Persian Fruit Garden

armyofda12mnkeys
by armyofda12mnkeys
16-Mar-2011
 

I am putting a lot of fruits in my parents garden like Quinces, cold hardy Pomegranates (I am in Pennsylvania so only a few varieties can grow here), Mulberries, Sour Cherry, figs, Persian cucumber, and Persian melon, and I wanted to add currants, but I was unsure of the type of red currant Persians usually use in cooking.

Here are some good nurseries that sell them... Can anyone tell me which variety they know def will taste good in Persian cooking?

//www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/producttype...

//www.rollingrivernursery.com/index.php?optio...

Thanks for any advice. My mom says currants should be 'seedless', but nurseries tell me all currants have seeds :) so not sure what to get.

Balatarin
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radius-of-the-persian-cat

Red Currant

by radius-of-the-persian-cat on Thu Mar 17, 2011 01:36 AM PDT

Red currant (انگور فرنگی)
are sweet berries and they idealy grow in a tempered climate, Pennsylvania should be just perfectly. They come also in a yellow and a black variant. the red and yellow variants are equally sweet, usually for cooking jam or for cakes. The black variant tasts stronger, is not so common to be eaten fresh, but gives a jam with more intense taste (I know in Russia people like to eat it together with tea).

زرشک خوراکی  

Barberry are small bushes, very common to be used for decorative purposes in parks and gardens in europe and perhaps US as well. //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berberis_vulgaris They have tiny, single berries, not very juicy, high in vitamine C and therefore of a nice acidic taste. We use them to add to usbek Plow (or Polow). They add a little bid of extra taste, but I would say even in cooking they have mainly decorative purposes. I think to grow them from seeds takes a while. I once tried to grow them from a cut-off branch, but failed to get roots from them. Therefore I decided to buy small bushes from a gardering company. If you want to try to grow something from cut-off branches, just try grapes. It is really simple and fast. If you cut some branches from a grape in winter, put them in water they will develop roots pretty fast. I have a whole collection of different types of grapes from various countries (bulgaria, italy, austria), some of them gave the first fruits after as little as three years already. And you can also use the leaves to have your girl-friend or wife cook "Dolmeh Bargh-e-Mou" (filled Grape-Leaves).                            Have fun and wish you a "green thumb"         


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Jeesh Daram

Medlar needs male and female

by Jeesh Daram on Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:26 PM PDT

You are correct for Medlar, zalzalak, Kiwi and quite a few other trees you need to have a male and female separate trees for polination. The bad news is many nurseries sell them with uncertain genders and it takes about seven years to find out :)


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armyofda12mnkeys

Thanks for your

by armyofda12mnkeys on Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:18 PM PDT

Thanks for your comment.

I googled some images of Barberry and you are right! my parents mistakenly called it a Currant :). Its too bad you can't find them here.

I was looking at Medlar Trees. Iranian variety seems to be best. Only Paradise Nursery seems to offered it and ParsProduce. Pars website claim it needs another variety for better production. true?

My mom also raves about 'Zalzalak'... (but seems like Zalzalak needs 2 varieties to pollinate and more suited to southern zones).

 I am excited for the persian mulberry, Shahtoot, but I doubt it survives here so I have another Moris Nigra variety that will survive here, but i heard Persian mulberry is the best.

If anyone is interested.... The pomegranate many people have fruited successfully in Zone 5 is Salivatsky (although better in zone 6) and some nurseries carry it. Also Kazake is supposedly hardy too and a few others being tested.


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Jeesh Daram

Do you mean Berberis or Currant?

by Jeesh Daram on Wed Mar 16, 2011 10:14 PM PDT

first of all congratulations on your attempt to grow those trees.

But I wonder if you mean berberis (zereshk), instead of currant which is known as Galesh Angoor?

The berberis also referred to as barberry that we use in Iran is almost indigenous to Iran, Iraq, Turkey and parts of Central Asia, and the most important variety is Berberis khorasanica which you can't find in USA, unless you grow from unprocessed seeds.  There are five varieties of them in Iran and I named one above. There are Berberis vulgaris and other varieties that fruit but not the same speice or taste. Nonetheless, the foliage is very attractive (red and pink) that is worth giving it a try. It has torns though.

I can't think of dishes in Iran that use currant. However, the indigenous variety of currant in Iran is Ribes melanathum and don't search for it in USA.  So, if you really want to get some currant shrubs going, which is actually a beautiful plant, then choose the second one on your list Ribes spp, which is actually the same as Ribes ruburm, except it is a better cultivar.

While you are on the mission, try some Medlar trees too, known in Iran as Azgil. Mespilus germanica or E. medlar. You can buy it mail order from Iranian growers in CA and generally expensive.  Also try persimmons which we have lots of in Iran.  

Persian Blackberry, Moros persica

Persian white peach

Good lcuk

 

 

 


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