howdy reed, i'm a little ways from austin. & i've only been doing this 3 years. but figs, jujube's, persimmons, asian pears, & european pears should thrive there with almost zero care. just be sure to get fireblight resistant pears, anything from womack nursery will work, just google them i dont have experience with peaches, plums, etc; but when i google "tamu peaches" texas a&m says they can be grown if i'm willing to follow a spraying routine, & if i'm not willing to spray not to bother. apples also need spraying, & your soil has to be free of cotton root rot, which many areas in the cotton south have if you use the search function at the top of the board & look for "mountainman" & "scraper" you'll read from some fig & pear experts in austin

I have and tasted the following fruits from the list: Aronia: Productive, bit too tart to eat fresh. wonderful to add it into juice. Plant is easy to grow. Chinese Haw: Sweet ,but not too sweet. little tart and sour. The source tasted like cranberry source we use in the Christman dinner. Very popular in China, although the fruit size is a lot bigger. Street vendors string a dozens of them on a long wooden or bamboo stick and coat them with sugar to sale to the kids as snack. Goumi: sweet-tart. My has small fruit, about pea size. Can be eaten fresh. The flower is sweet, pleasant. The plants is easy to grow. Japanese Raisin Tree: Tree itself can grow very tallll. The fruit is very sweet, but not pure sweet like sugar. Its sweetness has some other taste in it. I can't descrip the undertone taste . When we talk about the sweetness of the plants, for example, Stevia's leaves is very sweet but many people do not like the undertone taste. I vote mulberry the #1 favorite minor berry. The tree is easy to grow, the fruit is abundant, and fruit is sweet and juicy. It tastes better than raspberry, backberry or, other commercially grow berries. For people who are lucky in the south, Loquat is a good choice too. The tree is about 10-15' tall, the fruit is a bit smaller in a size of pingpong ball. When it is ripe, it is sweet and juicy. I have current grow in my yard. balck, red, and white. They can be eaten fresh but not particular good taste. It is better to juice them and mix them with other sweeter fruit juice. Another minor berry I like to grow is gooseberry. Pick Poorman. The fruit is balanced sweet and tart, very flavorful. It definately can be eaten fresh.

Thank you all so much! I have not had a chance to get photos but hope to do so tomorrow. Al - The citrus have extremely yellow leaves and have not (apparently) grown since planted. Does that sounds like it needs more nitrogen? Do you have a suggestion for a good source of organic nitrogen? I used blood meal on my small lawn to get rid of the bur clover and it worked like a charm (also greened it all up prettily.) Would blood meal work in this situation? I've also heard that coffee grounds might be helpful with both acid and nitrogen and our local coffee shop will supply me for free - any thoughts on that? I think mulching with compost is an excellent idea - I may have to put some shredded bark on top to keep it from blowing away....(In spite of being shielded somewhat, we do get stiff breezes May-September.) Carla - I'm a huge fan of green manure and have a raised bed in clover now! Thanks for the links; I was unfamiliar with those sites. My problem with the orchard site is that a lot of the space between the trees was purposely planted with natives, and I would make some folks real angry if I messed with them :-) I'm real careful with my weeding! We don't have a lot of grass around here, but I'll try begging for clippings on our local bulletin board. Jim - my neighbor recommended iron filings and I did try this on a lime tree with good success (in a previous home.) I have never heard of it for roses, but that's good to know - my own garden is mostly fruit trees and roses. I'd love to do compost tea and though it is somewhat inconvenient I will probably try to do this, but I'm not sure it is something I want to undertake regularly. Does anyone have any advice on a watering schedule? I'm definitely going to widen the basins so they'll hold a bit more. Thanks all for your help, and I'll try to get those photos up tomorrow. Amy

I live in Riverside. I've found, over the years, that soil and water quality, in addition to zone, have a lot to do with success of certain fruit trees. I'm blessed to live where I do,near Fairmount Park and the Santa Ana River.....the soil is good and everything thrives. I guess that's why Riverside (not Orange County) was the premier citrus growing region in the early years. I would encourage you to plant an Oro Blanco Grapefruit. It was developed right her at UCR. And, it has no bitterness typically found in grapefruit. That's because it was crossed with a pummelo, the largest citrus fruit. Plus, the blossoms are gigantic, and will perfume your entire yard over a long time. I don't like grapefruit....I LOVE Oro Blanco! I'd also go with a blood orange. I can't recall at the moment which one I prefer,but one has the most delightful raspberry tinged flavor, and when fully ripe, has totally blood red juice! Gosh I love it! And, it makes the most wonderful Blood Orange Martini!