Customer Reviews

Uncommon Fruits Worthy of Attention: A Gardener's Guide

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This book is, first of all, a wonderful read. It is full of historical notes, very interesting to this nonbotonist, and is fully researched. Advances have been made since it was written, and perhaps some of the suppliers given in the back are no longer with us; but a good web search will remedy that. It describes the flavors, scents, and appearence of the fruits in succulent detail. Since I have read it, I have been buying and trying to get friends to buy the various fruits listed. It is torture not being able to go out and buy jujubes, gumis, hardy kiwi, pawpaws, and all the rest of the children of Pomona that are here delineated. A wonderful book, full of charming oddities and wit.

I found this title in a used bookstore and purchased it immediately because of its chapter on the Black Mulberry, a mysterious fruiting tree growing in my backyard. I soon discovered that it had a chapter on the Asian Pear, another tree I had on my property. The book continued to fascinate me and soon I was looking for the current, elderberry, persimmon, strawberry, and wild blueberry species for my garden. So many of us urban dwellers garden, but fewer and fewer of us remember our society's original purpose in doing so: to enjoy the pleasures of eating. Most of the species are available from Raintree Nursery in Morton, WA.

I read about another book by Lee Reich on another website and through Amazon's links discovered this book. I have read parts of this book over and over and it really makes me want to try growing some of the varieties of plants that are found on its pages. I went and bought a Hardy Kiwi plant this spring and can't wait until it matures enough to produce fruit. I am also interested in the Mulberry and the Pawpaw because of this book. Some of the information seems to be a little outdated now (it said that Hardy Kiwi needed to be planted in Male/Female pairs but there are self-pollinating varieties now), but most of the information is timeless and still is applicable.