SC - Re: Top 8 icks list

[RANDALL DIAMOND]

Clare writes:
>>>>Alright I'm intrigued by all this quince talk.  There is a quice plant
at my
friend's house and I would like to pick some.  How do you know when they are
ripe?   Do they get soft? Smell sweet? Any particular color?
Any suggestions from experience would be helpful ...<<<<

"A quince plant???"   They are going to be on a large (8 foot +) bush
or a small tree (8-20 feet).   They are as ripe as they are going to get
when they get to the size of a medium -to-largish pear and take on a
greenish yellow colour.  They will yellow as they age and begin to wither,
but they only get soft when they begin to rot.  They have a very wonderful
smell, very fresh that smells like..... well, like quinces.  They won't be
ready
to pick until late summer or more likely, early fall in your area.  I know
that
the apples in your area don't generally get picked until Labor Day, so they
will likely be late maturing too.
Are you sure your neighbor's "quince plant" isn't an ornamental hawthorn
bush?  That's what some folks in Tennessee know as quinces, even making
jelly from them.  Similar but no cigar.

Akim Yaroslavich
"No glory comes without pain"