Author Topic: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!  (Read 1169 times)

elouicious

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It has been a wild couple of months all!

I managed to taste one of the best texas native fruits i have had and I have been looking for for a while!

Diospyros texanensis - Texas Persimmon!












I had a couple right when I picked them and they weren't much to write home about, they tasted like a black persimmon, a good one but they are not that good of a fruit.

So! I decided to leave one on the counter until it felt like a full water balloon like you do with other persimmons and the flavor completely blue me away- similar to a pawpaw and quite delicious I definitely am going to grow a few of this tree.

Next, as a gift to myself for getting this new job I went to the Keys top check out the family land there as well as go to fruit and spice park to meet with Satya and pick up some trees I purchased way too long ago to plant out as well as bring some of the less cold tolerant species from my yard to plant them out there.




 I had a rough time at the airport after landing in Miami (not due to the suitcase full of plants), and Unfortunately Satya was traveling when I could make it but his wonderful partner showed me around and gave me an absolutely delicious Barbie guava and some great Nam Wah Bananas as well as a great tour of their yard! The barbie guava is the best one I have ever had- huge and none of the perfume flavor that people sometimes don't like. She also gave me some fermented Noni juice that was quite tasty despite the way the normal fruits smell. I even took a plant with me after tasting it!

Satya might be the only person with a greenhouse crazier than mine!


After this is was a drive down to Homestead- and a morning stop at Robert is Here for some fruit breakfast

I was able to try a yellow passionfruit that was amazing with almost no acidity, Guama (an ice cream bean variety) and Mamoncillo here which were delicious. I am still trying to find a good tasting cold hardy Inga species that has a chance of producing fruit in 9b but nothing so far. Mamoncillo is amazing but I have already killed 5 trees- they hate any dip in temp



Next I was off to fruit and spice park- the people here couldn't be nicer and I wish I lived down the road so I could go every day. When walking ion they gave me a little fruit sampler which was worth the price of the ticket alone






The winner of the sampler were by far the Rollinia, so creamy and delicious and really does taste like lemon merengue. close second was the seashore mangosteen of which I was able to pick a lot of later.

People say August is not the best time to go but I have to say I found and amazing variety and quantity of fruit there- first some tree pics-

























The final fruit haul is here- unfortunately not pictured because it got kind of smashed was Eugenia neonitida which I have to say I found absolutely delicious. If you like seashore mangosteen the sourness on this one is less and it only has a vague hint of resin that is sometimes associated with the genus. The fruit is huge and the seed is small





Fruits from top left to bottom right
1. Aegle marmelos - Bael Fruit
    Haven't tasted this one yet, I heard it is supposed to not bounce when you drop it in order to be ripe and mine keep                      bouncing
2. Persea spp. - Avocado
    Pretty good florida style avos
3. Annona X - Lisa Atemoya
    One of the best annonas I have ever tasted, tree ripened and florida grown this was a true delight
4. Annona purpurea - Soncoya
    I dont think this ripened properly but I will go into more detail later
5. Pouteria hypogluaca - Cinnamon Apple
    A good ingredient fruit- would make an amazing graham cracker flavored milkshake, not that good out of hand
6. Mammea americana - Mamee Apple
    Delicious, complex, huge fruit the name tropical apricot is a good idea of where the flavor starts but it is really really good
7. Garcinia celebica - Seashore Mangosteen
    Less sour than I was expecting after readong some other flavor reports, I really like them and the fruit generally only have 1 mature seed so there is plenty for eating
8. Psidium spp. - Red Guava from Robert is Here (RIH)
    A good guava, but poor compared to the barbie from Satya's yard
9. Nephelium spp. - Rambutan (RIH)
    Just normal rambutan- not freestone which is always a bummer
10. Melicoccus bijugatus - Mamoncillo (RIH)
     Delicious citrusy kind of pixie stick flavor- cool looking, fun to eat and delicious. Only problem is they can be a bit fibrous.
11. Inga spp. - Guama (RIH)
     I have tried a few Inga spp. at this point and these were good- light cottony sweetness without too much fiber which seems to be in the larger/longer varieties
12. Musa spp. - Nam Wah from Satyas yard
      Delicious, a bit seedy but doesn't ruin the eating experience at all
13. Manilkara balata - Balata
     Different from the Manilkara bidentata I had in Tobago, these were gross. The Tobago ones are delicious, and given that they share a common name I wanted to try this one but it was really bad
14. Rheedia spp. - American Garcinia
     This pretty clearly looks to be a superior lemondrop mangosteen but it is labeled rheedia at the park and after growing the plant I can say it is definitely different from the Garcinia brasiliensis I have sourced in other places. The leaves are much larger and wider and it grow much faster. The fruit tastes very similar to brasiliensis but is maybe a bit sweeter.
15. Coccoloba uvifera - Seagrape
     These were not great, a bit salty and a bit sweet. I can see eating them if you need to and they can literally grow in sea water to they have utility as a pioneer and anti-erosion species.
16. Myrciaria vexator - Blue Grape
     This was a major disappointment. I am growing these plants and they are beautiful so I really was hoping the fruit was good but I found them to be so resinous I couldn't eat them. I tried putting them in the fridge for the next day and they were still gross and astringent. The one hope I have is they don't appear to drop from the tree so maybe they were just way over ripe.
17. ?????? - ??????
     I cut this open and a jelly that smelled of turpentyne came out so I threw it away
18. Diospyros nigra - Black Sapote
    A normal black sapote- I don't think these are very good fruits out of hand- okay in a milkshake
19. Campomanesia spp. - Perfume guava
    They had several other Campomanesia varieties here but this was the only one bearing fruit and was, of course, unlabelled. I really like this fruit. It earns the name perfume guava- if you do not like the smell that can come in the mexican cream guavas stay away, but I found them delicious.
20. Coupea spp. - Baboon cap
    This was a wonderful find, when I first tasted one it was similar to a Pouteria, a bit starchy and probably best as an ingredient in some cream based dessert. I let the other three ripen significantly more and this was great for the flavor. A complex mix of dates and berries and pumpkin, I really really liked these. I gave the seeds for this to NissanVersa on here as unfortunately my garden space and time has diminished drastically with this new job.
21. Spondias purpurea - Hog Plum
    Pretty good- very sour, wouldn't eat a lot of them



Next was on to the property down in the Keys! Here is some large scale views- it is basically impenetrable scrub













But here is a little area I cleared for planting





I put all of the plants from the suitcase in the ground here as well as many many seeds so we will see what takes


ABOUT THE SONCOYA-

so neither the lisa or the soncoya were ripe while I was in FL so I flew them back with me to TX-

They we essentially collected in the same state- top about to split, still on the tree with the stem completely dried

The lisa ended up perfect- it was delicious



And despite the soncoya looking like it ripened perfectly when NissanVersa and I tried it it had no flavor, was starchy and inedible.





This was a major disappointment, I am not sure what went wrong :(


Believe it or not I squoze a small trip up to Michigan in for a family wedding and managed to catch the family Paw Paw tree in fruit- I think this might be the best North American Native fruit. Our tree is ~20 years old so it is not one of the new cultivars. the fruit is small and seedy but delicious like blue raspberry custard. I only was able to catch a couple drop and gave them to NissanVersa





FINALLY I was headed out to the bay area-

After 35 hours of driving in a 20+ foot vehicle me and some of the plants made it safely- I got lucky that the property owner and tenants seem to be into plants and fruit stuff so there was some cool things here when I arrived

First is a Giant Feijoa! this is the first one I have seen bearing fruit- havent had a chance to try any yet but I am told they are delicious from the neighbor







There is a nice volunteer grape vine- the fruit are small and seedy but deliciously sweet



And Arbutus unedo are growing all over the place. People seem to be entirely ignorant of the fact they are edible, and some trees are even quite good, so I am just biking around and collecting fruit!








Relatively settled now. the select plants I took with me received a beating but I am getting them babied and back into good care now.

NateTheGreat

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2022, 02:48:28 PM »
That first Arbutus is probably Arbutus 'Marina'. Unedo doesn't have red peeling bark. Could be a native madrone, but they're rare in urban/cultivated areas.

W.

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #2 on: September 18, 2022, 04:18:53 PM »
Looks like you had a lot of fun. Good fruit and good times.

Bush2Beach

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2022, 07:11:50 PM »
What a whirlwind! Good F&S report!
Welcome west!

JCorte

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2022, 08:58:36 AM »
Thanks for sharing your adventure and fruit tasting.  Now, I want to take a fruit tasting trip to Florida. ;D Congratulations on your new job and good luck in your new home!

Janet

fliptop

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2022, 12:23:33 PM »
elouicious, can you expand on your Cinnamon Apple comments? What makes it not that good out of hand? Texture? Fiber? Latex? Aftertaste? Thanks!

W.

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2022, 04:28:23 PM »
I am also curious about the blue grape jaboticaba review. I have seen other, very positive reviews of that fruit. Did you eat the skin? That could be the problem with your fruit since the skin is too full of tannins and other compounds to be eaten (and enjoyed).

Satya

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2022, 04:56:11 PM »
Hey, sorry i missed you, lot of out-of-state work this summer. Even missed all the mango tastings this year.
Glad you enjoyed the trip. There is so much diversity at Fruit and spice park, even when my wife and I roam around hours trying different fruits, next time we go there we find something new. Good luck for your key west project.

socalbalcony2

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2022, 05:56:59 PM »
Nice writeup, I am most intrigued about blue raspberry custard tasting pawpaw.. all the pawpaw I've had has that warmer, banana/mango/pineapple flavor.

Anyways, welcome to CA, where you can grow and fruit Inga in 9b ;)

I'm sure we'll cross paths soon enough.

Cheers.

elouicious

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2022, 06:30:36 PM »
Nate - There seems to be several varieties as well as cultivars of Arbutus (I have found at least 3 distinct ones on campus so far) so I am not sure which is which but I can say most of the fruit I have tasted has been quite good- especially if left to soften on the counter.

Janet- you definitely should! with the price of some things these days you might even make a profit if you are inclined to selling plants/seeds

fliptop- sure, I admit I am an American and like my fruits to have some sweetness when eating them, although I can still appreciate sour fruits, crunchy fruits etc. With most pouteria I find that they can be starchy, good flavored but they really shine when a little sugar is added, and generally cream- the best example of this is Lucuma which is okay out of hand, even better with  little brown sugar sprinkled on it, and delectable when in an ice cream or other dessert


W.- yeah this one was a major bummer- I did not eat the skin although it was even more resinous than the pulp when I cracked one open with my teeth. I am hoping that it is the case that they do not drop, were sitting on the trees (probably fermenting etc.) for way longer than they should have been and this is why they were insipid- maybe Adam or other Myrciaria/Plinia experts can chime in as to when they are supposed to ripen- I was there in late August

Satya! I am sorry we missed each other too, the good news is my SO was unable to make the trip so I have a very good excuse to come back soon (although I hear rumblings you may have a big move in the near future.) You guys have done amazing things with that property, it is truly a dream.

socal- where were the ones you tasted grown? I really think Z5 is a good place for them

NissanVersa

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2022, 06:43:30 PM »
Thanks for the great read and photos!

I agree on the cinnamon apple, the texture was crazy bad to me. I really like all sorts of sapodilla too so it was a surprise for me.

Hope to see West Coast adventures next!

Thanks for the fruits too! Those seashores were the bomb dot com.

elouicious

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2022, 07:24:50 PM »
Nissanversa also thought the Blue Jabo fruit was gross and he is a Myrciaria/Plinia master  :P

I think I might go to SFBG this weekend to see if any Ugni or Amomyrtus fruit are ripe- maybe ship you out a box

roblack

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2022, 09:02:51 AM »
Congrats on your successful relocation! Lots of fun checking out the plant pics, will be great seeing how things develop. Best of luck!

Galatians522

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2022, 09:51:07 AM »
Enjoyed reading about your adventures. I always thought that sea grapes tasted like BBQ sauce without the smoke flavor--salty and a little sweet.

Bush2Beach

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Re: Trans-Plant Successful! Miami Trip- Moving to the bay and Fruit Adventures!
« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2022, 12:28:17 PM »
Vexator is good but different. I had some ripe at F&S in Early May. Tgis must have been a next crop holding. Either way, some people like them more than Jaboticaba and some people less. They are very different in flavor from any Plinia I have tried.