Richard

Last week I received cuttings of Gold Monukka (DVIT 1328) from Wolfskill to replace the plants that died during my move here two years ago. I have them potting up for rooting now. Yesterday I also transplanted my Black Monukka grape from its 25 gallon pot into the ground and will soon construct a trellis there.

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Richard

Black Monukka seedless grape on trellis.

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Lau

That looks great.

JP

You got a nice setup there!

Richard

All five of the Gold Manukka cuttings I received have sprouted

Here they are in the foreground, and in the background there are six pomegranate cuttings that are slowly beginning to sprout as well.

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JP

We don't have the climate for that variety here... But I just planted Somerset, Himrod, Niagara, Vanessa and Einset. Should produce in 2 years if I can control that bug (Popillia japonica) that's been attacking every fruit producing plant in my yard...

Richard

Actually it should work fine in Quebec. It's parentage is Ontario x Black Monukka, the latter being a northern European Grape. However, it is not commercially available.

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JP

Never seen it at stores... Anyways, I'm starting to lack space for planting... I've got a whole lot of small fruit bushes ( grapes, honeyberries, cherries, cherryplums, black raspberries, a few kinds of red raspberries, yellow raspberries, rhubarbs, white red and black currants, gooseberries, blueberries, strawberries, ground cherries, kiwis, mulberries...) I should have bought at least an acre! Climate is great for these fruits but I would have loved to be able to plant my tropicals directly in the ground. Maybe I'll get a greenhouse someday (I wish!!!).

Richard

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JP

Yes... it doesn't seem to be... I was just saying 'cause sometimes you can get lucky and find just about anything... Let us know if the taste is good. I didn't think it would be ok here but I'm no expert... I got those I mentioned from a farmer not too far away from here and the guy seems to be pretty good with grapes. His cuttings were all well rooted and didn't suffer any transplant shock. I exchanged 3 cherryplums for 8 grapes. We were both very pleased. It,s gonna make great jelly!!

Richard

I'd be very interested if you did find it because I named that grape.

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Kat2

Hehe! I'm always curious about plant names but never had the chance to ask the originator. Why Manukka? Any particular meaning?

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JP

Well I guess it's going to take a while to reach us... Lol! Off subject, what do you think of viollette de bordeaux figs? I know you have or had them and I recently purchased one. I was wondering if it's as good as they say...

Kat2

I may have grown them before. I had a mystery fig from Michigan Bulb (yes, them!) that ficus growers determined was probably just that. If so, it's a good one.

I don't eat figs (I had 1 variety I could choke down--cutting was probably from Smith Island, MD--not Marseilles but quite like it) but cuttings from "Blackie" (see I named one also!) were much coveted. Sadly, I believe I've lost access to both girls at this point. Women I sent fig sticks to along with detailed instructions doesn't believe she owes me a cutting in return.

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Richard

There are about 1000 unmarketed grape varietals in the UC Davis collection. This particular one is a cross between a standard European strain (Manukka) and a North American cultivar (Ontario). The resultant table grape is golden in color. The bunches are loose like Manukka, making it a favorable grape to grow in our southern CA conditions.

There are many, many flavors of figs. I grow figs in 3 different flavor categories, if I had more room I'd expand. In the category of "dark fig" flavor, I believe the Violette de Bordeaux is the holy grail.

Just to expand a bit on this subject of fig flavors, there are those which are sometimes called "strawberry" figs for their flavor (Panache is an example for the SW U.S.) -- and sometimes for their flesh color by innocent people, but really the taste could be anything; there are "honey" figs of which Kadota is an example but in my opinion for my climate I prefer Janice-Kadota; I have tasted figs with peach overtones, with banana overtones, and butterscotch (yes!) overtones. So when someone asks about "my favorite fig", I first want to know about "which flavor category".

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JP

The only good figs I ate were the ones an old italian guy had in his greenhouses. He brought cuttings from Italy when he came here and nurtured them for over 25 years. I used to go there and picked them right from the tree. They were as big as a pear an the flavor!!! Brown figs they were. I found them better than the white ones. No idea of the variety. The poor guy lost everything when snow crashed down his greenhouses in the middle of winter. Since then, I never ate a fig nearly as good as they were... and that was 18 years ago!!! I'm happy that you guys find the one I got to be good. I also have brown turkey and a white one. Also a few cuttings that I don't think made it...

Richard

Ok so he brought them from Europe but they sound more like eastern European figs. V. de B. is a modest size dark fig.

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JP

Yeah... wanted to try something different. I didn't buy it from him though as he lost all of his trees more than 10 years ago.

Kat2

Speaking of figs for a minute...

Yes, once upon a time I really did propagate them and other plants:


Some of what the birds didn't eat:


Left are Blackie's flowers, right are quite delicious and in between are who knows what.

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JP

The black ones look delish... I like when they split open like that... But about those grapes, can you describe the fruit a bit Richard? I'm curious...