One of the things I realized with a lot of fruit is it is either a bush or a tree. With vegetables it is all annuals that you start from seed. I think others were right when they mentioned graft or buy multi grafted varieties. That way you have successive ripening times over weeks to months. I do hear there is a blueberry variety that produces all or most of the season. Also I heard the Girardi mulberry can produce a fair amount of the season.
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My heritage raspberries is basically non stop until first frost. The largest fruits are the early ones but the quality remains throughout.
They are voracious feeders, the only plant I feed throughout the entire season
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I bought 1,000 EarliGlo berry plants 30 years ago from Nourseā¦and they turned out excellent.
For some reason have not ordered since.
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I still think blueberriesā¦as I can get about 90 days harvest out of themā¦at least by growing some of the late varieties in the shade.
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Is this a Desert King?
No, I donāt think so. I had its name when I got it but forgot now. But is not desert king
Ed shared his method down the road from me near Pittsburgh. You might be able to train extremely low to the ground and achieve similar results with minimal die back on an established tree.
@FarmGirl-Z6A ā here are my top producers for the yearā¦ (Zone 7a Tennessee). Berries, Figs.
LoganBerry May 24 - July 05 (these really crank out the berries).
Heritage Red Raspberries (spring crop) May 26 - June 26, Fall Crop Sept 1 - Dec 3.
Fall Gold Raspberries (spring crop) May 26 - June 30, Fall Crop, Late August - Dec 3.
Those fall crop dates were from last fall (first year for them).
My Fall Golds now are starting to set fruit for fall crop already, so they are starting over a month earlier this year (second fall for them).
Chicago Hardy Fig - last year July 25 - Dec 3.
We got our first hard frost on Dec 3ā¦ and that put an end to my figs and raspberries.
Some years that comes earlierā¦
Other long fruiting cropsā¦ Strawberriesā¦ I have two everbearing varietiesā¦ Eversweetā¦ picking them daily now and they really do produce thru heat here in the southā¦ they started producing good in June and will go until late Fall, Nov or so. Mostly smaller berries, but a steady supply of something good to eat for months.
I added some seascape this year, and just now starting to let them bear a little. The ones I have had so far have been very good. Hope they produce as good as the Eversweet.
I have 4 varieties of Blueberriesā¦ all rabbit eye type.
Climax starts ripening May 30ā¦ that is my early BBā¦ and my others start up about the time it quitsā¦ and they are still producing now on July 19 and looks like may continue for at least another couple weeks. So that is near 2 months for blueberries, some early, some mid season varieties.
To add some earlier berriesā¦
Goumi Berry, Red Gem. Sweet Scarletā¦ got ripe berries May 10 - May 30 from those twoā¦
Not a long cropper at allā¦ but gives you some ripe berries, when nothing else is ripe yetā¦ and a nitrogen fixer too.
TNHunter
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I am growing keeper apples and pear that might can be stored in root cellar fresh cool storage conditions or refrigerated storage and keep a long time, for several months to perhaps all winter.
Some that have keeper reputations are Apple up to 6 months Enterprise, Goldrush, Arkansas Black, Keepsake, Sundance, perhaps 3 months or so Liberty, Freedomā¦
Pear Korean Giant 3 to 6 months, Shenandoah up to 4 months, moreā¦
And yes spreading your crop, on Pear Shenandoah is like 1.5 to 2 months later than early pear such as Harrow Delight. And Enterprise apple is late like in October whereas early apples might be Mid August such as Priscilla or Redfree.
This is what I have read such as from cummins nursery etcā¦
Yes some peaches are very early like Early Redhaven and Harrow Diamond, some very late like I believe Contender and Veteran are 6 weeks laterā¦
You could multi-graft an apple or pear tree for different ripening times, and for pollination, or plant multiple treesā¦
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My Double Gold and Prelude are too (I put them in in spring 2017). I was trying to figure out whatās going on.
Our strawberries are also flowering like crazy, albit, like you said, the berries are small and the Mara Du Bois arenāt really all that flavorful. The seascape are the better tasting berry at the moment.
TNHunter, picked my first Premier and first Powder Blue fruits todayā¦half dozen each.
Tifblue is not ripe.
You should try EarliBlue highbush sometime for early berries. Probably earlier than Climax.
Iāve not personally tried Climax.