North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Richard Moyer <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

Doug wrote:
"Lon, can you mention the species and cultivars, or are such distinctions worthwhile? Good temperate substitutes for lemon juice are something that
interests me."

Doug, we have canned steam-extracted Chaenomeles japonica fruit juice for years, using as a lemon juice sub in baked goods.  Not sure how well it works with seafood.  The steam-softened pulp can be sweetened to make a sweet/tart guava paste substitute.

Most of what we harvest is various bushes around town, mostly older homes or abandoned homesites.  As for cultivars, we've been happy with 'Toyo Nishiki' from Hidden Springs Nursery.  Larger fruit for the species, with blooms varying from dark pink to white.  They've also offered the dark red cultivar 'Spitfire'.  We've not noticed a difference in the fruit from named vs. unknown cultivars.    

Individual bushes rarely bear as well as hedges.  Our 'Toyo Nishiki' bore much more after 3 unnamed suckers transplanted nearby.  We put those three in a clump and let them intermingle.  Though the individuals bear unevenly year to year, the overall yield of the clump is high.

Richard Moyer

Zone 6, SW VA

Cornus mas sauce with goose confit for Xmas dinner