Mayhaws are in

[George Collins]

I have several mayhaw trees planted.

That's good.

Mayhaws take seven years to begin bearing.

That's bad.

I have a friend that gave me 13 gallons of mayhaws today.

That's just Snoopy dance.

Now for making the first batch of my favorite jelly.

If any here aren't familiar with the joys of mayhaw jelly, take a leap of faith and get yourself a tree or two. You'll be forever glad you did once they start bearing.

What's more, as far as fruit trees go, they're fairly inexpensive.

[SilverFlame819]

I've never even heard of a mayhaw. Apparently neither had my autocorrect! *lol* I'll have to look them up!

[George Collins]

Three gallons made 15 pints of the world's tastiest (and prettiest) jelly.

[SilverFlame819]

It's seedless?! I don't have a clue what it is, but sign me up!! I abhor seeds.

[George Collins]

The fruits aren't seedless but when making jelly it doesn't matter. The way we do it is to throw a bunch (2-3 gallons) in a big pot, cover them with water and bring to a boil. After they have boiled for 30 minutes, we pour the contents of the pot into a pillow case or flour sack and strain the juice. Regardless of how much trash, dirt, seeds and pulp there is in the pot, the juice always comes out perfectly clean for us. After that, we follow the directions for making grape jelly found on the included insert of Sure•Jell (1 pkg of Sure•Jell: 5 cups of juice: 7 cups of sugar).

[SilverFlame819]

It looks amazing. Even moreso since I haven't had breakfast and it's lunch time!

[matt walker]

I've never heard of Mayhew either George, but you make me feel like I'm seriously missing out. I won't pass it up when I come across it. It looks fantastic, and I love the easy processing method.

[pa_friendly_guy]

I have never heard of it before either George. Is it a warn climate type of fruit or does it grow up north as well? Could you show us a picture of the fruit? That might help. Thanks

[George Collins]

Guy, the native range of the mayhaw is the Deep South: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. However, I think I read somewhere that it would survive to -20 degrees F.

Willis orchards lists mayhaws as appropriate for Zones 6-10.

When we returned from gathering another couple gallons yesterday, I took a handful out to the hogs to determine how well they liked them and, as expected, they ate them with gusto. Given how inexpensive they are coupled with their extremely early drop date, I intend to plant several into the hog food forest next year.

[thickstrings]

I saw a TV show called "Brew Dogs" Its about 2 guys from Scotland go around the U.S and brew beer using local ingredients. Well they were in the Carolinas and they put Mayhaws in the beer, because it was a local favorite.....Who knew?