Tasting Review of the Peter's Honey, Shiro Plum, Spartan Apple, Desert King, and Gene's Vashon

Tasting Review of the Peter's Honey, Shiro Plum, Spartan Apple, Desert King, and Gene's Vashon

Peter's Honey Breba:

I think the Peter's honey grown in ground here in the PNW is a great compliment to other mild weather figs such as the Desert King, Vern's Brown Turkey, Olympian and VDB. What they have in common is that they all do well here in ground. But that's about it. The flavor profiles are so different and they all encompass the various flavors of figs. Berry tone (VDB), Melon Tone (Vern's BT), Honey tones (Peter's Honey), and the classic figgy taste (Olympian). 

The Peter's Honey fig is such a sweet fig. It's like pure honey! Even on the breba the figs are super duper sweet. The breba I ate recently was so syrupy and thick with honey. I felt like I was going to get diabetes with each bite. All kidding aside Peter's honey is a great honey fig. The main crop may not ripen here but the breba's certainly make a great snack.

If you live in Seattle add this to your in ground collection.

Peter's Honey: Breba (8/8/17)

Taste: 7

Sweetness: 9

Size: 6 (54.4grams)

Productivity: .66

Total =  22.66

Shiro Plum:

I purchased this plum tree from a local seller. Her sells them out of his backyard. He's got great trees and for a fair price. It's been a superb grower in my yard. Very disease resistant and low maintenance. 

The plums are very delicious and usually more plump when we have more rain. But Seattle has had 55 days without rain and I only water these guys about twice a week, so they are not as juicy but the sugars have definitely concentrated and the flavor is quite good. 

Dont forget that these trees need a pollinator so if you buy one, also considering getting the following Japanese plums. 

Redheart, Early Golden, Ozark Premier, stasuma and Methley

Spartan Apple:

I have about half dozen apple varieties in my yard. Spartan by far has been the most vigorous and productive tree. It's also an early apple. Ripening in early August. 

The apple is quite pretty. It shines up nice. However based off of the the one I tried it was already quite mealy. I will have to try another from the tree to see if it's any different. I'll reserve the review until then.

Desert King:

I love the Desert King Fig. It's always so reliable and very tasty. And also very productive. I've already eaten my fill of these. A must have in ground for all cool weather climates. 

Desert King: Breba (8/8/17)

Taste: 8

Sweetness: 7

Size: 7 (61 grams)

Productivity: 2

Total =  24

Gene's Vashon:

This little guy was rooted last year. I didn't expect this little tree to bear fruit yet but it did and it wasn't too bad. 

It had a strong figgy taste with some hints of acid. Because I just had eaten the Peter's honey, this one was relatively bland compared to it. But pure sugar would've bland compared to a Peter's Honey.

My thoughts on this fig after a few yrs is that it's probably in the same family as the Olympian. So if you have one or the other you don't need both.

Gene's Vashon: Breba (8/8/17)

Taste: 5.5

Sweetness: 5

Size: 5 (42 grams)

Productivity: 1

Total =  16.

My little one also wants to get into the watering fun.

Shiro Plum Cross Pollination

Shiro plums are delicious. They are self pollinating but I've noticed that for 2yrs in row the production for this tree has been abysmal. I do have an italian plum tree but it's across the entire yard and not an compatible pollinator for the Shiro. I may have to pick up another variety to help it with the cross pollination and increase the yield. Most likely the Methley Plum.

For cross-pollination, trees must bloom at the same time or have overlapping bloom periods. "Redheart," "Early Golden," "Ozark Premier" and "Methley" cultivars pollinate Shiro plum trees. "Methley" is a low-chill-requirement plum tree with hardy blossoms, making it compatible with Shiro plum in mild-winter locations. "Starking Delicious" is a registered cultivar that shares the same bloom period and cultural requirements as Shiro plum, making this tree a suitable pollinator for Shiro plum. Because these plum trees are all cultivars of the Japanese plum, Prunus salicina, according to the definition of Lerner and Hirst, Shiro plum is self-fruitful. In this case "self" refers to the species, not the particular cultivar. Although a single tree may set a small crop of fruit, heavier crops result from pollination by another cultivar.

Update 6/29/17

I picked up a Satsuma to pollinate my shiro and a green gage plum to pollinate my italian. I also picked up a Lapins Cherry to pollinate my Bing.

Shiro Plum

My Shiro Japanese Plum

I've been waiting 2 yrs for this fruit tree to fruit. This spring there were a ton of flowers on the tree, which I thought would translate to a ton of fruit. But we had a couple of freak 90 degree days in April which killed off the flowers sooner than the bees could pollinate them. They were clustered in the same area of the tree. You can almost see the path the bee took from flower to flower.


So I was left with only 6 little fruit on this tree this yr.

Update on the Shiro: 5/09/16 in about a month its put on some serious fat

update: 7/2/16

 

Update 7/11/16

Time to Taste