Awesome! Jim's fruit forest sounds like a great place to be. Lots of oohs and ahhhs with all the forgotten fruits he's got going there.

Jonah, have you had kei apple?  Interested to see how it tastes.

I've tried Kei Apple from a huge fruiting bush in So. Cal and the fruit was mildly sweet , kinda sour, not strong overtones of apricot . Tastes like its own thing that is not that exciting for me. Nice juicy flesh and texture, small seed. I could see how it would be a good jam/marmalade/chutney . Ive had about 20 fruits and I can see how it could grow on you , especially in combination with other fruits. The bush I was picking was 10-12 ft wide on all sides and the fruit was more in the middle , so bleeding was mandatory when your picking. I still can't wrap my head around why this bush was planted in the middle of the orchard and not on the perimeter .
This plants main benefit to humanity appears to be containing cattle and keeping out lions. I have some 3 year old seedlings that have been rather slow growing , the thorns get gnarlier with age, do not bend or give. I would be curious to know all the uses of this plant in traditional African food, medicine, and warfare.

When my potted cherimoyas get stressed I put them in even more shade. I lost a lot of cherimoyas at first from them being in exposed areas. The more protected they are from wind and sun, the better they do for me as young potted tree's. My cherimoyas here do not like it in the greenhouse past 6" seedling size. I was surprised how well they do with indirect light but the same for young Avocados too. I agree with the comments in regard to soil structure as well. The white Sapote look happy!

Great work Turgut! Very impressive.
Nice to see you've got an enthusiastic hands on work crew .
It will look even better full of plants. Keep up the good works.

Congratulations! Have fun planting and keep the envious masses in the know about your fantastic expansion. All that topsoil looks lovely.

I would like to hear from anyone in these locals that are having success getting mango's to fruit. Keeping barely alive is more of the reports I have read. It appears cost prohibitive for the greenhouse , lighting and heating equipment cost to acquire , then electricity/ gas to keep it going in most locations . There is a level of devotion necessary that can take away from your day job. Anything is possible though, so go for it if you have the funds, time and desire.

We have growers in Northern California, NY and I think Ohio (north central U.S.) that are have some success with getting mangoes to fruit.  Their climates have some similarities to yours, with some being more severe with greater extremes....You should get their advice...maybe one or two will chime in here with their growing experiences....

It's going to be a tough go, for sure, but I wish you luck, amigo!

Gary

A very good story protecting your fruit from rodents on the down low away from the nosy eyes of the HOA . Straight off the limb and into the fire. You can't let those little punks steal any more fruit. Fruit pictures all look delicious. I am under full fledged attach from squirrels, 3 types of rat and hungry deer that prefer whatever I plant. Love to see the vigilance in defending your orchard. We need some fruit bags that can't be eaten through.

You could try a cleft graft below the failed veneer and try to impart some of that apical dominance that helps a graft succeed .

I met someone recently who had a Sapodilla tree with a few fruits hanging and some already harvested. It was a Chico variety near San Marcos, CA maybe 5-6 miles from the coast. Small tree too , probably 3-4 years old.

I wish I hadn't looked at their website because all the flavors sound so good and I have no access to this. Another reason to be back in South Florida.

Don't sleep on this short window of deliciousness coming from the Coachella Valley , Riverside area. I look forward to this harvest annually now and was ecstatic to see them. As far as I know these are the only Mango's grown in CA available on any sort of large scale. I've bought from whole foods in the past ,these were from Berkeley Bowl. The sign in the store says "No hot water treatment, best for eating" haha , insinuating the imported Mango's are best for ...batting practice?

Good eye, I'm very curious about Jakfruits coming to fruition in So Cal.

Good write up and pictures too, thanks for posting.
I'm eating the last of my mango's from the festival today. I went back to help clean up after the mango tasting Saturday night and was given a 10 pound ziplock with the 30+ varieties from the tasting! These finely diced mango's have been smoothie bliss, with the exception of the overflow Tupperware I yard sale'd at the Miami airport Monday afternoon trying to make everything fit
I think the best mango's I tried this visit were the Lemon Zest, Gary , and Fruit Punch which were all amazing.