I would like to hear people's experiences with unusual fruits like, vine peaches, garden huckleberries, melon squash, Plant that grows egg fruit, and ground cherries, and any other unusual fruits you've grown.

Little bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), November 26, 2001

Answers

Hmmm, I haven't tried any of those. Our season is short and there are a lot of things that just won't grow here. I have bought and eaten some very odd fruit from the grocery store though- ugli fruit, litchee nuts, horned melons (talk about STRANGE!!!).

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), December 04, 2001.

Haven't grown anything different yet, but I plan to start this spring - I've ordered seed for Star fruit and Issai Kiwi. I'm really interested in different kinds of berries. I plan to try seabuckthorn berries, but I understand it is hard to get them started. Has anybody else raised them?

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), December 05, 2001.

Ooh those sound interesting. Aren't star fruit tropical? There is a great company that sells edible landscape fruits. When I get back from taking my son to the doctor I'll post the link.

Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), December 05, 2001.

I planted a male and female hardy kiwi a couple years ago. The vines are growing nicely. According to the information that I got with the plants they shouldn't start fruiting until they are about 5 years old, so it will be a few more years before I get any fruit.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), December 09, 2001.

I like vine peach but it isn't something I'd grow for sale. The flavor is distictive (odd), and I think customers wouldn't generally like it. And it is small, one serving size. OK, most mellons are one serving size when I eat them, but vine peach (also called Mango Mellon) is one serving for most people. And they can rnge from swwet, tart, to bland, depending on how long they were on the vine after they looked ripe. I mean they look ripe before they are ripe.

The garden Hucklberries I find bland.

Melon squash didn't do well for me. They may have found it to hot and dry here. butternut is well adapted here, and I like it so I don't give new squash more thean 2 chances.

Ground cherries have always seemed bland, but I know there are several species tht are suposed to be quite different from each other.

The plants that grow egg-like fruit are true eggplants. Eggplants come in different sizes and shapes and colors and flavors. One size and shape and color really does look like an egg. It's flavor is common for eggplant, neither tart nor bitter as some are. so I have grown it sometimes, but it isn't the most productive eggplant so I ddon't generally grow it.

-- Walter Pickett (waltseed67454@yahoo.com), April 06, 2004.

We tried Garden Huckleberries year before last and did NOT like them. I grew them for pies but none of use liked the taste. It is possible that they were not ripe enough when I picked them but....won't grow them again :-).

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), April 09, 2004.