
The flesh of the fruit was salmon-orange-pink, and fragrant. We carefully scooped out the flesh, and tried a few bites. It was just Ok, not really having much flavor. Oh well, what do you expect from store brought fruit?
![]() Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Instead of a pumpkin, I thought it would be fun to carve a papaya. Boy #1 and I picked one out at HEB, and brought it home to try. It turns out that papayas are actually a lot like pumpkins anatomically. We sliced it in half, and scooped out all the guts and little black seeds. I'll try to plant some of the seeds, and maybe grow some papayas this next year. Scott Johnsgard grows them in The Woodlands, and gets tens of pounds of fruit every year. The flesh of the fruit was salmon-orange-pink, and fragrant. We carefully scooped out the flesh, and tried a few bites. It was just Ok, not really having much flavor. Oh well, what do you expect from store brought fruit?
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![]() Orange hidden among the leaves and mulch. I was picking up around the yard, when something yellow caught my eye under my Republic of Texas Orange tree. I thought the tree had only set two fruit this year, but apparently it had set a third, which had become quite heavy and was now resting on the ground. I thought that the Republic of Texas orange didn't ripen until December, so I was surprised to see one changing color so early. I lifted the fruit off the ground, and discovered why it was changing color: Bugs. The fruit had become very heavy, and the branch holding it had sagged until the orange rested on the ground. Once on the ground, the creepy crawlies had discovered it, and made themselves right at home. I turned the fruit over, and saw where earwigs and other little beetles had been burrowing in through the peel. Fortunately, they hadn't gotten too far and completely ruined the fruit. I cut it in half to take a look, and as I did so streams of juice ran out all over my knife and hands. This is one very juicy orange. The bugs had only penetrated the bottom inch or so of the fruit, so I cut that part out and discarded it. The orange itself had 10 segments of yellow to yellow-orange vesicles, each containing at least one large polyembryonic nucellar seed. The Republic of Texas orange doesn't peel easily like a Navel orange, and I think they are best for juicing. The taste wasn't as good as the one I had last year, but considering it is still very early for this variety and the fruit had suffered some bug damage, it was still sweet and very pleasant. The tree has two more fruits on branches higher in the canopy, which I'm looking forward to juicing in December, provided . ![]() Sharp Velvet Pomegranate All of the pomegranates we've picked this year have little to no pigmentation inside. My Garnet Sash pomegranates were yellow-gold, and the unknown variety pomegranate had only the slightest hint of pink. I thought this was just due to the heat and sunburn, but then I found a single fruit hiding in the upper foliage of the Sharp Velvet tree. The rind of the fruit was pink and yellow-green mottled, and nowhere near as red as those on my unknown variety, so at first I didn't think it was fully ripe. I decided to cut it open just to see what it looked like, and imagine my surprise when I saw deep crimson juice! The fruit's rind may not have been deep red, but the arils inside sure were. This could only mean that climate conditions weren't preventing my other poms from coloring, the Garnet Sash and unknown varieties just didn't develop interior pigmentation. My recent research suggest they may both be ornamental varieties, and are heavy producers of showy, but poor-quality fruit. So why all the fuss about color? If they taste good it shouldn't matter, right? That's correct, taste is far more important than coloration. Before I had said that the Garnet Sash just tasted sweet with no flavor (insipid), but that the unknown variety tasted pretty good. Not compared to the Sharp Velvet. The flavor of the Sharp Velvet was delicious, well balanced, and rich, with soft easy-to-chew seeds. There really is no comparison. I may have been content to eat the other poms before, but now my taste buds have been enlightened. Boy #1 was very impressed. This year I will be either removing or top-working the Garnet Sash and unknown trees to other varieties recommended by local growers such as Eve or Texas Pink. ![]() Miracle Fruit Berry I was watering the miracle fruit plant the other day, when a flash of red caught my eye. I carefully pulled back the leaves, and found a plump red berry hiding in the foliage. For those of you who aren't familiar with miracle fruit, once you eat a miracle fruit berry, anything you eat that is sour will taste sweet. The berries contain a substance called 'miraculin', which coats the tongue and is thought to alter the shape of your 'sweet receptors' so that they respond to acids. For example, if you were to eat miracle fruit and then eat a lemon, the lemon would taste like lemonade. I had tried miracle fruit tablets before, but never a fresh berry. It was about an inch long, bright red, and very little flesh. The fruit is mostly one large seed, surrounded with a very thin layer of flesh with a very faint cherry-like flavor. I chewed the berry slowly, taking care not to damage the seed, and coated my tongue with the skin and flesh. The effect of fresh miracle fruit appears to be more potent that the effect you get from the tablets. After a few minutes, I tried a variety of foods and drinks to see how their respective tastes would be different after eating miracle fruit. Lime juice tasted like limeade, orange juice tasted like pure sugar, and a Honeycrisp apple tasted like candy. The tart juice of a kumquat tasted like lemonade, and a banana tasted like ice cream, but it made beer taste bland and unappealing. My little plant is covered with blossoms and buds, so I'm hoping I will get several more berries before it gets too cold. If Dr. Wife lets me, and the cats don't eat it, I might bring it in the house for the winter. I really hope to have some more berries when my calamondins are ripe. Eating a calamondin after eating a miracle fruit tablet is indescribable, and I think it will be even better with a fresh berry. ![]() Ripe American Persimmon Last year about this time, I posted about a native American persimmon tree over on Memorial Drive. This year, I noticed another native tree right behind our church. If you're looking for native persimmons in the northwest Houston area, I've found the tree for you. Go to back parking lot of Lakewood United Methodist Church, located on the corner of Jones Road and Louetta. Behind the church, along the fence on the north side of the back parking lot, you'll find a very nice native American persimmon tree full of fruit. The fruits themselves are very small, and very very astringent, but their seeds can be used to grow rootstocks. There are lots of fallen fruits on the ground, and even more ripening in the tree. I tried a few of the fruits, but they were nowhere near edible. I brought a bag of them home to ripen on the counter, but I'm going to be very careful after my experience last year. The few I tried that were close to ripe didn't taste very sweet, but but with the terrible drought this summer, I'm not surprised that they're not very big or very good. I went by the Fuyu persimmon tree in my neighborhood, but either the owner of the tree or the birds (or both) had already picked the tree clean. If I want some I'll just have to pick them up from Glenn at the City Hall Farmer's Market. ![]() 'Unknown' Variety Pomegranate Back in early August we tried a few of our pomegranates, and found that there was almost no pigmentation inside. We ate them anyway, but the lack of color made me think that the fruit wasn't ripe yet. I was reading Dr. Randall's book, and he says that pomegranates are "reliably productive in July and August". Well, August came and went, and our poms never got red inside. However, the fruit has still been tasty and sweet, which makes me think the fruit may have been ripe after all. According to pomegranate expert Harvey Correia of www.purelypoms.com, cool nighttime temperatures aid in developing pigmentation, and sunburn on the fruit can lead to reduced color. We haven't had many nighttime temperatures below 85 degrees this summer, and several of the fruits did get fairly sunburned, especially the 'Garnet Sash' (aka 'Elf'). This seems very similar to blood oranges, which grow well in our area, but rarely attain the deep, dark color that the California ones do. In spite of the brutal weather, our pomegranate trees have been watered and well cared for, so it is quite possible that the fruits are just not developing internal pigmentation. We cracked open one of our big red 'Unknown' variety (probably Wonderful) poms last weekend, and could see just a hint of coloration. The Elf/Garnet Sash was just as yellow as it has always been. We've been eating them all the same, and I expect to find hundreds of seedlings sprouting out of the lawn from where we've been spitting out the seeds. Boy #1 loves the pomegranates, although he sometimes gets carried away spitting the seeds, and winds up spitting out uneaten fruit. The flavor of the Unknown/Wonderful variety is very good in my opinion, but I've been extremely disappointed with the Elf/Garnet Sash. Richard Ashton's pomegranate book described Elf as an ornamental variety, and I can believe it. It is a big yellow fruit that sunburns easily, and while it does get sweet inside, it is insipid and without any flavor. I planted it because of the description I read of it on the Urban Harvest website, and boy was I disappointed. I wrote Urban Harvest an email telling them about my experience, and suggested that they remove their incorrect description of Garnet Sash from their website, but as of this writing it is still at the top of their list. This winter I plan to either top-work the tree to another variety like 'Desertyni', or just chop it down and replace it with another variety like 'Eve'. ![]() This weekend we took the boys on a short trip to the Matt Family Orchard 30 miles northwest of Houston. Rick Matt and his family grow persimmons, citrus, figs, blueberries, blackberries, jujubes, and more on 103 acres. In addition to the pick-your-own fruit operation, they offer hayrides and orchard tours, a playground, a large pavilion, and even bow hunting. Rick is also a long time supporter and member of the Gulf Coast Fruit Study Group, the Texas Rare Fruit Growers, and others. The boys especially loved the hayride around the orchard. Boy #1 loved screaming at the top of his lungs for no reason (kids just do that), and Boy #2 loved trying to eat the hay. The trailer took us around the orchard where we saw the berry plantings, the persimmon trees, the figs, and the jujubes. The persimmon and fig trees looked fairly stressed from the drought this year, but they were still hanging in there. The jujubes looked great, as if the lack of rain didn't bother them at all. Despite the drought, the Asian persimmon trees looked loaded with fruit. Rick says the fruit isn't as of high a quality or as large as in previous years, but I bet they're still worth eating. We were with a large group, so I didn't get to stop and pick any fruit. They also had lots of pumpkins, which Boy #1 decided he wanted to climb. He had a blast running around the jujube trees, picking up fallen persimmons, and playing with the giant hay-bale turkey. I had a great time seeing the orchard, and we'll definitely have to take the boys back next year. Thanks for your hospitality Rick, I hope you got as much rain this weekend as I did! ![]() Burned out pump. During the hottest week of the last several years, the little pump in my rain tank gave out. I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised, since it was just a cheap little plastic thing that I got for free. I'm just glad I caught it before the blueberry bushes got too dried out. I decided to replace the pump with something much more heavy duty that I could count on for years. After reviewing all my options, I decided on a 1/4 horse-power sump pump with a float switch. The float switch ensures that the pump will shut off when the water level gets too low, preventing the pump from running dry and burning up. The output on the pump was 1.5-inches, so I had to devise a series of PVC fittings and couplings to break it down so I could attach a 5/8-inch hose. I then ran the hose to the blueberries, and drilled five or six 1/16-inch holes in it at every blueberry bush. Collectively they put out around 15 gallons per hour per plant (8 plants), so I only need to run the pump for 20 or so minutes at a time. I wired the pump to a spring-loaded timer, so all I have to do to water the blueberries is step out side and turn the knob. I also learned a very important lesson. I learned that while the plastic rain tank itself is UV-resistant, the little basket in the top is not. When I was taking the old pump out, the basket crumbled to nothing in my hands. Rather than buy another one, I improvised. I scavenged a round grill from our smoker that we rarely use, and wrapped it in window screening. I ran the pump hose and power cables through the center, and placed it on top of the tank. The whole set up works great, and I hope it continues to work a lot longer than the last one. If I can ever get the money, I hope to upgrade to a 1,000 or 1,500 gallon tank. Considering that the drought is projected to last up to another 5 years, I can't have too much rainwater. ![]() Miracle Fruit - December 2010 The cooler temperatures of the past few days have started me thinking about how to protect my more tropical plants this winter. I don't grow too many tropicals because I don't have a greenhouse (yet), and I have a hard enough time keeping all the citrus trees protected as it is. My favorite tropicals are the miracle fruit and jaboticaba trees I bought from JRN Nursery last December. I was able to keep them alive through the terrible freezes of January and February, and once temperatures warmed up they grew very well. I just planted the miracle fruit in a pot with regular potting soil, added some powdered garden sulfur to lower the pH, and took it up to my office where it would be protected from the cold. After a few months, it was clear the plant wasn't getting enough sun, so i brought it home and put it next to the rain tank by my blueberry bushes. Since then I have treated it just like a blueberry bush, and it has grown very well. I was looking at it very closely this weekend, and noticed several small flower buds. I think it is probably too late for it to flower and set fruit before the weather gets cold, but I am very hopeful that I'll get some berries next year if I can keep it alive through the winter. My jaboticabas are also doing very well. I found them tucked into a forgotten shady area behind a greenhouse at JRN. They looked spindly and sad, but they were only $20. Considering they are often $50 at area fruit tree sales, I decided to see if I could nurse them back to health. At first, I treated them like blueberries too. I amended their soil mix with powdered sulfur, and only gave them rainwater. As the summer wore on and no more rain fell, I just gave them tap water twice a week, and they didn't seem to mind. They actually seem to be relatively carefree plants. I had read that they were very slow growing, but mine seem to be putting on new flushes of growth all the time. I suspect they are just slow growing in clay soils. I haven't noticed any flowers on them this year, but I'm hoping to see some next year. They've almost grown too big to move into the shed, so I need to figure out how to protect them from the cold this year. Jaboticabas have survived 17 degrees in Katy, but not without significant damage. I think that if I want to preserve all of this year's growth and have a chance at fruit next year, I'm going to have to build a small temporary greenhouse. |
Clayton Bell
I'm a geologist in Houston, Texas who loves growing fruit trees.
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