Fruit Harvest from season to season

[applestar]

Blueberries and Ann Yellow Raspberries

[Lindsaylew82]

YUM!

Looks like a smoothie in the works!

[applestar]

Blackberries have started... blueberries continuing... Nearly last of the early summer yellow raspberries.
(Triple Crown thornless blackberries, various blueberries, some I don't remember but I have 5 named cultivars and two wild low-bush with one of them having been selected for larger berries), Ann and Kiwi Gold yellow raspberries)



...oh, I forgot about the single Seascape strawberry.

All the berries require meticulous protection from the catbirds and robins, occasionally cardinals....

[applestar]

...I was looking up what causes the pale tasteless druplets. Some are extensively affected. One cause is stinkbugs and I did catch a juvie Brown Marmorated stinkbugs today, but I think most are due to overheating and sunscald. Some of the ones I overstuffed too many in a single organza bag that was exposed to full sun seem to have been affected more ( -- bagged them to protect from bugs and birds and ended up cooking them instead)

[MichaelC]

My plum tree came back from the brink of extinction, and I got about five pounds from it!

I won't be seeing any more fruit harvest until at least August.

[applestar]

Hadn't been able to SERIOUSLY harvest the blackberries for about 4 days...

[applestar]

Our first fig -- a Petit Negra breba/spring crop

[applestar]

As of today -- I had a duh moment yesterday when I realized I should be sorting the blackberries and separating the bad berries from good ones. I decided best time to do this is when I'm triple rinsing them outside because it's too difficult to pick out berries from a container without bruising them. When I rinse them, I float them in a bucket of water and scoop them up and out by handfuls. Much easier to inspect and sort then.

I decided on no more than three bad druplets to make the cut


-- a quart of perfect berries --

[Lindsaylew82]

What do you do with the rejects?

[applestar]

I don't know yet. I was thinking maybe they can be used for something that requires straining?

The trouble with the ones with white drupelets is that they leave hard remains in my mouth -- I think the core might be undeveloped unlike the fully ripe ones which have core that are soft and tasty.. I tried cooking them in the cobbler the other day, but that was a disaster -- I was spitting out the inedible parts -- only using perfect berries for baking from now on, and probably making smoothies, too.

So I was going to try cooking with sugar and straining into a blackberry sauce/syrup once I have enough rejects. Maybe good for ice cream and pancakes? I think I would rather use perfect berries for preserves and even jellies. I was wondering if I could use the rejects for making a cordial/liquor since they would be strained out.

[applestar]

I needed the blue container, so I decided to sort through the blackberries in the blue container that I picked day before yesterday into "perfect berries" and "rejects" according to the criteria I decided on yesterday. When I brought them out of the fridge to the patio table in the sun, I noticed that some of their druplets had turned red. After sorting them, I combined them with yesterday's refrigerated "perfect" berries that were left in the purple container, then put TODAY's harvested and sorted "perfect" berries in the cleaned BLUE container -- They didn't quite fit....




--- those reddened druplets reminded me of this post ---

Subject: Breaking Laterals on Blackberry canes

The PAF berries when I pick them look black but the next morning there purple and not so good tasting? anyone else have this problem or do I have something else going on?

[applestar]

Got around to harvesting more of the blueberries today...

Not as much blackberries today as yesterday however....

[applestar]

Still harvesting blackberries Hanging basket strawberries are finally starting to fruit -- I'm not sure what variety this is....




This spring, my little Carolina Belle peach tree as well as the volunteer yellow peach tree were in full bloom when we were struck by a hard frost/freeze. As a result, the tree only managed to grow half dozen greenies and dropped 4. Last week when I showed DH the nearly ripe two remaining fruits, he predicted that "someone is going to steal them" unless I covered them. Once he said it, it seemed like a certainty (squirrels, chipmunks, birds.... Oh my!), so I immediately took some protective measures.



Today, when I opened the berry box to check on the bigger one, it came right off -- like most fruits will when ripe -- and when I tried to remove the protection for the smaller one so I could replace it with the more secure berry box, that one came off too, although it has a little greenish cast on one side. I would say the bigger one will be fully ripe by tomorrow and the smaller one the next day.

[Lindsaylew82]

Are ground cherries considered a fruit? I just started getting some ripe ones! Man are they delicious! Like a burst of mango and pineapple! Zero hint of tomato like I saw in some descriptions! I love these things, and my big kid thinks they're super fun!

[applestar]

Sounds good! Are you growing one of the popular varieties? Aunt Mollies or Cossack Pineapple?

[!potatoes!]

I think she's growing my home-saved seed - variety unclear, as I've never noticed a difference between any of them (the annual ones, anyway).

[Lindsaylew82]

I am growing from Potatoes's seeds! The first ones have been tiny. About pea sized. I will go look at the little bag and see if it has an official name! The larger the plant gets, and it is getting VERY large, the larger the lanterns are getting!

[JONA]

This years red ruby seedless.

[JONA]

[rainbowgardener]

Oh wow, JONA! Amazing! So they will turn red yet?

Do you make wine? Or what happens to all those grapes?

[JONA]

Oh wow, JONA! Amazing! So they will turn red yet?

Do you make wine? Or what happens to all those grapes?

They are a lovely desert variety Rainbow..so we sell them in the local village shop.
We got them over forty years ago from a grower in California.

[Lindsaylew82]

WOW!!!

[applestar]

Haha my grapes are NOWHERE near like that. These are from a volunteer grape vine. Possibly "wild" muscadine -- originally thought they might be scuppernong but I'm seeing those described as white grapes.... They grow very sparse/loose clusters that do NOT ripen all at once. I have to feel them to see if they are ripe and harvest them individually.

Last year, I lost the entire lot to some problems -- they turned brown and rotted. I suspected problems triggered by insect damage -- like Japanese beetles and stinkbugs -- so I bagged the 6-8 clusters that set fruits this year, and they are finally starting to ripen -- they are incredibly yummy but astringent near the slip-skin if not allowed to ripen fully. One or two seeds per fruit.

(Maid of Orleans Arabian tea jasmine blossoms and last of the wild blueberries)

[Lindsaylew82]

Our muscadines here are black. I've never seen a variety that is red like that. They have a very distinct flavor that isn't REALLY grape-y. The closest in flavor that I can think of, is concord, and it's still far off. Are the skins REALLY tough on these?

[applestar]

Hmmm. Now I'm confused. Maybe this isn't a wild, bird-sown grape at all. Maybe it's from a spat out seed -- growing in the bed off the patio....?

I did a quick search at a table grape site and a likely candidate is Red Globe. Mine are not the 1 inch giants, but that -along with the poor and uneven fruitset in the cluster- might be explained by inadequate care and growing conditions? It's not in full sun for example. Maybe it's just not growing to its potential.

I'm going to start with this --
Causes of Poor Fruit Set in Grapes - eXtension
https://articles.extension.org/pages/331 ... -in-grapes

...and this --

Millerandage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millerandage

A grape cluster with signs of millerandage with small, immature berries scattered throughout the bunch.
Millerandage (or shot berries, hens and chicks and pumpkins and peas) is a potential viticultural hazard problem in which grape bunches contain berries that differ greatly in size and, most importantly, maturity. Its most common cause is cold, rainy or otherwise bad weather during the flowering stage of the vines though other factors, such as boron deficiency or fanleaf degeneration, may also play a role.[1]

...maybe pay a bit more attention to it this fall and winter, and see where this goes. I might also try to grow some cuttings and see if I can find it a better location since the flavor is outstanding. The trouble is growing zone for Red Globe is Zone 7 and up. Right now, next to the brick patio and against the SE wall, it's probably in one of the most protected location possible without more elaborate set up.

[Lindsaylew82]

They do resemble Red Globe!

I'm curious to see where this goes!

[applestar]

Bagging the grapes has been working beautifully to protect them. Except for some ants that found a loosely secured bag and got in -- problem solved by looping the string tightly around the stem and tying a fairly tight knot.



Subject: Applestar's 2016 Garden

First sheaf of shortgrain sweet rice today



... more grapes and a fig Petit Nigra.

...

Earlier, 8:30am, I saw from the window that a chipmunk was inspecting the pears but by-passed them and ate some Coyote. So I thought they were safe. Looked out the window around 5pm, and the biggest Magness pear was MISSING!

Rushed outside to find It was on the ground half-eaten. Critter had nibbled around the stem to drop it. Thats it! -- Harvested ALL the pears. They actually came off easily so they WERE ready to be harvested. I also harvested the last three apples (Enterprise) since we have a scanty harvest this year and I would rather not lose them to critters.



I trimmed away the gnawed part and we shared the rest of the prematurely "picked" pear. Although it was far from fully ripe, texture and taste are similar to Asian pears at this stage. Plenty sweet to enjoy.

Found this while researching what to do with these pears: https://usapears.org/pear-ripening-and-handling/

[!potatoes!]

our wild persimmons are starting to ripen, a few at a time. maybe a little early this year?

also getting figs from the plant I planted in the hoophouse in mid-summer sometime. maybe hardy chicago? not sure what variety. comes back with a bit of fruit after freezing back to nothing in a pot, so I figure even slightly coddled by a hoophouse, and in the ground, it should really start producing.

picking a lot of spicebush berries, too, for cooking and brewing.

[applestar]

I noticed my still green persimmons have a bit of blush on them now. I wonder how long from blush to ripe? I had a lot of little green fruits back in spring, but not seeing very many now -- I suppose they aborted, maybe due to the drought. The area has a lot of understory/ground growth so I can't tell when they drop -- just looking up and thinking "it seems like there are less fruits...."

I harvested one in-ground Chicago Hardy Fig fruit that had ripened early because it was touching a metal fence post.... The rest looks green and hard still. Potted Petit Negra is ripening one fruit at a time -- eagerly awaited by DH and DD .... DH and I alternate splitting a fruit with DD.

Spicebush -- there was a discussion somewhere that there are male and female plants, right? I only have one plant -- I need to determine which I have and get a mate for it. I mainly planted it hoping to attract a Spicebush swallowtail .... (No sign as yet)

[!potatoes!]

I guess they're probably dioecious, yes. that would explain why some have no fruit and others are covered! I'll have to look up what kind of handling they need, but I could send you spicebush seed or berries if you want. it's extremely widespread here, one of the most common shrubby forest plants. spicebush swallowtails are also our most common larger butterfly in this area.

[applestar]

Oooh, thank you !potatoes! I'll PM you.

[applestar]

...persimmons, figs, raspberries...

[applestar]

Wild and Alpine White Soul strawberries have started coming in, and Cherries! White Gold first, then Emperor Francis

The cherries are supposed to be trained into fan-shaped espalier... as you can see, I have let them get away from me I'm hoping it's not too late to cut those overgrown leaders down --- should I do this before or after harvest?





There is a robin's nest on the latch side of the gate in the Blackberry arch arbor. You can see the white blackberry blossoms starting to bloom. They don;t show interest in the white cherries but the red strawberries bear close watching and I will need to protect them with netting soon.

[JONA]

I would do them sooner rather than later applestar.
It will give the rest better light for next years fruit bud.
Looks like your going to have good feed through the coming months.

[applestar]

I spent all morning pruning the two cherry trees (White Gold and Emperor Francis) as JONA recommended, as well as two pear trees (Seckel and Magness) one apple tree (Arkansas Black), and one persimmon tree (Prok) -- all espalier -- as well as semi-dwarf Enterprise apple.

The persimmon was overgrown like the cherries and threatening to shade out not only its own branches but also the AB apple espalier next to it. The pear trees had developed some fireblighted branches, and JONA had recommended cutting them off as quickly as they are infected in another thread. They are also showing surprising number of cedar-apple rust spots this year. They are resistant, but I think it's the extra pressure from the new cedar tree my neighbor planted on the other side of the side fence. I will need to be more regimented about spraying them.

The Enterprise apple had a bunch of small twiggy growth that had wilted brown leaves -- I thought they are fireblight, but new growths have been growing way past the wilted leaves. I'm not sure if it's because Enterprise is one of the most fireblight resistant apple varieties, or if these were caused by something else -- maybe aphids. I went ahead and trimmed off almost all of the branches that had the wilted leaves, new growths and all.

Maybe the persimmon, but I think more due to when the Arkansas Black was blooming and having an unexpected cold snap with hard frost, the apple has only three fruits on it that I could find. I think the bees were not flying due to the weather.

On the other hand, MAGNESS is loaded this year. Very promising. Good number of fruits on the Seckel as well but not extraordinary.


Yesterday and today -- not a whole lot, but even so, my two DD's are actually already reaching the point of not finishing the day's harvest. This means DH and I get to eat some of the cherries, too. Extras will be frozen for cereals, baked goods, smoothies, etc. A few Emperor Francis were ready today.



I would have a lot more strawberries in my basket except something -- I think chipmunk -- has discovered the strawberries. And the idiot creature doesn't know when to pick them -- I'm finding dozens of bitten off unripe pale orange-red berries on the ground.

[applestar]

Cherry trees after pruning... (click to zoom)

[JONA]

Looking good Applestar.
Can you net it if you need to?

[applestar]

Between the mulberry which is located nearly at the opposite corner of the property beyond the house -- which is starting to ripen (red turning almost black) and all the wild and cultivated strawberries, only thing bothering these white/yellow cherries are excessive rain causing splits and that grey mold thing that I can't remember the name of. I'd say 1 in maybe 6 cherries are affected. Very rarely a bird peck but not taken as far as I can see.



So I don't think I need to net them. The cherries are almost all harvested as of today -- Emperor Francis cherries seem to ripen pretty close together.

I've pruned a bit more. There is long branch reaching for the sky that I want to stake down if I can....



It's the strawberries that need serious protection, though I don't mind sharing the wild strawberries -- they are June bearers, and although prolific, will dwindle in fruit size. Slightly larger elongated fruits are Sweet Charley, I think. Another June bearer -- that patch is being decimated by the chipmunk and/or vole nibbling not quite ripe berries. Netting doesn't help unless I can somehow tightly secure the bottom to the ground. (I may need to move them to a framed raised bed.)

The largest fruits I currently have are Seascape -- jut starting to ripen. I came up with a new method to protect them -- these clear clamshells. I cut a notch or two near the hinge to accept the fruit stalks. I have some that have ventilation holes and some that don't. So far so good. The heavy acrylic tube is from a broken birdfeeder. Not pictured, but I'm also trying a PET OJ jug with bottom cut off and a small notch for the stem.


About 4 ripe raspberries today. Temporarily put up last year's faded aluminum pan birdscares over the few clusters that are blushing. I need to get my DD's to draw and decorate fresh scary eyes and teeth, and hang them properly with string (I used grass seed stalks since that's what was available).

[JONA]

Your so lucky there Applestar.
We've a few cherry trees that we planted around our glasshouse as mainly decoration for their blossom. As a result we let them grow quite tall so we can't net them. The minute they start to take on colour......their gone!
We never manage to get one.
Starlings and blackbirds seem to be the major culprits.
The cheeky birds even get through the glasshouse vents to have a go at the peaches and apricots.

[applestar]

JONA -- Couldn't you at least protect lower branches somehow? Maybe net entire branches rather than tree.... That seems a shame. Any way to string or hang birdscares... or have the local birds learned about the seasonal bounty and won't be discouraged?


Steady harvest of the tiny, fragile, flavorful wild strawberries -- none of the patches are particularly big, some in full sun, some in shade, some even in dense shade, but results in slightly different harvest time. First to harvest patch has dwindled to what I call bird-size tiny berries the size of my pinky nails and I'm not even bothering to look there any more, but denser shaded ones are now producing what I call "the first berry" which is typically the largest fruit.

Also Sweet Charley are still producing though almost gone (Lost a large % of the Sweet Charley to chipmunk depredation of almost-but not quite full ripe berries until I started protecting them in clear clamshells, too -- but I found out the berries stop ripening or get cooked in the clamshell during the clear skies blazing sun mid-90's+ heatwave), Alpine White Soul, and Seascape make (and will continue) occasional contribution.

Occasional mulberries, red Prelude raspberries have been coming in. I need DD's to make more flashing and noise-maker birdscares and move the toy snakes and old black soaker hose piece "snakes" around more frequently.


-- see the lone cherry in the yellow basket positioned at an angle? It's an Emperor Francis that had been hidden undiscovered in the very middle of the tree. Look how red it is! I wonder if this means I HAVE been picking the cherries underripe? I'm going to try bagging them next year to see if that will protect them to ripen more on the tree.

Started to bag the blueberries that are showing color, but it looks like blackberries will be plentiful enough again this year as long as I bag the first berries that turn red to discourage the birds so the initial blackberry trusses will have chance to ripen to full black.