Stone fruits

[burglar]

I can't see a 'city' in that picture.

They are not "apartments" nor "condos". They are offices!! It's a concept unique to Australia. :

 

[springhill]

I think I like stone fruits the best, apricots are my favourite but a lot of the ones you buy in the shops are rather bland and floury. A home grown one on the other hand ..... bliss!!!

There can be a few reasons for this. Aesthetically pleasing varieties (especially in apricots) often have poor flavour, they have been kept in store for too long and the fruit is in the early stages of breakdown, they are imported from interstate/NZ - obviously the harvest to shelf time is longer than a locally grown fruit.

Nectarines and cherries for me. I agree on the home grown superiority, but alas it is not to be, for me. I'm sure the shop bought fruit had more flavour (but probably shorter season) when I was a child.

I would live on cherries alone if only I could afford to

Not sure of your state, but alot of the very early low chill varieties taste like mud, some even grown in sandy soil which is not conducive to sugars in stone fruit.

Commercial orchards and market gardens are not breeding for flavour (IMO).
They seem obssesed with size, colour, shape, blemish-free, and shelf life.

As they are selling, I guess production costs, yields,
price and markets must uppermost in their minds.

You have bought up a massive bug bear of mine. Most growers in the stone fruit industry does themselves no favours.

You can still have size, colour and free of blemishes and still have flavour.

I am sick of dropping our produce off at the central markets and seeing crap other growers have picked up to 10 days early, the eating quality of this fruit is abysmal. There is no excuse to harvest like this, except greed.
Our family orchard we would lose somewhere around the 10-25% mark of each crop. This is due to the fact we strive to pick our stone fruits in a 'ready to eat' state. Picking fruit in this state, damage due to handling and a percentage of the fruit being over ripe is inevitable. It is a loss we are willing to take to produce fruit that is full of flavour and to be honest we do receive top prices in the market for it.
We don't always get it 100% right, but when we don't we learn from it.
A lot of growers couldn't give a rats and their aim is to harvest as much fruit as possible, whilst minimising losses. The easiest way to do this is to pick before the fruit is ready. There is no handling damage to under ripe fruit and pests are most attracted to stone fruits with that magnificent ripe aroma we all love.

My advice is if you see poor stone fruit stocked in your local, ask for the manager/owner and inform of your refusal to buy sub standard produce. If you have fantastic stone fruit, give the manager/owner positive feedback.
As long as there is a market for poor quality people will continue to grow it, shops will continue to buy it and consumers will have to eat it.

I could go on and on and on but that will do for now.....

 

[DocK]

Not sure of your state, but alot of the very early low chill varieties taste like mud, some even grown in sandy soil which is not conducive to sugars in stone fruit.

Gold Coast, Qld. Not an area known for its stone fruit production My husband grew up in country Vic and annoys me no end when he reminisces about eating so much stone fruit from his parent's and neighbour's trees that his tummy ached for hours. Best I can recall is the neighbour keeping us all in mulberrys and being purple from head to toe when the time came for all the kids in the neighbourhood to pick his tree bare. Good times. (Sigh)... feeling old now.....ld:

 

[sammy84]

Just for you sammy!

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=746612

View attachment 50338

Good looking melons.

 

[Julia]

Maybe you should come to the "Right" City then
We even grow passionfruit along the garden fence.

I don't get your reference, pixel. I have no trouble growing passionfruit here - have several very productive vines. I was just nominating them as a fruit preferred, along with jaboticaba, over any other fruit.
I think you're in Perth but don't get what the photo was signifying.

There can be a few reasons for this. Aesthetically pleasing varieties (especially in apricots) often have poor flavour, they have been kept in store for too long and the fruit is in the early stages of breakdown, they are imported from interstate/NZ - obviously the harvest to shelf time is longer than a locally grown fruit.

Not sure of your state, but alot of the very early low chill varieties taste like mud, some even grown in sandy soil which is not conducive to sugars in stone fruit.

I find Australian cherries inferior to those grown in NZ and those we import every winter from the US. Both these are large, juicy and sweet. The Australian ones are often puny in comparison and lacking in sweetness as you suggest.

You have bought up a massive bug bear of mine. Most growers in the stone fruit industry does themselves no favours.

You can still have size, colour and free of blemishes and still have flavour.

I am sick of dropping our produce off at the central markets and seeing crap other growers have picked up to 10 days early, the eating quality of this fruit is abysmal. There is no excuse to harvest like this, except greed.
Our family orchard we would lose somewhere around the 10-25% mark of each crop. This is due to the fact we strive to pick our stone fruits in a 'ready to eat' state. Picking fruit in this state, damage due to handling and a percentage of the fruit being over ripe is inevitable. It is a loss we are willing to take to produce fruit that is full of flavour and to be honest we do receive top prices in the market for it.
We don't always get it 100% right, but when we don't we learn from it.
A lot of growers couldn't give a rats and their aim is to harvest as much fruit as possible, whilst minimising losses. The easiest way to do this is to pick before the fruit is ready. There is no handling damage to under ripe fruit and pests are most attracted to stone fruits with that magnificent ripe aroma we all love.

My advice is if you see poor stone fruit stocked in your local, ask for the manager/owner and inform of your refusal to buy sub standard produce. If you have fantastic stone fruit, give the manager/owner positive feedback.
As long as there is a market for poor quality people will continue to grow it, shops will continue to buy it and consumers will have to eat it.

Springhill, I'm so happy to know that growers like yourself still exist. Just no comparison with tree ripened fruit and the miserable, hard specimens available in most retail outlets that go off before they actually ripen.
Good for you and best of luck with your business.

 

[pixel]

I was talking about fruit trees, Julia; you seemed to regret that they don't grow well in the subtropics.
No problem with them in and around Perth - was my point. And as you stated you like passionfruit, they grow here too. (and grapes and loquats and ...)
The photo is my kind of subtle humour "No Left Turn!", it's the Right City. :

 

[Julia]

I was talking about fruit trees, Julia; you seemed to regret that they don't grow well in the subtropics.
No problem with them in and around Perth - was my point. And as you stated you like passionfruit, they grow here too. (and grapes and loquats and ...)
The photo is my kind of subtle humour "No Left Turn!", it's the Right City. :

Ah, I see. I am very slow with humour that subtle.

WA as far as I know doesn't have the humidity we experience in Qld. This is what renders growing of much difficult.
I did have very successful citrus trees but just got tired of all the spraying required to keep them healthy in the moist air.

 

[burglar]

I could go on and on and on but that will do for now.....

I can read and read!

 

[springhill]

I trimmed the "Million Dollar Peach" until it no longer encroached on the neighbour's property.
I love sharing but I was just being neat, tidy and correct.

Of course I trimmed the top and all the way round to keep it aesthetically pleasing.
Alas, I must have removed too much two-year old wood.

This peach was before my time, but my uncle still talks about it now and then, with Hale Haven also being one of the premium eating peaches of its day.

I don't know if it is available to the home grower but the peach that stands above all others insofar as eating quality grown in WA conditions is Diamond Princess. Picking them tomorrow actually, I will try to keep my consumption to below 6 or 8.

 

[springhill]

A point of interest for consumers out there is that stone fruits (and other fruits I assume) NEVER increase in brix levels (a measurement of sugar in the fruit) once they are picked. This can only occur on the tree. If you purchase unripe fruit it will only soften, never sweeten.
Aroma and colour, in that order, are the best indicators of flavour.

 

[burglar]

...The scungy, dilapidated peach is chock-a-block !!
The branches are bowed under the weight.

The leaves drooped, the fruit toasted.
Another victim of the heatwave.
Pity!

 

[burglar]

A point of interest for consumers out there is that stone fruits (and other fruits I assume) NEVER increase in brix levels (a measurement of sugar in the fruit) once they are picked. This can only occur on the tree. If you purchase unripe fruit it will only soften, never sweeten.
Aroma and colour, in that order, are the best indicators of flavour.

Do you have similar problems as viticulturalists re optimal ripening of fruit?

http://www.practicalwinery.com/julaug01p32.htm

 

[springhill]

Do you have similar problems as viticulturalists re optimal ripening of fruit?

http://www.practicalwinery.com/julaug01p32.htm

This link is talking in terms of wine grapes, not my area of expertise but I assume fresh produce and processed produce require different characteristics and processes of maturity.

A better comparison to our production would be the table grape sector.

Table grape industry in WA have brought in a fantastic initiative requiring minimum Brix levels before the fruit can be marketed. It is my understanding that since this was introduced table grape sales have increased substantially and rightfully so.

Currently in WA stone fruit is undergoing maturity testing in the central markets, but there is no determined standard on Brix levels at the moment. It is something the stone fruit industry needs to embrace, but I fear some bad practices have become the norm rather than the exception.
There is no rocket science involved in recognising if your fruit is optimally ripe, only a will or lack thereof to pick it in that way.

 

[burglar]

This link is talking in terms of wine grapes, not my area of expertise but I assume fresh produce and processed produce require different characteristics and processes of maturity.

A better comparison to our production would be the table grape sector.

Table grape industry in WA have brought in a fantastic initiative requiring minimum Brix levels before the fruit can be marketed. It is my understanding that since this was introduced table grape sales have increased substantially and rightfully so.

Currently in WA stone fruit is undergoing maturity testing in the central markets, but there is no determined standard on Brix levels at the moment. It is something the stone fruit industry needs to embrace, but I fear some bad practices have become the norm rather than the exception.
There is no rocket science involved in recognising if your fruit is optimally ripe, only a will or lack thereof to pick it in that way.

I went fruit picking in the Riverland when I was 17 yo.
Biggest complaints I heard were:

Contract pickers picked unripe fruit near the ground,
leaving ripe fruit in the tree tops.
Also, they broke many branches!

By-the-hour pickers were too leisurely!

I don't envy your job.

 

[pixel]

Currently in WA stone fruit is undergoing maturity testing in the central markets, but there is no determined standard on Brix levels at the moment. It is something the stone fruit industry needs to embrace, but I fear some bad practices have become the norm rather than the exception.
There is no rocket science involved in recognising if your fruit is optimally ripe, only a will or lack thereof to pick it in that way.

A major problem with selected picking is the cost involved. You'd have to go over the same orchard more than once because different fruits will ripen optimally at different times, even on the same branch. Not only does that require pickers with far higher skills (read: pay rate) at recognising subtle differences, but will slow the whole picking process down. I doubt very much that your average supermarket will be willing to pay that sort of a premium.

btw, for table grapes, it's even more pronounced: I have been picking individual berries from the same bunch, eating between one and four berries a day - since Christmas Eve! By the looks of some bunches, I'll be able to do that for the next 2 months - and it's only two plants (of the 8 that I planted about 18 months ago) that are bearing fruit this season in my backyard.

 

[springhill]

A major problem with selected picking is the cost involved. You'd have to go over the same orchard more than once because different fruits will ripen optimally at different times, even on the same branch. Not only does that require pickers with far higher skills (read: pay rate) at recognising subtle differences, but will slow the whole picking process down. I doubt very much that your average supermarket will be willing to pay that sort of a premium.

The big 3 chains pay a standard price for stone fruit which will vary from week to week, regardless of who the grower is. They have QA systems which will eliminate the really terrible fruit from their supply, but due to volumes required average fruit will get through.

Independent shops do indeed buy fruit on varying cost levels according to consumer preference and what they can afford to pay. Some shops will pay a premium for quality and have a list of growers the shop owners know exactly what they are getting when they purchase a box of fruit. Take a look at the quality of fruit and retail prices across high and low socio economic areas.

 

[sydboy007]

I remember the 2 nectarine trees my parents used to have.

My brother and I would pick them and barter them along with other things grown in the veggie patch with others in the street who would grow things.

I miss those times. Food was a lot tastier when it was picked the day you eat it. Still remember how the chooks would stare intently at my dad as he would get all the snails and other creepy crawlies eating his veggies. 2 rows of chooks just doing the odd half hearted cluck, till he'd start walking towards them and then it was like the noise of parliament house when the trough is brought out

Don't miss the nectarines though. Never got a taste for them. Definitely don't miss the lemon tree too. Not sure what the big black bettle things thaat would infest them are called, but upset them and they start squirting you with something sticky and stinky. Hardy buggars too. The usual garlic & rhubarb spray spray did nothing to them.

This time of year there's nothing like an ice cold slice of watermelon

egads - reminissing..I must be old

 

[burglar]

... I must be old

Did you mean "I must be old"? ld: