Two weeks ago, my wife and I purchased some Honeycrisp apples as the farmer's market. They were awful (for a Honeycrisp). The next week we purchased from someone else, and they were the apple we were used to: crisp and juicy.
It made me start thinking about fruit quality. What are the things I can do to make sure my fruit tastes the best it can?
I think this is a very important topic for discussion and important to all who strive to grow wonderful tasting fruit. I understand that trees need good soil, sun and water to produce good tasting fruit. But how good of soil, how much sun, and how much water is required to produce wonderful tasting fruit.
This summer, I picked peaches and plums that were dead ripe from trees at an orchard in Sherwood, OR. The orchard was on a hillside with an ESE exposure. The soil was not the rich valley soil, but the less rich hillside soil. It did not appear that the orchard had a watering system in their orchard. These dead ripe peaches and plums were not good at all. They had 6 different types of peaches and they were all equally bad. The peaches were small, not sweet, and had a bad after taste. The plums (shiro) from large very old trees had wonderful flesh, but the skin was so terribly bitter, I had to remove it all before eating.
A few days later, I went to another peach orchard near St. Paul (south of Newberg). This orchard has rich valley soil, complete sun exposure being on flat land, and I don't know if they water their trees or not. The fruit from this orchard was absolutely wonderful. Fruit size was large, the peaches were sweet, juicy without a hint of bitterness. Just what a peach should taste like.
I recently purchased by first bit of land and I am planning my first fruit orchard. It so happens that my property is not far from the orchard in Sherwood, OR. I have the same soil, but my exposure is SSW. As I plan my orchard, I anticipate bringing in loads of compost to mix in with my native hillside soil. I also plan to have a drip system for my trees. But this still leaves me wondering if my fruit will have the quality I am hoping for or if they will be bitter and tasteless like the orchard near me....
I've had a somewhat different experience with fruit quality. I have a satsuma plum & for the first few years they were delicious. About three years ago, they went downhill rapidly. Last year, the tree was breaking branches there was so much fruit on it, & it never seemed to ripen or get sweet. This last year I thinned rather heavily, but it was once again overloaded, but at least the fruit ripened & was a lot more flavorful & sweet. Next year I'm going to really strip it when thinning, since I think the quantity of fruit affects flavor, on this tree at least.
Scott; Interesting observations. I’ve some experience on my own place with varying soil types and sun exposure. What I’ve found is little difference in eventual taste but varying fruit-sets and time of ripening. Those in the poorest soil have a southern exposure, thus ripen earlier; those in the rich bottom land are a bit more shaded and ripen up to two weeks later. Though I grow a variety of fruit, I’m ‘comparing’ apples.
As the post above describes, a heavy set can effect taste, due to the tree’s inability to ripen all that fruit. I wonder if the hillside peaches had set heavy, that could explain their size..?
Here in Yamhill County the wine industry has thrived due to the “complex flavors†caused in large part by stressed grape plants searching for nutrients on our clay hillsides - and the stress of ripening at the edge of their boundary. Generally, when stressed, fruit becomes smaller and more intense in flavor. That’s why English walnuts and spring strawberries from Oregon taste so much better when grown here – but are much easier to grow and “size up†in CA's hot water-soaked valleys.
Another condition on the “valley floors†around here are late frosts. Pooling like water, such frosts can wipe out blossoms and end the growing season weeks ahead of cold air shedding hillsides. Last year I witnessed a friends new ‘table grape’ vineyard (planted on rich valley soil likely 20 feet deep!) suffer the leaf killing effects of two hard frosts -- while we in/on the hills had another 3 weeks of frost-free nutrient gathering weather. Don’t underestimate hillsides!
Do what you can to amend your soil, but my best suggestion is to plant more vigorous rootstock, water only to establish and don’t forget to thin…
reneal;
I’ve a 15 year old Satsuma plum. It’s one of my favorite Summer fruits! What took me years to figure out was how good they taste while still firm(!!). I’d always allowed them to ripen to the ‘magenta’ stage, with a pleasing flavor and eatable skin... Plucking a firm Satsuma, at the translucent stage, when developing a red blush, they’ve an entirely different taste. Blindfolded, I wouldn’t think they were the same fruit. And Wow – It gives me an even longer window of eatability! Early and firm, they’ve a sweetness that seems to disappear as they ‘ripen.’ That sweetness counters the tart skin … and before I know it -- I’ve downed ten of them (bent over the driveway dripping juice and ejecting seeds).
Do thin them hard. I’m curious where your nearest pollinator is..? They may be self, or at least “semi†self-fertile, as mine are quite consistent – grafted on to a Shiro plum. Prune them heavy, too. Asian (originally from China, not Japan) plums are prolific and need serious pruning or they set too heavy and don't receive the sun necessary to develop when chocked by excess leaves.
…Keep in mind, too; just as my Satsuma’s are grafted onto a Shiro (nice mix and extends the season as the Shiro’s come on immediately after), you could graft (it’s not that difficult, and HOS gives lessons on such top-working in the Spring) a couple different varieties onto your Satsuma. And if you like one better, as I did Satsuma over Shiro – prune accordingly!
Please keep us posted, and welcome both 
On the question of good and bad Honeycrisp apples: I watched a video on fruitgrowers and their small co-op. Many were switching part of their orchards over to Honeycrisp and the co-op was learning how to handle these apples. They have very different handling needs. They must have the stems cut off when picked so they do not puncture the skins of other apples. They must be handled very gently when put into the picking bag and when transferred to the boxes. Their refridgeration and cold storrage temps and times are different from other apples and to maintain quality these needs must be observed.
I have had great Honeycrisp apples and really nasty ones. There is no way to know what you will get unless you buy one and taste it before buying a bunch.
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