The Fruits of My Labor . . . Have Flavor!

Tree Ripened Flavortop Nectarine

Isn't that just a clever little title? I thought of it all by myself. Are you impressed? Please, stop laughing.

I mean it, please stop laughing.

Now that we have proper introductions out of the way - may I introduce you to my latest "sweetheart" in the kitchen? No, the wife that is Venus has not been replaced. She has not taken a sabbatical (she'd better not!). She did not "fly the coop."

That sweetness -- pictured top right -- is none other than the Flavortop Nectarine. It is now coming ripe by the dozens in the Front Yard of Bird and is one of three varieties that I have stuck right next to one another in a crazy madness known as Backyard Orchard Culture (BOC).

Three nectarine trees instead of one!

But -- in this case? The plantings are in the front yard. Nevertheless -- it's still crazy. A fruit lover must be slightly off his or her rocker to try something like this. But the proof is in the Nectarine Pudding. The close planting of fruit trees does work -- and I have the lip-smacking, juicy, tree-ripened Flavortop Nectarines to prove it.

This is the second year for our nectarine plantings. These trees really aren't supposed to produce a large amount of fruit until the third year and successive years after that. But who am I to argue with a nectarine tree like Flavortop? If it wants to produce two or three dozen nectarines in just it's second year of growth? You won't get any arguments from Bill and Venus Bird.

Not hardly.

Flavortop Nectarines ready for slicing!

This is also just the start of fresh nectarine season? Still to come? The best tasting white nectarine on the market I'm told -- the Arctic Jay White nectarine. It's absolutely loaded with second year production. And as for the largest tree in the bunch? The Fantasia nectarine? It didn't produce so much as a single piece of fruit.

Go figure.

The Arctic Jay nectarines are still a good 5-7 days from that "soft to the touch" kind of ripeness that orchard culture freakniks like myself crave. And that is the method to the Backyard Orchard Culture (BOC) madness. The goal isn't to produce a boatload of fruit from every single tree. The goal is to produce just enough to keep you  in nectarine flavor heaven, until the next variety ripens up.

Sliced Flavortop Nectarines

As for the Arctic Jay? It is a tried and true Taste Test Winner: best of all fruits at the Dave Wilson Nursery blind fruit tasting held July 5th, 1996. The variety gets an enthusiastic two thumbs up from none other than Farmer Fred Hoffman, and others who have this treasured tree as part of a backyard planting. This is truly one productive variety.

The three nectarine trees pictured below are all in need of a "haircut." That's the beauty of BOC. You never allow these trees to reach a height of more than six or seven feet. Constant pruning is a must. But I've come to find that fruit trees react and react well to constant pruning. It's not difficult -- and the fun part is -- you get to choose the size and shape. Does tall and thin work for you? Round and large? A nectarine hedge perchance? The decision is yours.

A little off the top barber!

But not everything is wine and roses either. The nectarine trees -- much like the peach trees planted in the Bird Back 40 -- suffered from a bout of peach leaf curl thanks to a wetter than normal spring. The new growth and shoots that would later emerge from the trees were covered with a shade of white -- which is not a good thing children. That's powdery mildew and it can and did affect fruit production.

Some of the nectarines were covered with a frosting of white that would not wash off, no matter how hard I tried or whatever method I employed. While the trees did eventually recover from the mildew attack, some of the fruit did not and there was considerable damage to the nectarine skin. UC Davis documents powdery mildew here, and another excellent resource for home growers comes from West Virginia University.

Powdery Mildew damage on fruit skin

Fortunately? The mildew did not penetrate any of the fruit itself. The flesh literally glistened with sweet juices. The taste? Hard to describe. You're not going to find nectarines that taste like this in your local grocery store. Nectarines at Farmer's Markets are allowed to sit on the tree a little while longer, but still cannot compare to the sweet, tree-ripened fruit that comes from your own fruit tree.

I will never forget the steps I took two winters ago to plant these bare root fruit trees. An ugly hedge stood in my way during the NFL playoffs. But rather than watch the Saints, who would go on to win the Big Enchilada that year, Bill and Venus Bird were outside in a light rain, setting up the first BOC "experiment."

After one taste of a tree-ripened Flavortop Nectarine? Consider this a wise step in a wonderful experiment for home fruit production.

In other words, I don't miss that hedge.

When a Nectarine Blossoms...

Artic Jay, Fantasia and Flavor Top Nectarine Trees

I feel an extra special sense of joy when fruit trees begin to blossom. It means that fresh fruit season isn't very far behind. My gardening insanity reaches entirely new levels when I stand in the front yard - looking up at a flowering Santa Rosa plum tree -- hoping to find a sign of a bee or any other pollinator on tender blossoms that are now just starting to unfurl.

The neighbors think I've gone nuts -- AGAIN! But there is a method to my madness. If I spot a pollinator on the plum? I hope the same pollinator makes a similar trip some 75 feet away in the backyard to a Flavor Finale Pluot tree that is flowering for the first time since I planted it about a year ago during the 2010 bare root season.

Artic Jay Nectarine Blossoms

Pluots are special trees. But they require a pollinator to produce fruit. I have that pollinator in the form of the Santa Rosa plum. But is it planted close enough? Will the colony of bees that are now streaming daily in and out from the neon pink Hello Kitty Hive favor both blossoms during the same trip?

Questions, questions! Time will tell...

The gardening experiment known as Backyard Orchard Culture or "Orchard Insanity" as I call it is now in its second year in the front yard of our North Natomas fruit farm. The three nectarine trees that I planted in a corner of the yard last year are flowering to life again. The chilly nights and bone-chilling rain we received last week didn't seem to bother the Arctic Jay White Nectarine much. She was the first to open up. The Flavor Top and Fantasia yellow nectarines are not far behind.

Although I had my doubts about this planting concept -- it's working better than I expected. You can grow fruit trees in tight spaces after all. And although the hardest part of the procedure is hacking and whacking four-or-five foot tall trees back to knee level -- it doesn't seem to have caused much of a problem.



Center Cut, Arctic Jay Nectarine

You can easily see where I cut the Arctic Jay back last winter after planting in the photo to your right. It was nothing more than a single stick after I got done with it. But new branches emerged over the spring and summer -- and were pruned back carefully to limit growth. I never let any branch get beyond five or six leaf-sets before lopping it off with my Corona cutters.

But I noticed something both interesting and uplifting. With every cut I made? Two or three new branches emerged. Know what that means? It means two or three new branches to hold delicious, tree-ripened nectarines! That's what it means!

There are some gardeners who will allow fruit trees to grow for at least three years before allowing it to produce any fruit. That means any fruit that forms in the first, second and even third years is picked off and thrown away. The thinking behind this practice is that you give a fruit tree time to develop strong root and branch systems. The fruit will come later.

Personally? I think the people who think in this manner are as insane as I am. Not allow fruit to ripen? That's a crime against humanity. So -- any nectarines that do result from the blossoms that are now opening have a breakfast or lunch date with my kitchen table. We don't let any fruit or citrus go to waste here!

The nectarine trees that are now blossoming in the corner of my front yard will almost certainly grow at a much more rapid rate than they did last year. My thinking in this matter will not change. No branch will be allowed to grow more than five leafsets before it has a date with my sharpened Corona choppers.

Center Cut, Flavor Top Nectarine

By the third year these trees will have probably reached a height of six to seven feet and will not be allowed to grow any taller. They can most certainly spread out a bit and take advantage of the room they have. That much we will allow.

But -- I'm getting a ahead of myself. As of right now? We have blossoms. Let's hope that the wife that is Venus and I are munching on an Artic Jay White Nectarine later this summer.

What more could you ask for?

¡FRUTAS!

Fresh Fruit Samples from Dave Wilson Nursery

Mmmm....Yeah, like that...

When Bill Bird encounters a fruity scene from heaven like the one you see to your immediate right -- the first impulse that pops into his head is the overall urge to shove everyone out of line and announce (with a bullhorn no less): "This fruit has been impounded by the blog that is Sacramento Vegetable Gardening."

Thank goodness I ignore these types of urges -- as I most certainly would have incited a riot amount the HUNDREDS (dare I say thousands?) of fresh fruit and vegetable fans that showed up this past weekend for Harvest Day 2010 festivities at the Fair Oaks Community Garden.

This was the first time that Venus and I have attended said annual event. Dare I say that it probably will not be our last?

If fresh fruit is your game -- an endless game of checkers awaits. You're not going to find everything under the sun -- fruit wise -- at this event because -- not everything ripens at the same time. The world just doesn't work that way. My June Pride peaches are but an afterthought -- and the impending O'Henry Peach harvest is still another week or two off.

But there's enough getting ripe now on ye olde vine and fruit tree to satisfy just about anyone's palate. You want proof?

Dapple Dandy Pluot

How about this scrumptious offering of Dapple Dandy Pluots? The pluot -- a relatively new introduction from the fine folks at Dave Wilson Nursery -- is all the rage in backyard gardens right now. The perfect cross between a plum and an apricot -- breeders can't churn out enough varieties to meet actual demand. Question any nursery owner in the Sacramento area -- and they'll tell you that pluot trees are normally the first to get snatched up during bare root planting season.

As for Bill and Venus Bird? We have a Flavor Finale Pluot growing like gangbusters in the Back 40 that is our North Natomas backyard. Purchased from Bay Laurel Nursery during bare root season last winter -- we may be forced to order up another tree to serve as a pollinator.

I know -- unlucky us.

Flavor King Pluot

As much as I would have liked to sample what is currently growing in our backyard -- alas -- it's not quite Flavor Finale season yet. Pluots -- like plums and like apricots -- ripen up at different times of the year. If you're lucky enough to visit a fruit tasting festival in August or September? You just might be lucky enough to get a slice or two of pure fruit heaven.

No worries though -- despite the absence of the Flavor Finale. There was plenty of fruit to go around -- including the nectarine varities of Flavortop and Arctic Jay -- which are growing quite nicely in the Bird front yard as part of our experiment with the Backyard Orchard Culture concept. After one taste of each variety Venus and I both know that a bit of nectarine heaven awaits. Very soon -- one day -- our trees will provide enough bounty for not only our needs but the desires of an entire neighborhood.

There's nothing like fresh fruit season baby.

If you're in the market for planting a fruit tree (or ten) -- and you're just not sure what to plant or when -- this is one reason why you should attend a harvest tasting festival like this one. Instead of sampling just one or two different kinds of fruit from different trees -- you're sampling 30. Didn't like the taste of that particular pear? How about this one?

Harrow Delight Pear

That's how I discovered this Harrow Delight Pear. After just one taste -- I knew this one was a keeper. It is sugary sweet.  Indeed -- Venus and I have set aside space in the backyard for additional fruit trees after our failed experimentation with all things avocados (they'll grow in some areas -- and in others -- fergit it son).

No matter what corner you turned at this weekend's harvest festival -- there was something to either see or sample. Heirloom tomato season is decidely late this year (for some -- not for others) -- but there was still enough to go around for tomato afficiandos.

Black Monukka Table Grapes

The same applies to fresh-from-the-vine tablegrapes like this sampling of the Black Monukka -- which Venus and I planted as part of our grand "table grape experiment" in the Back 40 last spring. The vines aren't producing yet. They probably won't produce until the third year. But a tasting festival like this one gives you a chance to sample the bounty that will soon come.

So -- what was the best part of this year's harvest festival? If you like to look at and analyze trends like Venus and I do -- one had to be amazed and heartened by the young twenty-and-thirty-somethings that showed up -- children and dogs in tow. It's proof that the "grow your own" movement isn't slowing down -- indeed -- if anything -- it's still taking off.

That suits these gardeners just fine.