North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Alan Haigh" <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

I know next to nothing about pecans but up in the northeast black walnuts are often the last of the trees bordering marsh land.  I manage an orchard on a property that has some kind of cold-hardy pecans growing and the roots look identical to their black walnut cousins.  If black walnuts can take near marsh conditions, it doesn't surprise me that pecans can as well.  That pecans do well in less than well drained soil may be just one more example of expert horticultural wisdom being on shaky ground (pun unintended). 

 

A short while back, members were mentioning many varieties of pears that tree ripen well in spite of all the expert advice published that pears must be picked early to avoid being grainy.  In my experience the only problem with most tree ripened pears isn't textural but the mentioned tendency of some Bartlett types to rot inside before being ripe outside.  My experience is limited to only about 10 varieties of European pears, however.