# If you could grow any fruit or vegetable... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2006, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236 "2006-08-11T01:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/21 "2006-08-11T08:16:19Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Opium poppies! Er…opium counts as a vegatable right? [/QUOTE] I’ve got those in my garden; keep coming up everywhere as weeds. ---
**Author:** ![Foldup\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Foldup\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foldup_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/22 "2006-08-11T08:17:41Z")
Absolutely huckleberries. They grow like wildfire everywhere else in the province, but here, they do not. They are also not sold at the grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/23 "2006-08-11T08:54:10Z")
[Pitaya.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya) Never had one before, and I figure this’d be the only way I’d ever get a chance to. Failing that…hey, Dragon Fruit. Cool to look it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/24 "2006-08-11T10:41:39Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] [Pitaya.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitaya) Never had one before, and I figure this’d be the only way I’d ever get a chance to. Failing that…hey, Dragon Fruit. Cool to look it. [/QUOTE] I bought one of these in a supermarket once and was deeply disappointed. I would compare it to eating cucumber, but without the flavour. It tasted of… well… nothing. But maybe mine was just an atypically bad specimen; certainly this is true of the imported prickly pears (which are related to dragon fruit) we get here; they’re hard, green and flavourless, whereas whenever I have picked them fully ripe on mediterranean holidays, they have been soft, juicy and peachy-banana-melon aromatic. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/25 "2006-08-11T10:46:30Z")
I like tart fruit, so I guess I’d vote “Granny Smith” apples–but I do have raspberries growing wild in the forest outside my front door. Y’all should come here some summer if you want 'em. Innumerable raspberry bushes, all free for the picking. In fact, I’ll go gather some now. Thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/26 "2006-08-11T12:15:28Z")
Raspberry season in southern NY State is, apparently, over. The bushes were utterly denuded of berries. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/27 "2006-08-11T12:23:45Z")
Two vegetables that I love picked fresh but are almost always disappointing in the supermarket version are sweet corn and snow peas. I’d probably go with the corn, as pea season is very short where I live. Half a acre of Silver Queen should do it. If by the magical rules of the OP I could get more than a few months of mangoes or pineapple, I’d pick one of them. I’m going to move from the city to a house I’m buying upstate in a month or so, and I’m going to plant these 3 pawpaw trees that have been languishing at my folks’ house for a while. I’ll let you know how delicious pawpaws are in a few years, as I’ve never eaten one. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/28 "2006-08-11T15:41:13Z")
Bing cherries. My all time favorite fruit. I’d love to get them year round. They pop up for two months each summer and again for a few weeks in January. That would save me the cost (and gulit) of buying them at $3 - $4 a pound. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/29 "2006-08-11T15:53:24Z")
Red grapefruit. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/30 "2006-08-11T20:25:09Z")
Eggplant. Can’t grow it here in the mountains. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/31 "2006-08-11T20:31:57Z")
asian pears. I can’t get enough of them. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/32 "2006-08-11T23:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] You can’t grow raspberries in Maryland or California? I figured they grew everywhere. We’ve got lots of wild raspberries where I grew up. [/QUOTE] AFAIK, you can grow raspberries here…sorta. Raspberries are a cold weather fruit, and while in the olden days we would be considered too far south, a recently developed breed has been shown to reliably grow down here (not sure which breed). Thing is, raspberry aficionados tend to turn up their noses at them, stating the fact that they can survive the heat doesn’t make up for their inferior taste. With global warming, the issue’s only gonna get worse ☹ Having said that, I also gotta say that blackberries (related to raspberries) make a respectable substitute and can unquestionably handle the heat. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/33 "2006-08-12T00:30:39Z")
[QUOTE=betenoir] Ok if I can’t have that, mulberries. I grew up with a mulberry bush in my front yard. Now I find it’s practicaly impossible to get one if you don’t alreadly have one. You can’t buy them. I would love a mulberry bush. [/QUOTE] Oh, my… you can have the several dozen trees I killed today… They aren’t sold here because they are a notorious weed. All hedges, all fencerows have many. That said, I do love to eat them! Me? I’d grow lemons. Lots of lemons… ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/34 "2006-08-12T00:35:23Z")
Mango and pineapple. The stupidest thing I do on a regular basis is eat a tonne of pineapple when I go to Hawaii. I have it on nearly everything. Then I get home, go to the grocery store, and hey, look at those luscious pineapples (which is also my favourite pick up line). I buy one, get it home, cut it up, and “Hey! This thing has no flavour!”. ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/35 "2006-08-12T01:09:26Z")
Watermelon and pumpkin. I have an expat’s lust for watermelon and pumpkin, neither of which is really available here. (Yes, they have watermelon in Holland. But they are these pathetic little tiny basketba- whoops, sorry, _football_-sized pale green thingies with no stripes or seeds. And they taste like water. I wants me a real watermelon.) And also everyone I meet seems to think that pumpkins are for decoration, not eating. So every autumn i want a pumkin pie really badly and don’t get one. Expat’s lust i tell you. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/36 "2006-08-12T01:16:04Z")
Corn. The only good corn I’ve ever had was in California. I have no idea how I got good, fresh corn there. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/37 "2006-08-12T01:37:13Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Corn. The only good corn I’ve ever had was in California. I have no idea how I got good, fresh corn there. [/QUOTE] Come on up to the Philly/South Jersey area in July or August. The trick is to eat it as soon as possible after it gets picked – running from the field to the kitchen wouldn’t be a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/38 "2006-08-12T15:06:40Z")
Dragonfruit, with sweet corn a close second. Gooseberries are on the list, too. A good dragonfruit is spectacularly good. When they are so pink and plump they look like they’re going to explode. Put them on ice for half an hour and they are lovely - a combination of kiwi fruit, coconut ice and nothing at all. You can get OK version in the supermarket if you’re lucky, and I’ve had a reasonable one in Taiwan, but if I could grow them like I had them in Nha Trang (Vietnam) I’d be happy. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/39 "2006-08-12T21:33:55Z")
[QUOTE=Malienation] AFAIK, you can grow raspberries here…sorta. Raspberries are a cold weather fruit, and while in the olden days we would be considered too far south, a recently developed breed has been shown to reliably grow down here (not sure which breed). Thing is, raspberry aficionados tend to turn up their noses at them, stating the fact that they can survive the heat doesn’t make up for their inferior taste. With global warming, the issue’s only gonna get worse ☹ Having said that, I also gotta say that blackberries (related to raspberries) make a respectable substitute and can unquestionably handle the heat. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Here in southern California we can grow a raspberry named Bababerry. The taste is excellent and the plants don’t mind the hot, dry conditions we have during the summer. For me, I’d love to be able to grow mangosteen fruit. I bought some fresh ones years ago from some fruit vendors in northern Burma. > **[Mangosteen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangosteen)** > > Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana), also called mangostan or purple mangosteen, is a tropical evergreen tree growing from 6 to 25 metres (20 to 82 feet) tall. The edible endocarp of the fruit is encased in an inedible purplish rind. The species is native to the Malay Peninsula and Borneo. It has been cultivated extensively in tropical Asia since ancient times. It is grown mainly in Southeast Asia, southwest India and other tropical areas such as Colombia, Puerto Rico, and Florida. The tree grows ... ---
**Author:** ![amijane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@amijane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amijane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236/40 "2006-08-12T21:47:57Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Oranges. The climate here in the UK, even where I live on the south coast, is _just a tiny bit too cold and wet_ for citrus. Of course they can be grown in tubs and moved under glass for the winter, but I’ve tried that and it’s difficult, and it doesn’t really work. [/QUOTE] I was thoroughly excited to see olives growing on my olive tree this year due to the unseasonably hot summer. Sure enough, now it’s turned just\* a tiny bit too cold and wet\* and the buggers aren’t ripening anymore. Much pouting, I was planning on keeping a jar of them in brine specifically for martinis. Me, I’d grow guavas. I love being able to eat guavas skin and all like an apple whenever I’m in the caribbean, it’s my absolutely favourite fruit but the ones we get here are horrid. We’re planning an eventual move to the Virgin Islands and I’m flippin well getting my guava tree (bush?) then. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-could-grow-any-fruit-or-vegetable/368236.md?page=3)