North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Steve <sdw12986@aol.com>]

Thanks!
Right after I sent that out, persimmons crossed my mind. I've always 
wanted to grow persimmons but I'm much too far north for even American 
persimmons. I've wanted to grow figs for a long time too. I don't know 
why I didn't think of figs. I've seen them growing farther south in 
Florida and I've seen them growing in Ocean City, Maryland. Obviously 
they would do great in northern Florida. I've known about loquat for 
decades but I've never tasted one. I never tasted a pineapple guava 
either. Olives would have never crossed my mind. I figured they needed a 
dryer climate to do well.
I would have to taste  good mulberry before I used up space on one of 
those. We had a nice mulberry tree in the yard where I grew up (central 
Ohio) and it was always a disappointment. The berries looked like a nice 
big raspberry or blackberry but the flavor just wasn't there. I have no 
idea which species it was. I was young and I doubt I even knew there was 
more than one species, back then. It was there when my parents bought 
the house, along with a row of at least 6 pear trees, two apple trees 
and some grapes and raspberries. Come to think of it, if we had not 
moved to that house when I was 7 years old, I wonder if I would have 
still developed an interest in fruit? I bet if my dad had chosen a house 
with a small lawn of only grass, I wouldn't be here writing this at all.

Steve

S & E Hills wrote:
> Japanese persimmon. Loquat, pecans, black mulberry, pineapple guava, olives,
> pomegranite, figs (figs alone would probably be worth the move)
>
> Scott H
> Michigan 6b
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Steve
> Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2008 10:52 PM
> To: NAFEx
> Subject: [NAFEX] What if?
>
>    
> I'm just thinking.... What if, someday, I decided to move. What if I 
> moved from here, in zone 3B, to northern Florida? Just for the sake of 
> argument, let's say the Gainesville area in zone 8B.
>
> What would I be trying to grow there? Here,  I have a good choice of 
> apples, a few of the most hardy pears and some hardy plums.  I also try 
> to grow apricots and I have tried to grow tart cherries, but there's not 
> much else to choose from in the way of tree fruits.
>
> So what about Gainesville? Too far north for  the really edible citrus 
> fruits. Right? Maybe too far south for most apples. I would think any 
> apples would have to be low chill varieties with pretty low quality? 
> Maybe there are some warm growing plums that would be good. Is it still 
> in the right range for peaches? How bad would the disease pressure be 
> with such warm humid summers?
>
> What other fruits might do well there?  (This is just a little fantasy 
> I'm having as I watch the snow melt around here.)
>
> Steve in the Adirondacks of northern NY
>