Flavor Supreme Pluots

The first fruit of the seaon was picked today. I tested the Flavor Supreme Pluots from my 5 in in one tree. The surface of the pluot is green and mottled but one bite reveals a very bright red,juicy, and sweet cross between a plum and an apricot. I convinced my skeptical neighbor that they were ripe. One bite and he was a convert.

Pluots are the future of the plum business in California. Some experts claim that in the future all plums will be pluots. This flavor supreme is definitely moving the industry in that direction. Apricots are less fragile than plums,yet having the sugar content in the fruit is highly desirable, Flavor Supreme Pluots are very sweet. See if you can find some at your local farmers market. You might have to shove savy fruit lovers away. I suspect that it will be another week or two for them to show up in the Santa Clara Valley or the northern central valley.

The peaches and the nectarines are looking good on the trees in my front yard. They are showing nice color but they won't be ready for tree ripe picking until the end of the month. I have had to get out the wooden splints to support the peach tree in front. The bark on one branch was splitting or more like shredding from the weight of fruit on its tiny limbs. Most of the peach and apricots in the front yard are genetic dwarfs. They still think (if a tree can think)that they have to put out as much as the full size trees. The big battle all spring and into the summer is to thin out the fruit so that it makes a decent size and doesn't do what the little Bonanza peach did, shred.

After the harvest I will do some significant pruning so that they will not over grow their sizes. I am happy with the size and shape of the pee zee nectarine and the pee zee peach. Both of these trees are only 4 and half feet tall and their energy is converted to spread instead of height.

I am looking for a great fruit season.

Love, Pat