"Why don't you guys that talk about brix measure something and give us an actual number? And 56 grams? That's small for a plum. What's the excuse there, they didn't thin?" Fruitnut, I know you are a big fan of the brix meter, and I can appreciate you are trying to establish some objective measure. But for my part, I could care less what the brix measures. My personal motto is the same for my business - to focus on flavor. More specifically, what tastes good to me. That's what I like to eat, and that's what I like to sell (I can't get very excited selling something which doesn't taste good to me.) I fruited about 35 varieties and I have my favorites. What the brix are, I've no idea. I just know what tastes the best for me as grown here. I have about another 50 varieties which are in the ground and haven't fruited yet. I'm sure after I try those, my favorites will change some. All the while I'll probably be oblivious to brix numbers. I don't care much about size either. Like I said, it's all taste for me.

Chris, NICE job!!! Can you take a pic of the whole tree? Anirbn, My mom fell and hurt herself badly after she got out from a week in the hospital, so I totally forgot too. My bad. It started getting lighter in coloring..It was loosing it's vivid green look because the temps have gotten so cold. But I stuck it in the house and it seems to be coloring up again/. I will take a pic tomorrow..) I have been trying to grow it Bonsai style since I don't need it to be big and take up room. So it's pretty small..

ok, i have waited this long because i couldn't narrow it down. my first love at a raptor dates back to kindergarten- the bald eagle. actually it is pretty "ironic": i can remember asking my mom for a quarter to "help save the bald eagles" i don't know if it was the teacher, or if it was the school, but i remember i needed to take it to class. so, here i was 30 years later, fighting development of plum island as a preserve for their winter and nesting sight. i am proof that educating children and raising their awareness works! now, on the other extreme, i just love the kestrel. this is strange for me because i am a "bigger the better" kind of person- irish wolfhound definitely preferred over a small dg, give me a horse- make it a "heavy horse" there is just something about the spirit of the bird being bigger than its size. i really think they have taht warrior spirit despite that apparant fragility i have heard of when kept captive. although i have never had experience with them. owl are just too tough to decide between. again, the raptors seem to win me over despite size- oh, that screech owl's song! a am partial to barn owls simply because ot the endangered/threatened status. i have never seen one! the great horned does win over the barred, but that doesn't make the barred any less "endearing." i do like the turkey vulture, too. so that about sums it up (love red tails in flight calls, they are always saying something) i ahven't gone in to many species. mostly i am trying to stick to the ones of my area. but, the harpy eagle, now there is a magnificent bird! anyone see jeff corwin with the harpy on his arm? it kept pecking his head. i say pecking because with that kind of strenght it was more like a love tap!

I see you're in IA. My advice is to Google red-shouldered hawks. They can be mistaken for Cooper's hawks or Sharpies due to the orange-barred chest. They are usually a very vocal hawk. They're not huge- just about red-tail size- but they will appear bigger than a Cooper's hawk and especially bigger than a Sharpie.