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Garden Guru

Jim Boxberger
Posted 8/26/22

August is the month when most people take a vacation, be- fore the kids go back to school. If you are lucky enough to be able to get away with the high fuel prices and inflation, check out …

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August is the month when most people take a vacation, be- fore the kids go back to school. If you are lucky enough to be able to get away with the high fuel prices and inflation, check out farmers’ markets wherever you go. Besides fresh produce, you can get a flavor for the area you are visiting. There are usually many food vendors at these events, like the farmers’ markets here in Sullivan County.

Recently on a trip to New England, we went to a farmers’ market,with a vendor that had fresh made soups and chowders. Now I am not a big fan of clam chowder, but I did have a taste of my wife’s and it was delicious. Myself, I had a lobster bisque that was out of this world. Of course we couldn’t bring any of these home, but we have the memories.

Summer fruits are ripe now, with peaches and plums in abun- dance. Customers always ask me in the spring what certain fruits taste like, well now is the time
to find out. A good farm market or roadside stand will generally have five or six different peach varieties, cling or freestone, white or yellow. If you have never had a white peach, try one. You can only get white peaches from a local stand usually because they bruise very easily and do not take shipping well. They bruise easily because of there high sugar content that make them a true standout amongst peaches.

Plums are another fruit that has many variations including purple, red, pink, yellow and green. Plums are also separated into two categories, European or Oriental. When buying plum trees in the spring, we always advise customers that they will need two trees for cross pollination and they have to be of the same type. An Oriental plum will not cross pollinate a European and vis-versa. So now try all the plums you can while they are fresh and make notes as to which are your favorites, so that you will know next spring what you are looking for.

It is still a little early for many local fresh apple varieties, but if you are traveling further south many apple varieties will be available. In our area most apples start to ripen mid to late September with some varieties not fully ripening until November. Granny Smith, Gold Rush and Aztec Fuji are three of the latest ripening apples, usually highly prized by deer camps to attract deer around hunting season, but these varieties are also good for late season canning or storing in a good old fashion root cellar. I say old fashion, but root cellars are making a come back.

Now I don’t know anyone that is putting a hole in their foun- dation to put one in, but there are plans online now for putting a root cellar in your backyard. With the use of a backhoe they really are not that hard, although I would recommend a qualified mason to pour concrete walls and floor so that the structure will not collapse in. A root cellar is not all that different from a tornado shelter that many peo- ple have in the mid-west. But enough about shelters and back to the flavors of summer.

Keep your eyes out for some rare fruits that are starting to make their way back into mainstream markets. Gooseberries, currants, elderberries and goji berries have all become more popular in recent years due to their health benefits. And the rarest fruit, which I have not even found yet, the “pawpaw”. I know they are out there as I have talked with customers that have had them.

Pawpaws, which are native to North America, were first cataloged in 1763 even though native Americans had been eating them for centuries prior to that. “Asimina triloba” is the latin name for the North American Pawpaw. Pawpaws are in the same plant family as the custard-apple, cherimoya, sweetsop, ylang-ylang and soursop; the genus is the only member of that family not confined to the tropics.

The northern, cold-tolerant common pawpaw “Asimina triloba” is deciduous, while the southern species are often evergreen. The fruit of the common pawpaw is a large edible berry, anywhere from two to six inches long and one to three inches wide, with numerous seeds. It is green when unripe, maturing to yellow or brown as it ripens. It has a flavor somewhat similar to both banana and mango, varying significantly by cultivar, and has more protein than most other fruits.

If you happen upon one of these in your travels this sum- mer, pick one up for me too, please. Enjoy the ride....

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