ZILL
197 SE 27th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL33435-7607
Phone: (561) 737-9419 CALL AHEAD!
Spent some time at Walter Zills home and mango store today, it turned out to be a great Sunday! On sale were a large variety of Mango and Carambola at prices ranging from $1-$2 a pound.
He has the original Pickering Mango tree growing in his yard and is happy to show it off! I ran into Har, he was bringing the remaining mangoes from the days sale at Truly Tropical and had a nice chat with him as well. All together we picked up over fifty pounds of mangoes! Along with the short tour he provided me a printed document about the origin of the Pickering Mango that he had written, with his consent, I will pass it on..
MANGO VARIETY PICKERING
By Walter Zill (pictured above in blue shorts)
"Beginning as a chance seedling sprouting in the grove planted by Laurence Zill in Boynton Beach, FL, it first caught my attention about 1980 when I saw about a half dozen fruit being supported by an unusually small plant having a trunk diameter of about one inch, with at total height about four feet, and numerous branches that bore small fruit. The fruit were not impressive in any other way other than exisitng in abundance on such a tiny first fruiting seedling. They turned bright yellow when ripe, and were suprisingly firm. The flavor tasted to me somewhat like Carrie or Julie, and the growth habit known as Sophie Frey. Animal habits being what they are, I surmise that a seed got transplanted some few feet west of a large fruiting Carrie tree where it germinated in the undercover beneath the limbs of an Irwin tree. In 1983 a severe freeze caused great damage in the grove, killing back some mango limbs that were up to three inches in diameter, and resulting in nearly every mango leaf on the premises turning brown. That exception, finding green leaves on that little seedling, caught my undivided attention. I thought perhaps the plant had more resistance to cold than other mango varieties, but subsequnet seasons have shown damage much like other mangos when the temperature dips below freezing. Eventually the seedling was transplanted to where it could demonstrate it qualities. It grew compactly and fruited heavily, fruit clinging fairly well on the tree when ripe, with little bruising when they dropped. When the tree grew larger, and in a season when fewer fruit set, the fruit weighed up to about two pounds, though average normal season weight is near one pound. There came a time when Dr. Wayne Pickering inquired of me about having a mango named for him. Since that variety had proven of sufficient worth to merit a good name, I sent a box of fruit from it to him to get his reaction. When they ripened, and he had fairly sampled them, his response was, "That's my baby!". So the name "Pickering" stuck. When fully ripe it's among the sweetest mangos, with a texture sutable for slicing and dicing, and it's fine fibers providing desrable bulk. As trees were multiplied and put into commercial plantings, it has provem very productive from compact trees. Many who have become familiar with eating the "Pickering" often specify it for the eating qualities they like. It matures relatively early in mango season."
ZILL
197 SE 27th Avenue
Boynton Beach, FL33435-7607
Phone: (561) 737-9419 CALL AHEAD!
Topic: Zills Mango Store - Boynton Beach Florida (Pickering Origin Info) (Read 18363 times)