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Our first quinces, we have THREE! It's taken 7 years and the bush/tree was 3 years old when planted. Now I know why they say "Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs." (Old English proverb)

How exciting - congratulations.

I had my first quince about 3 years after planting my tree. Then nothing the following year but in the next 2 years, the tree was absolutely ladened and I was giving them away to anybody passing. This year was a very poor year - just the one but how precious that one will be.

Anyway, the moral of my story is not to be downhearted if you have a poor year next year, the tree is still getting established.

Zoe

well I'm jealous!

We planted a quince 6 years ago - and the tree has been trying to die ever since!

red wrote:well I'm jealous!

We planted a quince 6 years ago - and the tree has been trying to die ever since!

We've got one that sprouted when a pear tree died - the quince had been used as the rootstock for the graft. Last year we got a brilliant harvest; this year we got seven fruit. Seven small fruit. And I think it might be dying.

What is it with Quinces? I'm sure Beckett must have tried growing them,they take forever to fruit,and (sorry 'bout this) when they eventually arrive they're horrible!

oldjerry wrote:What is it with Quinces? I'm sure Beckett must have tried growing them,they take forever to fruit,and (sorry 'bout this) when they eventually arrive they're horrible!

They must be cooked. I suppose they could be eaten raw if one were sufficiently hungry, but I wouldn't.

A bit added to apples and cooked for pie or crumble adds a great deal to the flavour, and quince & apple jelly (wot I is about to go and make) is brilliant on toast.

Homemade membrillo is worth the effort of growing quinces, although I have to make do with Percorino rather than Manchego cheese as an accompaniment.

contadina wrote:Homemade membrillo is worth the effort of growing quinces, although I have to make do with Percorino rather than Manchego cheese as an accompaniment.

Just reading the recpie for membrillo makes me want to grow a quince to try it! I do have a Chaenomeles, but I've been semi-bonsaiing it for years and although it flowers beautifully it isn't large enough to bear fruit.

I guess we are lucky then to have bought our orchard already established
We've got i think 3 quince trees, all producing lots of very large fruits
I don't really like them, but I'm going to make some jam with them as iv heard its nice. But the majority of them are to sell, and i think they are quite expensive, like the pears, so we should make some money on them

Quince wine is well worth considering if you have enough fruit. It has a pleasant golden colour and an aroma not unlike freesias (Flowery notes). Very pleased with that brew!

Might try that.
This year we're making wine and rakia from the red grapes, more rakia from the fallen apples and pears, apple cider vinegar and possible cider. But maybe we wont have enough barrels for all of that!
Everything is to sell, apart from a few bottle of vinegar for us. Need to sell as much as possible to get an income!

I didn't used to think that I liked quince, it is a very strong flavour. Then I tried cooking it for longer, so that it goes quite dark pink. It softens the flavour somehow and is much nicer IMHO. I also mix grated quince with apple, medlar juice and dried fruits to make a version of mincemeat - "quincemeat" for Christmas.

Zoe

Some quinces can be eaten fresh, namely Smyrna and Pineapple-Aromatnaya.

They are still very gritty, but perfectly edible when very ripe.

GeorgeSalt wrote:

contadina wrote:Homemade membrillo is worth the effort of growing quinces, although I have to make do with Percorino rather than Manchego cheese as an accompaniment.

Just reading the recpie for membrillo makes me want to grow a quince to try it! I do have a Chaenomeles, but I've been semi-bonsaiing it for years and although it flowers beautifully it isn't large enough to bear fruit.

I've made jelly from chaemomeles - Japonica - but its not all that great - so I don't bother anymore.

contadina wrote:Homemade membrillo is worth the effort of growing quinces, although I have to make do with Percorino rather than Manchego cheese as an accompaniment.

Absolutely. My sister introduced me to this last year (with Manchego ). It's gorgeous. Enough said.

Mike