Topic: fruit

[aquilegia]

I'm looking to expand my fruit garden this year as my son loves fruit!

We've already got:
Strawberries (alpine and cambridge favourite)
raspberries (summer and autumn)
a small, not very productive apple tree (worcester, I think)
rhubarb

I'd like to get:
espalier fruit (maybe another apple, we like crisp, sharp apples, sweet cherries, not sure what else. But not plums or anything related as I'm allergic. No kiwis either as I'm allergic to those too.)
sweet, seedless grapes?
late strawberries
sweet blueberries

I don't want fruit that needs cooking as my son will only eat raw fruit. And not blackberries as there are plenty in the hedgerows! We don't have a wall for peaches or apricots.

Any recommendations?

[Stevens706]

What about gooseberries, if you go for the red varieties they are really nice and quite sweet, my 10 year old daughter loves them.

[aquilegia]

Oh really? I didn't know that. I don't like gooseberries, but have only had the green ones!

[birdsrfun]

Have you a Pear tree? Conference is so easy and reliable

[manicscousers]

figs are lovely and quite easy, brown turkey will grow in a large pot  :)

[aquilegia]

How could I forget about pears? How are williams to grow? They are my favourites!

I'll have to try a fig first and see if my son likes them. I've not had one in over 15 years and didn't like it then! (but my tastes have changed!)

[Robert_Brenchley]

Williams are easy; there must be a dozen large trees on my site, and they crop every year.

[landimad]

What about a nice Bramley Apple tree. To cook the fruit which comes from it with others or on its own.

[chriscross1966]

A morello?... it'll grow in places nothing much else productive will (north facing walls for instance) meraning it's less than compact training habits aren't such an issue.... I'm planning on putting one in the front of my house in a massive tub.....

[aquilegia]

bramleys - tempting, but I think I'd prefer eating apples as space is limited.

Whereas the morello is tempting as we have 70ft of north-facing fence.

So:

red gooseberries
williams pears
morello cherry
added to my list

[chriscross1966]

You do have to leave morello's a while to go sweet though, theyare traditionally a cooking cherry, though I love them dried.... but their wilingness to occupy north facing walls is a huge plus IMHO....

chrisc

[aquilegia]

but their wilingness to occupy north facing walls is a huge plus IMHO....

That's what I was thinking! My 70ft north-facing fence so far has one pathetic little climbing hydranger on it. It definitely needs covering and I love the idea of having something there that is productive. Really I want my garden to be as productive as an allotment, albeit a pretty one with space for my son to play as well!

I never thought of dried cherries, either! Definitely going to have to try that.

[Tonythegardener]

Thought about a plum?  Victoria plums are very easy to grow.  Get a dwarfing rooting stock though because they do grow large. 

[Emagggie]

How about the cape gooseberry (physalis)? Easy peasy to grow. Not super sweet but delicious nonetheless. :)
Just a thought, should your apple tree have another growing nearby for pollinating purposes? Maybe this is the reason for it not being productive.

[Vinlander]

I've never heard of anyone being allergic to plums - they are closely related to peaches apricots nectarines and especially cherries. They are slightly related to apples, pears and roses!

For anyone else plums have to be absolute top priority in any fruit collection - because they are crap if they don't ripen on the tree and are easily bruised - it's impossible to buy good ones in the shops.

I'd guess something like 95% of townspeople and maybe even 10% of country dwellers have never, ever tasted a decent ripe plum!

Pears and cooking apples: low priority because both can be bought easily - bramleys are used unripe and pears ripen well off the tree.

The rest are mostly somewhere in between these two extremes...

If you like sharp crisp apples then grow your own. If you like soft sweet ones then why bother?

Grapes are worthwhile if you can grow types that aren't in the shops, but most of the big nurseries sell traditional varieties that are virtually identical. Try hybrids like Glenora or Reliance - easier, earlier,  less problems, and they taste like a new and delicious fruit - almost as different as lychees (but in a completely different direction).

Physalis are an interesting case -  the normal kind aren't that easy to grow, but the shorter annual kinds grow like tomatoes, are much earlier, produce fruits right through the summer, and have a lighter flavour.

Tayberries are another example - easier than raspberries, longer season, different but even more delicious flavour (the thornless ones are more convenient and nearly as good). Fantastic jam if you get tired of them towards the end of the season. Make wonderful lollies (frozen smoothies) especially mixed with any surplus of strawberries.

My philosophy...

Cheers.

[aquilegia]

Lots more ideas, thanks!

DS does love victoria plums when they are ripe, so maybe I'll get one for him. I don't seem, yet, to be allergic to the other fruits they are related to, but I've been averaging one new allergy a year for the past 4 years, so there's still plenty of time!  :-\

We definitely prefer crisp sharp apples to soft ones. I only eat apples when they are in season. Can't stand them now!

Tayberries sound good as well. mmm - fruit lollies.  Ah summer! My list is expanding fast!

That's a good point about apple tree polination. I shall definitely have to get another one in the same group as I'm not sure if there are anymore locally. Not that many people seem to be into gardening, even less so growing their own (fools!)

[Mrs Gumboot]

I don't seem, yet, to be allergic to the other fruits they are related to

Just as an aside to this, have you tried a plum from someone that you know hasn't sprayed them with anything whatsoever? My mum never used to have problems but in recent years has found that she reacts to the skin of some fruits, particularly pears, which she previously loved. Took her a bucket of pears and plums from our trees at work which pretty much get ignored all year and found she was fine with those. Since I know they haven't had any chemical applications for I don't know how long, we deduced it must be something that they were sprayed with. Even the organic ones are sprayed.