Topic: quince

[qahtan]

 just picked 7 pound quince, from the tree we grew from pip many years ago..qahtan      .

[picman]

Your tree has a very pink flower, ours is deep red, but it also struggles I think due to neighbours chalk/lime gravel, we made Quince jelly last year still have some left. great taste.
 

[qahtan]

But ours doesn't have that perfume or flavour that the British ones have., I think the one we saved the pips from came from Califonia,,, It's a shame they are so hard to work with.... qahtan

 where is your growing...... mines in the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario

[picman]

Hi Qahtan . Its in our back garden Worcestershire , UK .

[qahtan]

so yours smell and taste yummy.. qahtan

[picman]

Q... We actually gave all the fruit away this year, one of our allotment friends will turn it into jelly and sell it , flavour is very good, I add a little to the roast lamb gravy. (dribble)

[qahtan]

 I will be over.... qahtan

[Melbourne12]

You can make the most marvellous quince paste, I used to do it with reception classes.  One of the first sweetmeats.  You use the same amount of sugar as you have boiled fruit, cook it a bit more than jam setting and turn it into a swiss roll tin (shallow) on greaseproof paper.  Youcan cut it into square when it sets and serve it with cheese or as a sweet.  It goes a brilliant orangey red colour and looks spectacular.  You can buy quinces in french markets which I have never seen in England but if yu can get quinces from an english tree, usually rather misshapen, they smell and taste much more intense.  Try them if you ever get the chance.

[qahtan]

 Oh yes , I agree British quince are far better than these in Canada,,,,,,

                                qahtan

[Tin Shed]

This year all my quince split and rotted as the rain came at the wrong time :-[
 Just managed to salvage two to make one batch of quince brandy ;)

[qahtan]

ooooh never heard of quince brandy, the mere name sounds as if it wuld knock your socks off ;D ;D   qahtan

[terrier]

I have a couple of quince plants that have produced lots of fruits about the size of golf balls. Are quince shrubs different from quince trees and are mine edible? We bought some quince a few weeks ago that were the size of large pears, mine are tiny compared to those.

[jennym]

Terrier, there are 2 different fruits known as "quince".
The ones shown in qahtan's picture, and those that you bought which were the size of large pears, are Cydonia oblonga, and they grow on a large tree. They have a flavour, but some of them aren't very fruity in flavour.
The ones that you are growing, the shrub type, is Chaenomeles japonica probably. Many have a deep red flower, though some do have pink, or white. The fruit from these is often similar to the size of a small apple, and often mis-shapen. Often the shrubs have thorns.
In my opinion, the Chaenomeles types are far superior, they are intensely, fragrantly fruity. I grow both, but tend to make jelly either from the Chaenomeles alone, or if I use the large quince, Cydonia, I tend to mix some Chaenomeles in with them to improve the flavour.

[delboy]

How big do the trees/bushes grow, and how long before a crop?

Do they take longer to produce fruit in volume than, say pears or apples?

[goodlife]

Chaenomeles bushes can produce fruit very early on but the quality of the fruit is bit hit and miss. There has been some researched done in easten Europe to improve cropping. You can see these bushes in almost any garden centre as they are sold as ornamental scrubs for their flowers...all of them have potential for fruiting but some does better and with larger and fleshier fruit than others.
Ideally you would dig side shoot out of well cropping bush to ensure that you get worth while fruit.
I've got one that is orange flowering and it does small golfball size fruit with reasonable amount of flesh..but the flavour is loooooveely ;D..Fragrant and citrusy but still reminds me of apple. It tastes quite sharp so it either needs lot of sugar or mixed with other fruit to tone it down.
True quince is diffent "animal" and it is tree..one that I'm still longing for but not sure where to squeeze one in..and yes it would take much longer to start producing fruit..like any fruit tree you would have to wait minimum of 3 yrs, although I suspect with quince it might take bit longer than that.

[Tin Shed]

The recipe for quince brandy...or rum....or vodka [well you can't let those quince just rot away, can you!!], courtesy of Jane Grigson

Wash then grate two quince - skin, core and all.
Put a preserving jar and add 2oz sugar and fill with prefered alcohol - the quince needs to be covered.
Shake it daily until sugar has dissolved and then store in a cool, dark place for a couple of months or so.
Strain the quince and then taste the liqueur, adding more suger if prefered.
Try and keep for Christmas ;D

[qahtan]

 thanks mate.... will have to go and fish a couple out of the compost heap and try it...   truly I have dumped most in the compost but they are/will be fine after a good wash in hot water......... :D :D :D

 qahtan

[Tin Shed]

And then they are going to be soaked in alcohol.......... ;D

[jennym]

I've seen established quince bushes (Chaenomeles) vary in size from around knee height to around six feet tall but then they are easily pruned. Mine are kept quite low.
The tree quince get much much larger, and I've found mine to be very vigorous indeed. I bought my tree quince as 2 year olds and think they started cropping after about 3 - 4 years in the ground, so they'd have been 5 - 6 years old in total.

[qahtan]

Our tree is about 8 ft tall but all quite big round, like me.. ;) ;) ;)


 qahtan