tree.
Iāll keep that in mind - about the white seeds. I had no idea.
āLive and Learn on the Fruit Forumā - FOR SURE!
Thanks for the explanation, Tippy.
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