A couple of years ago I decided to try growing jujube trees in Florida. I bought one from a plant show, then had a few others given to me by a friend. Now, a few years later, we’ve harvested a few fruit – but they’re nothing like the ones growing at Dave Taylor’s place:

Those are some pretty jujube fruit.

The trees themselves are also quite beautiful with glossy leaves and a zig-zag growth pattern to the branches.

Though the jujube is alleged to dry on the branches and still hang from the trees, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the ones we’re growing.

They tend to rot and/or fall before drying.

Fresh jujube fruit taste to me like mealy apples. They don’t really taste good until you dry them. I think that would require a dehydrator here in Florida, however, since the harvest season for jujubes peaks during the height of our rainy season. Good luck drying ’em in the sun!

Though jujube make an interesting addition to a food forest, I can’t really say I recommend them at this point. There are likely better and worse cultivars for our state. The couple types we’ve grown have been very care-free but also lacking in high harvests or great fruit.

I’d still add a couple if I had space in a food forest but I’d do it after adding more productive and tasty species like persimmons, pears, figs, mulberries and loquats.

P.S. Be sure to read the blog tomorrow morning for a cool announcement and giveaway! That post will be up at 6AM EST and there are only 25 slots available.