A Harvest Like You

Flavor Finale Pluots-Bird Back 40

I've been waiting for this moment to be brutally honest. I've been waiting for a harvest like you. Because the planting and growing of fruit trees is an exercise in patience. You are not going to be rewarded with a bounty of fresh fruit in the first year nor the second. The third year might give you a little something. But it's that fourth year that fruit growers really look forward too.

Why that fourth year? Because as you've dutifully tended, watered and fertilized your young fruit and citrus trees, you have given them the time they need to establish large and strong root systems below the soil line. Strong roots = strong trees. Strong trees = a bounty of fresh fruit come harvest time.

Sliced Flavor Finale Pluots

But, alas, it doesn't always work this way. Sometimes the fourth year is a bust. The fifth year can be disappointing as well. Sometimes -- it's the third year. It all depends upon the fruit tree in question, where it's planted, how much sunshine it receives and how well you've cared for it. Did disease hit at some point? What about bugs? Bugs love fruit trees just as much as I do.

But there comes that moment in time, where the harvest you've worked and waited for finally arrives. You can't taste it yet. But you can see it forming before your eyes. In my case? The Flavor Finale Pluot tree that I stuck in the ground five years ago finally got around to delivering the type of harvest that I had always dreamed about, but never quite attained.

WHOA! Now that's a harvest to remember!

What is that perfect harvest? It's a harvest that is so large, that one bathes in pluots. There's enough pluots on the tree for fresh eating. There's enough pluots on that tree to make loads and loads of pluot jam and other pluot goodies. Gin drinks made with freshly squeezed pluot juice anyone? Finally -- there's still enough to give away to family, friends and neighbors -- all they can take -- and there's still enough fruit left on the tree to feed a marauding family of mockingbirds.

That, my friends, is a harvest to remember. And it took place this year in the Bird Back 40 in what will be described as an "average" fruit year by many. The weather wasn't quite right for cherries in Northern California this year, which is why the purchase of 1 lb. of cherries cost an arm and a leg in the local supermarket. Some peach varieties -- like the June Pride for example -- set very little fruit. And the three nectarine trees delivered a smattering of fresh nectarines. And don't get me started on the apples and pears -- especially when it comes to a rather nasty bug like fire blight.

Flavor Finale Pluot Tree-Bird Back 40

This wasn't what I had expected. But if you grow fruit for fun, you take the good with the bad. In some years the times are good. In others? Not so much. That's when it's time to drag out the old farmer's lament of "there's always next year."

But -- as you might be able to notice in the photo above left --there's a bit of wood propping up a branch laden with pluots. Know what that means? It was a rather right fine year for pluot production. More than right fine I should say. The dang tree was loaded to the point where some unpropped branches did actually snap under the weight of a terrifically large and luscious pluot crop.

Flavor Finale Pluot Jam-Bird Kitchens

I'll be completely honest with you. I've been privy to pluots ever since I first discovered them at a Sacramento area farmer's market more than a decade ago. I've always been a fan of home-grown plums and not-yet-dried prunes like the Clairac Mammoth de Ente (Improved French Prune). But the pluot offered a tasty feast that I quickly fell in love with. I couldn't buy enough to meet my personal demand. And I knew, fairly early on during the Bird Back 40 landscaping process, that a pluot tree would find its way home. I just wasn't sure which one it would be.

It would be November 19th, 2009 where I would conspire with another Sacramento area gardener and blogger (two of them actually) and place a large order through Bay Laurel Nursery. That order consisted of table grapes, thornless boysenberry and blackberry vines and one Flavor Finale Pluot tree. Why the Flavor Finale? Good question! You think I remember after five years of hitting hard gin like that?

Pluots...

Actually -- I did know that the Flavor Finale had recently won a Dave Wilson Nursery taste test challenge. And the fact that it ripened late -- in September no less -- was another good call. When one chooses to grow fruit trees -- you don't want everything ripening up in August. I would come to find out later that grafting different plum and pluot varieties onto the Flavor Finale was like falling off a log. If there is every such a thing known as the "Franken Fruit Tree" in the Bird Back 40, it's the Flavor Finale Pluot.

My thanks to the wonderful and wacky mind of Floyd Zaiger and his Zaiger Genetics program. Without his wonderful invention called the pluot, the first of which was introduced under the name of Flavor Supreme in 1988, my Flavor Finale harvest to remember would never had taken place.

The Tree That Bethany Built

The Tree That Bethany Built

If Aretha Franklin can belt out a tune like The House That Jack Built (and boy can she ever), then I can most certainly tell you about "The Tree That Bethany Built." That tree -- the Flavor Finale Pluot planted in one corner of the Bird Back 40 -- is now a multi-studded pluot tree thanks to a co-worker in the State Senate named Bethany and her love for all things pluots.

What? Write about a lady other than the wife that is Venus? Shameful! But I've got to give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Bethany's efforts and gifts, the Flavor Finale pluot tree will now produce Dapple Dandy and Flavor Grenade pluots, to go along with the Flavor King and Flavor Queen pluot scions that I grafted to the Flavor Finale tree during my first attempt at grafting exactly two years ago this month.

Flavor Finale Pluots (Delicious)

Ever tried a pluot or two? You should. They are perhaps the most famous of the interspecific plum breeding efforts introduced by biologist Floyd Zaiger. A cross between a plum an apricot, they more closely resemble a plum and they happen to be one of the easiest trees to graft. I discovered this, quite by accident, during my first baby-steps at grafting attempts two years ago. I'm still not the best grafter in the world, but I'm a whiz with pluot trees, as are many others.

In other words, grafting pluots is like falling off a log. You can't possibly fail. Oh sure, one or two grafting attempts may not make it. That's to be expected. But after documented success on grafting scions to our Flavor Finale pluot tree -- and tasting the results of that success last summer -- I can proclaim that grafting pluots is nearly foolproof.

Flavor Grenade Graft to Flavor Finale Tree

In other words? If I can do this, you can do it too.

And, as luck would have it, the "Mother of All Grafting Celebrations" (Thank you Saddam Hussein) takes place this Sunday in Sacramento, when the Sacramento Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) holds its annual "Scion Exchange." This yearly exchange takes place Sunday, January 19th at the Sacramento Cooperative Extension Center at 4145 Branch Center Road (near Highway 50 and Bradshaw Road exit). The fun starts at 10 AM and ends at 1 PM -- getting you home just in time for the start of Championship Football Sunday.

GO FRANK GO!!!

Not that I'm expecting my San Francisco 49ers to slap the Seattle SeaChickens upside the head silly. Because, I am. How can you not appreciate that Frank Gore run from the last meeting between these two? *Sniff* It brings a tear of joy to my eye.

Back to the point: The CRFG is open to all interested fruit enthusiasts. Never tried the process of grafting before? Well my friends -- now is the time to start. It's never too late to get busy. Because where there's a fruit tree -- there's a scion that fits it. And there's only one thing better than a tree full of fresh fruit: That would be a tree filled with two varieties of fresh fruit.

Sign Leading the Way to Scion Exchange

So, if you find yourself wild about walnuts, or plain nutty over nectarines, this is the weekend for you and every other fruit fanatic in the Sacramento area. It doesn't matter if you find yourself in a panic over plums or apricots make you anxious, because the scion exchange offers the cure to your ills.

And -- as for that very special Flavor Finale Pluot tree growing in the Bird Back 40? The Tree That Bethany Built finally holds a Flavor Grenade graft that promises to be the answers to all my ills. Why, you ask? You are the curious one, aren't you? Actually, pluots do just fine on their own, but they do even better with a second tree nearby. Not just any tree mind you, but a "pollinator" tree. In my case? The best pollinator for a Flavor Finale tree happens to be the Flavor Grenade Pluot. The best pollinator for the Flavor Grenade tree happens to be the Flavor Finale Pluot.

Handy Dandy Grafting Tool with Grafting Tape

So, what happens when you combine the two into one, plus offer other varieties like the Dapple Dandy, Flavor King and Flavor Queen? What happens is this: a summertime of fresh fruit ripening during all months and all phases. That's one tree and a summer's worth of different harvests.

Now you tell me: what could be better than that?

What a Bonanza!

Joe Starkey

You know it's getting close to football season when I title a post: "What a Bonanza!" The signature call of play-by-play broadcaster Joe Starkey, it's something I get to hear a lot of thanks to my Cal Bear grad wife and the fact that DirecTV is in a contract dispute with the PAC 12 television network. That dispute means not a lot of Cal Bear Football games show up on the local TV channel, so KGO Radio and Joe Starkey it is on those fall afternoons.

But I truly believe that Starkey would utter the same line if he could cast a Golden Bear eye at the fresh fruit production currently coming out of the Bird Back 40. From peaches to pluots and grapes to apples -- it's all beginning to ripen up at the same time. Call it the "Bonanza" of fruit producing backyards. But, this is what I envisioned six years ago when I set out to transform a backyard that contained nothing more than a level sheet of stark, dusty clay.

Peaches and Pluots: Bird Back 40 Orchards

Yes, Virginia, you can get tired of eating peaches.

But I'm not quite there yet.

I've come to discover that peaches and pluots make for nice cousins when it comes to a morning snack at work. Twenty minutes of slicing and dicing in the morning, plus a little fresh lemon juice, leads to a couple of Tupperware containers that are jammed with fresh, tree-ripened fruit. Add in some slices of Honeycrisp apples and a smattering of Fiesta or Diamond Muscat table grapes, and it's a fruit salad.

We have so many options this summer!

Flavor Finale Pluots

I am perhaps most excited by the production out of the Flavor Finale Pluot tree. Planted four years ago in the Bird Back 40, it produced its first really big harvest this year. As expected, the mockingbirds attacked the fruit on this tree with impunity. But it really didn't matter much this year -- as there was more than enough fruit for the annoying birds and Bill and Venus Bird.

I've also come to discover that this variety of pluot is one of the few fruit varieties that I like to pull from the tree before they soften. The Flavor Finale pluot is one of the sweetest varieties of pluots to hit the market, and it's a sweetness that develops in the fruit long before it actually turns soft to the touch. That crisp bite and sweet taste is quite a combination, and I've discovered that the fruit doesn't grow any sweeter if allowed to stay on the tree until it softens.

Sliced Flavor Finale Pluots

And so? It gets harvested early this year.

Why did we get such a big year out of the Flavor Finale this year? Why not last year or the year before last? I'm not sure. I know that I lacked a pollinator for this tree. The Santa Rosa plum tree planted in the front yard was just too far away, or so I believed at the time. It might have been the grafting work that I performed on this tree two years ago. These grafts actually yielded a small harvest of different kinds of pluots this summer, but more importantly, may have also provided the kickstart kind of pollen needed to produce a lot of Flavor Finale fruit.

Whatever the answer? I'm blessed. Pluots are the bomb. Thank you Floyd Zaiger.

O'Henry Peach Tree: Bird Back 40

But no fruit salad from the Bird Back 40 would be complete without the addition of tree-ripened O'Henry Peaches. My friends, I've tried many peaches in my lifetime. Call me a "peach snob" if you will. From the early ripening varieties, to the new additions to hit the peach market in recent years, I've tasted them all. Yet, I keep coming back to the old, reliable, O'Henry Peach. It has a sweetness and consistency that ranks as my all time peach favorite.

It also might be the fact that I literally grew up with this variety on the old Modesto homestead all those years ago. Perhaps it's that taste of long-gone youth that brings me back to the O'Henry year after year? Perhaps...

Sliced O'Henry Peaches

The wife that is Venus and I were fortunate enough to add a third peach variety to the Bird Back 40 collection this year. This is a mult-budded tree that will offer far more harvest possibilities in the years to come -- as this one single tree offers five different peach varieties that have been grafted onto standard rootstock. This particular tree is called the Pride Collection, and contains peach varieties that ripen from May to September.

My friends -- that's five solid months of peach production. There's a word for that. It's called "heaven."

In the words of Joe Starkey: "What a Bonanza!"

Color Me Spring

Granny Smith Apple Tree in Blossom

Backyard fruit trees and a whole lot more are literally "springing" to life in the Bird Back 40. The brightest color so far? That would have to be my neck and arms: now a deep shade of red and quite tender to the touch. You may have guessed by now that I'm Irish. People of Irish descent do not tan. We burn. It's enough to drive the wife that is Venus downright crazy.

Wife: "And did you put sunscreen on?"

Me: "Uh, no."

Wife: "Did you at least wear a hat for the last six hours?"

Hungry Ladybug at Work

Me: "I was too busy to wear a hat."

Wife: "You're a moron."

Spring means it's time to get ready for summer. The yard is mostly clear of mud, but now it's weeds that are the big problem. Time to get that fallen citrus away from the base of the many citrus trees that grace the Bird Back 40 -- and while you're at it -- clear away those pesky weeds as well.

Spring is also the time to fix and repair those nagging leaks that inevitably appear in the drip irrigation system. And that's when you come to discover, after plugging the first leak, that you failed to spot that second leak. And then there's going to be a third that will shoot up from nowhere and strike you right in the eye. And just about the time you're done? There's a major league blowout on the other side of the yard.

Repaired Drip Irrigation Line with Brick to Block Dog

Point is, when you keep this many garden areas, fruit trees and citrus trees in the yard? One needs to practice drip irrigation to not only conserve precious water supplies (which is important), but to make sure that every last plant and every last tree gets a nice drink in the morning. I always believed running drip lines against the fence line was a master stroke of genius. That is until the neighbor's dog discovered that he could easily dig them up from the other side of the fence and shred them into itty bitty pieces.

Stupid dog.

June Pride Peach Blossoms

But as I use my weekend time to move here and there about the Bird Back 40, the yard pays me back with one dazzling show after another. The Granny Smith apple tree, now in Year 3, in full bloom for the very first time. This tree bloomed in exactly two places last year and delivered a whopper harvest of exactly two apples. Worse yet? The Honey Crisp and Fuji apple trees planted in the same raised bed failed to even flower.

But that's not the case this year. The old Granny is a mass of pink buds and white flowers. The Honey Crisp is about to flower for the very first time. The Fuji is slowly springing back to life, but I'm quite confident it will flower as well. Though the three trees are still relatively small and don't grow quite as fast when planted together in a confined area like a raised bed, they have developed strong trunk and branch supports. This is a nice sign.

Royal Rainier Cherry Blossoms

The Royal Rainier Cherry tree is now in full blossom as is the Black Tartarian, putting on a dazzling display of  white and yellow bloom clusters that honeybees simply cannot ignore. Hornets also race from one side of the yard to the next, sharing space with the carpenter bees that have taken a liking to a wisteria bush that is now in full bloom for the very first time. Ladybugs, meanwhile, feast on the bad bugs of spring. The yard is alive and buzzing after a winter that was far too long, but could have yielded more rainfall.

First to flower on the Flavor Finale pluot tree were actually the branches that I successfully grafted to this tree last spring. The Flavor Finale is the last pluot variety offered by Dave Wilson Nursery to ripen, so it makes sense that the varieties I successfully grafted would fire up first with multiple blooms.

Pluot Graft

Why graft? Pluots, like many of the newer introductions from the mind of Floyd Zaiger require pollinator trees. I had always believed that the Santa Rosa plum planted nearby in the front yard would be that pollinator. But as the years went by, and with less than impressive harvest results from the Flavor Finale, it dawned upon me that the marriage that I'd hoped for just wasn't going to work.

The next step then? Graft. Find a donor tree that will pollinate the Flavor Finale and graft, graft, graft and graft one more time. Those grafts hold varieties (which I've lost track of) that ripen earlier than the Flavor Finale which is why some branches flowered earlier than others. As the tree buzzed with the hum of pollinators moving from one tasty blossom to another, I hoped and prayed that those grafted branches would provide the spark that the Flavor Finale needed.

Flavor Finale Pluot Tree in Full Bloom

No need for prayer. The tree is loaded -- for the very first time I might add. The pollinator branches -- or grafts -- also hold fruit. This means the pollinator branches will also produce a tasty treat or five. Hey! Why do one pluot when you have can three or five?

As I move from here and there, much like the pollinators who do the same, the story is always the same. The growth is green. The growth is lush. Winter is over. The bright colors of spring are here to stay.

Because Three Apple Trees Are Not Enough! That's Why!

Wild about Walnuts? Nutty over Nectarines? Does the thought of apricots make you anxious? If you find yourself in a panic over plums, then this weekend was made for you and every other fruit fanatic in the Sacramento area. Because it is -- this weekend -- where you can satisfy that compulsion for Plumcots.

A WHAT? Plumcot you say? Do those actually exist? Thanks to the freaky and Frankensteinish efforts of Modesto-area biologist Floyd Zaiger, by golly, you betcha they do.

Scion Exchange-2012

The Sacramento Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG) holds its annual scion exchange this weekend. More precisely, the give and take will take place on Sunday, January 20th at the Cooperative Extension Offices located at 4145 Branch Center Road in Sacramento. The fun starts at 10:00 AM and lasts until 1:00 PM, which will put you home just in time for some 49er playoff football!

But if you want my advice? My advice is get there closer to 10:00 AM rather than 1:00 PM. If this event is anything like last year's shindig? My friends, it will be packed to the gills with fresh fruit lovers from all over the territory.

Apple Pie! Oh My!

What are scions? They are branches, small branches, from fruit tree varieties that are simply too numerous to mention. The scion exchange features thousands of varieties from hundreds of different trees -- and I'm guessing that you probably haven't heard of a great many of them. I simply didn't know THAT many plum varieties existed -- until I found row after row after row of perfectly labeled scions at last year's gathering.

In other words? If you've come for just one? You've come to the wrong place. Why take one when you can have five? Better yet, be a glutton and take ten! Why have one plum variety when you can have so much more?

A Festival of Fruit Opportunities

If you're really not sure -- or sold for that matter -- on the concept of grafting, the fine folks at the CRFG have that taken care of as well. Not only will you find scions at this year's exchange, you'll also see demonstrations of HOW to graft, WHERE to graft and WHEN.

The event is "free" for all CRFG members and a small donation is requested of non-members. You can even sign up for the club. There's room for lots more crazy people -- I mean -- people who are crazy about fresh fruit.

See you there!