A new mini-watermelon is being touted as the breeding breakthrough of the century. 'Bambino' looks exactly what you would expect from a miniature watermelon. They weight about four to six pounds. Besides being a handy size for today's smaller families, this tasty treat is seedless. Seminis, the company responsible for breeding this new fruits, says it took ten years of work to create them. The fruits should be available year-round in supermarkets. 'Bambino' is similar to 'PureHeart,' another seedless mini, which became widely available in the latter part of 2003.
How many times have you bought rock-hard pears, and couldn't tell when they were ripe enough to eat? This is no longer a problem due to a new sensor designed specifically for pears. Invented by HortResearch, a New Zealand firm, this sensor determines the ripeness by analyzing the aromas emitted by the fruits. Now they're at work on sensors for other fruits, including mangoes, melons, and kiwis.
Gene banks are in the news these days. Now there's a new one specifically for wild and domesticated longan trees from around the world. This gene bank is located at Hilo, Hawaii at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service facility.
A tasty new fruit treat should be available in the future as part of America's school lunch program. Fizzy Fruit is the very first carbonated fruit. A Texas neurobiologist discovered this by mistake when working with dry ice that seeped into the fruit. Following that, scientists at the Oregon Food Innovation Center in Portland followed up by developing the technique and making it available to commercial companies.
If you run out of garden space, you might try growing raspberries in containers. One orchard owner in New Salem, Massachusetts has had great commercial success growing 'Tulameen' raspberry plants in pots. William Hamilton, owner of Hamilton Orchards, places the plants in cold storage for the winter, and then plants them in three gallon pots. For supports, he uses bamboo stakes. The plants are watered by a drip irrigation system. During their second year of production, the fruit yields are exceptionally high. Cold storage seems to minimize insect problems.
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