On 6/30/2016 7:26 PM, Ecnerwal wrote:
In article ,
George Shirley wrote:

Making more fig jam tomorrow, getting just enough to make three or four
pints here and there.
We had a 20 year old fig tree in Louisiana, it grew in the shade from a
sprout from a next door neighbor. After all those years growing it only
was about eight feet tall and about ten feet around. Our last year in
that house I went out to pick figs and the main tree fell over. It had a
hard base at the root level and that branch was still green even though
it wasn't connected to the roots anymore. This new one is growing about
that slow too but is getting more prolific by the year.


Can be nice, actually, if you have a system worked out - apple
processing is often that way for us - not that they comes in dribs and
drabs so much, but they will hold on the tree (or even picked) a while,
if they are there in the first place. This year looks bad for that, I
don't think the blossoms even opened. I get into a rhythm where I
process so many, turn them into sauce or butter or dry them, turn around
and do it again.
We used to make 20 to 40 pints of fig jam at the old place, we're older
now and much happier with 2 to 4 pints a week, makes the job easier.

The plums last year came in a great mass so that we were desperately
processing 40 lbs trying to stay ahead of them spoiling. That will have
to hold us though this year, at least, as the late freeze has done for
nearly all of them (on those, the flowers were out, but I see exactly 2
green fruit on 5 trees that made hundreds last year.) Bummer - the "I
had major doubts" plum "wine" came out sort of OK (green plums, sugar
and what was supposed to be some sort of rice liquor that I subbed with
diluted-to-the-correct-proof vodka. Should be "umeshu" plums, but source
claimed it worked OK with others.) Next time I have some I'll try with
ones a little riper, I think, but it's acceptable for low-effort cheap
homemade, after a year of sitting.

We had two plum trees, about six years old, never had a plum on them,
don't know why, the local ag agent was also bewildered. Had a Japanese
persimmon that did well, made lots of persimmon wine, about all they
were good for. Used to make wild persimmon wine years ago that was
pretty tasty, and, after a year in the jug, it had a rosy tint. Good
stuff (hic). Our kumquat tree is maybe 4 feet tall and is loaded again
this summer, lots of blooms and a whole lot of fruit. We don't drink
much alcohol anymore so I haven't made any kumquat wine, the old one in
Louisiana had so many fruit one year I made two gallons of kumquat wine,
pretty good stuff too. This young tree produces enough fruit to make
several pints of kumquat marmalade, that is really good stuff there,
even the great grands like it. I'm really watching the pear tree in the
front yard as a lot of folks walk by there daily. I think most of them
don't know anything about fruit trees. It is a Tennousi, developed by a
local ag agent. It's a cross between an Asian pear and a European pear
and gets fairly large and is russet in color. Have not tasted one but am
looking forward to it. We used to put up a lot of pear jelly, sauce, and
sliced pears from an old Kiefer canning pear tree we had. Kiefer is a
very good canning pear but have to be dead ripe to eat out of hand.

George