Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: philD on June 06, 2007, 13:46

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: philD on June 06, 2007, 13:46

My question for today is this:- in our garden we have what my other half calls a "Japanese Quince", it is about 1 meter high and spread across about 1.5 meters, it flowers with a red blossom , which is just coming to the end.
The fruit it bears are about golf ball size at the moment, but do get a little bigger.
Can we use the fruit or is it purely ornamental? I have been composting the fruit for the past few years but it is a waste if we can turn it into jam or jelly.

Any advice or comments will be much appreciated.

Phil

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: sunlover on June 06, 2007, 14:15

We had what sounds very similar in the garden at home when i was a child, and my mother used to make jars and jars of quince jelly in about August from the ripe quinces.  Seem to remember that it smelled much better than it tasted tho!

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: WG. on June 06, 2007, 14:21

Agreed, quinces are edible but whether "what my other half calls a "Japanese Quince"" is edible is conjecture  :wink:

Japanese Quince (japonica) looks like this
(http://www.english-country-garden.com/a/i/flowers/japanese-quince-1.jpg)

Edible Quince looks like this
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Cydonia.jpg/180px-Cydonia.jpg)

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: sunlover on June 06, 2007, 14:28

My mother's jam was from Japonica - not really a quince at all I believe.  Must have eaten her jam for about 15 years, and I'm still around - as is she :)

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: jennyb on June 06, 2007, 16:13

i asked the exact same things last year!  when i first started here on the forum.  

take a look at my avatar!  thats the fruit i ended up with.  and while yes it made jam that was edible, if very sharp it doesn't turn red and blush like a "proper" quince

i tried to make it in a terrine - like quince paste  but it just didn't set - so it ended up in jars

this is the fruit and then my attempt at the terrine:

(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/533325637_0699b1487d.jpg)

(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1010/533229022_c1802b6084.jpg)

this is our bush/plant by the way:

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/226/486215360_d06893398c.jpg)

Title: Japanese Quince
Post by: philD on June 06, 2007, 22:06

thanks everyone, it's definately a Japanease Quince (Japonica), so come August we will be feasting on Japonica Jelly :D

Thanks again

Phil