To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fruit Nut and Berry Inventory Book
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 07:53:19 -0600
I understand that the editors just used nursery descriptions. I have been
using it to find info on varieties I am interested, for comparison with what
others in other books, catalogs, online and on this group have to say. It's
really fun for me to ferret out information that way. For example, I know
two people who didn't like the 'Lucious' pear but someone on this group
loved it. I've heard varying opinions on the 'Richard Peters' pear. The
Pineapple pear is extremely popular with everyone I have given fruit to, but
the listing at Corvallis says the fruit is crummy. Personally, after my
attempts to eat Shinko and Korean Giant, I'll keep my Pineapple trees.
(Hey, they finally did get pretty edible, it's just I had so many Winesaps
from a friend's tree, I couldn't be bothered to eat those pears. And they
didn't keep at all like I was led to believe they could. The last 2 or 3
not rotten got shared with friends this week. That's a long time short of 4
months storage, and they weren't impressed either. I've decided rather
than regraft the trees, I'll try taking the fruit to the farmer's mkt next
year and see if some Asians will buy them. )
Another thing I have done with the Inventory is see where all the
nurseries are located that sell a particular variety. If California, that
implies better quality, but says nothing good about it's reaction to late
freezes or humid climates. If up north, implies hardiness. If in the SE
implies I might be able to grow it. It's a good tool. Donna