I'm using a refractometer. It's easy getting a couple of drops of juice from the apricots. Then you can taste the same piece of fruit. Now on blueberries, getting juice isn't so easy. But all it takes is a little. They have a procedure written up on how to do it with stuff that won't easily yield fluid. I haven't studied it because I haven't had to. The bb are running 11-14 brix so far.

Shinko was bland/bitter every year for me except this year when it was good. I'm not sure why, I may have thinned more or the weather may have been less sunny or who knows what. Overall I would also not recommend it. Hosui is an excellent pear. It is similar to the kinds usually found in stores in terms of skin, flesh, etc. I never had enough to store so I don't know about the storage issue you mention. Yoinashi is also excellent. It is a bit different in that it is bronze and its taste has a hint of butterscotch in it. The flesh is also more "clear" (for a better word, more see-through). All asians are crisp, and stay that way in the sense that the flesh always breaks off when eating, but some of them get a bit rubbery in storage. I don't mind that so I don't pay a lot of attention to it and don't recall which varieties sometimes have that issue but it may have been Yoinashi. My overall favorite has been Kosui, but all asians are pretty good. I am now enjoying my Shin-Lis, a very late Chinese/Japanese cross. I was picking them far too early and thinking they were no good, but in October they are awesome. Scott

Different varieties have differing degrees of bitterness. Of those that I have grown, the larger, thicker varieties (with smooth warts) were the least bitter, and are the type that I prefer. These were mostly Chinese varieties, such as "Taiwan Large". The Japanese variety "Abashi" is also smooth warted & mild. Those with pointed warts & thinner flesh were more bitter; a friend uses them for pickling. "Taiwan" and "Ant" were two of them, both small-fruited. You can reduce the bitterness by cutting into pieces after cleaning, and salting the pieces (this leeches out some of the bitterness) and/or by par-boiling the pieces before using them. Keeping the vines well watered also reduces the bitterness somewhat. Bitter melon should be used immature, before the fruit begins to ripen. Once ripe, the red jelly-like flesh that surrounds the seeds is sweet & edible; if dried, it can be added to rice to color it during cooking. The seeds themselves should not be eaten. Some of our Filipino friends eat the vine tips & young leaves as a vegetable, but they are far too bitter for my taste. The wife likes bitter melon, and as mentioned above, it helps to lower blood sugar. I've tried to grow enough to parboil & freeze for winter use, but she generally gives most of it away to friends (it surprises me that so many are interested!) She generally uses bitter melon in soups; our favorite is an egg soup with bitter melon, tomato, and chicken. Some of our Filipino friends add it to "pinakbet", a thick stew with eggplant, winter squash, lima beans, chayote squash, and pretty much whatever fresh vegetable is on hand. Even with the best variety & treatment to reduce bitterness, however, the taste is not for everyone.

No, the same pup does not flower each year. I meant the "clump", as each individual stalk dies after it flowers and fruits. I did some extensive research on the net last night and I have determined that I definitely do not have M. basjoo. I looked at one of my really good photos I have of what I thought was basjoo all this time and there is one or two remaining bracts (reddish) along with a very nice hand of well developed fruit. I noticed on some of the pictures of basjoo that I saw on the internet that basjoos bananas are little and dinky like most other seeded forms out there and its bloom is unmistakable yellow. So now I'm wondering if maybe I have M. sikkimensis? When I get time (and can figure out how) I'll post the pic. that I have of what I thought was basjoo and we'll see what everyone thinks. Thanks for all the response I've been getting to this little mystery. I love trying to figure stuff like this out. Maybe I should have been a botanist instead of a hortiulcturist! Nah, that would get too boring!