Taste-Testing Jujubes (Ziziphus jujuba) from Our Garden
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Y'all asked me to taste-test more of our unusual fruit crops on camera and describe their flavor profile and texture. We're still harvesting lots of our garden, so today we're honoring your request and tasting jujubes!
Jujubes (Ziziphus jujuba),- also called Korean Date or Chinese Date - are a fruit not commonly grown in North America, but enjoyed in much of Asia. They can be enjoyed fresh or dried. What do they taste like? Are they worth growing? What pests and problems are jujubes prone to? What do my kids think of the fruit?
I hope this taste-test and review is a helpful data point for you in deciding whether or not to add jujubes to your resilient garden design.
Books on growing fruit trees (I get a small commission if you purchase through these links, but feel free to use your local library!):
Grow a Little Fruit Tree: amzn.to/3D7e4BK
Fruit Trees for Every Garden: amzn.to/3SbWSzg
The Holistic Orchard: amzn.to/3SfNjPI
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Oh man I love that you're including your kids more in your videos they are awesome, and I love seeing how you guys talk & work together to describe these fruits! SO fun!
I tried to keep them off camera unless they were actively working in the garden with me, but since they're both adults now, they want to participate. Plus, I think it's good to get more opinions than just mine, because I tend to like just about everything except kohlrabi and can give an overly rosy impression ;)
Your kids are hilarious. This series is a great addition to your channel.
About 15 years ago, One Green World used to have nursery tours out at their Molalla farm. They would take us through the propagation nursery and we could pick fruit and try it. I would come home with my pockets full of fruit that needed a few weeks to finish ripening, like medlar and jujube. It was a wonderful tour, and a great opportunity to try most of the fruit they had. OGW has become much bigger, and trying to do that kind of tour today would be a bigger headache than they probably want.
I’ve tried jujubes from the supermarket and they were terrible. After this I thought about taking out my two tree however I got my first harvest this year and was delighted with the sweetness and flavor. I have Sugar Cane, which is on the small side, very crispy and very sweet and Li, a large jujube which is so flavorful and sweet, but not as crispy as Sugar Cane. My jujubes are growing against a south facing wall. Sometimes the region, climate and soil make a difference in their texture and taste. I don’t grow apples because they are really high maintenance. I love jujubes and would plant more if I have space. Thanks for all the videos.
Thanks for your video. I find if you are in a drier climate and can wait to harvest them once they have completely changed color, and harvest before they start to wrinkle, the flavor is really good. They are also fantastic candied.
I have a large, self fertile, Lang Jujubee tree in Utah and harvest at least 8 grocery bags of Jujubees a year. I candy half and dry the other half. I dry them without the pit for ease of use. They pair well with pork or roast when cooking. I also make a Jujubee and ginger tea with them.
I had not thought to candy them! Thanks for that tip!
Interesting to read this as I am also in a drier and hotter climate and wondered if this would improve the flavour. Have you had any issues with suckering ?
Thanks for the ideas re how you use them
Mine do sucker, but not enough to be a big issue.
Could we have a recipes if it's not too much trouble?
Love these videos ❤️ Your daughters are awesome 🤗
I have tried them several times fresh and I 100% agree with your "Apple that a vampire sucked all the juice out of" and it cracked me up 🤣 I have wondered about growing them though because they are so easy and I thought maybe I could make some kind of a sugar syrup out of them as a natural sweetener. I read how much water it takes to make 1 kg of sugar from sugar cane or beets (390 gallons vs 243). I'm appalled by those numbers!! If anyone's ever done such a thing with dried or fresh please let me know? Or if anyone's ever made a nice dessert with them? Anyway love your channel, Angela ! I know all Anne of Green gables, 😜 but you seem like a kindred soul 💜
I personally really like Jujubes. But I understand if somebody doesn’t like it. And based on your climate I wouldn’t be surprised if you removed the trees. I have a lot splitting with Sugar Cane when it rains. I just pick and dry the if that happens and they are fine. I do think it’s a fun fruit to grow because it’s so different. I like to eat them fresh or dried. One of my favorites is GA-866.
Weird Fruit Explorer got nothing on y'all. I appreciated the range of perspectives on the taste.
Fun watching the sibling interactions. Very good taste test video. I've wondered what these were like.
I love the humor!!!
I don't know that I'm going to grow jujubes but I certainly enjoyed that video. It made me miss the days when my daughter was young and living at home, and the zest and mischief she brought to family activities.
What a both nice and helpful video. It's nice to hear from your daughters too that seem very thoughtful and smart ....and in that says so much good about the parents who nurtured them!👏👏👏. I have enough space to try most things but my tree canopy (have planted over 100 on my half acre) is starting to make light/air space more scarce so I think I'd rather use what space I have remaining for tree that supports nature rather than a Jujubee. But knowing what probably wont work for me is as valuable as tips for things that will so thanks for this! MyPaw-paws are still young but I'm keeping those and that tasting video helped too!
Great thumbnail! Don’t think I’m going to get a jujube tree, but it is interesting to hear about especially since my range of apple/pears is pretty limited to low chill hour varieties.
I vote for more of your family on videos. Love Bea's comments.
Thanks for this overview of jujube!
One of my favorite less usual trees was my Ivan's Belle - a cross between Hawthorne and Mountain Ash - it had clusters of burgundy fruit - no big seed - another best dried as is rather tart fresh, and the birds usually fought me for them!
. I recently moved across town to my daughter's, so elder is the only fruit bearing tree.
I wonder if an Asian market would carry them. Bea seems to be the comedian in the group.
This was a good video.
She totally is.
The jujube just happens to be one of the most healthful fruits you can eat. Chinese culture will teach you about it. Dried or as a fresh fruit is no matter. It would be nice if you educate about why you should eat this fruit especially when in season. I learned about it at a qui gong class. I knew nothing about it. Now I buy the tea and the fresh fruit and the dried fruit. The way to sell it is to educate buyers about its many healthful benefits. I get it at hmart an Asian grocery store. But if the tree is not healthy remove it for something that can thrive where you live. I was happy to see how you showed the fresh fruit and the stages it goes through as it matures. Nice work ladies!
I have around 15 jujube threes ....juujube lang( bigger and pearlike shape)a smaller ones wtith conick shape and oval the smaller one when ripe are dark brown color and are really sweet and delicious trust me...they grow in September, smaller ones end of September and are most expensive fruit on the market, they can reac 12 eur per kg and people go crazy....I live in Portorož ( Slovenia) 15 km near the Italian border...cheers and great chanel😊😊❤❤❤
Vegan garden lived in Tempe, good video
Great video! Love the testing videos and all your points of view!
Jujube seems to be a good fruit for a cheong (for sirop and ‘candied’ fruits).
Since we have space, we might try two jujubes:)
My "Chico" jujube is one year old, about 6 feet tall and has some healthy thorns. I suppose that I wont have any fruit for another couple of years. Until then, I will enjoy tasting some of our other 50+ kinds of fruit. Mid-Missouri Zone 6A. Thanks for the great taste test.
This fruit is everywhere in algeria you can find it in the forest in the wilderness
This was helpful...I am very interested in growing this in my Seattle 8b garden.
I was almost ready to order these but since I live just an hour south of you, I have decided not to. You can get dried jujubes at an Asian market. I think the major determining factor for me is the thorns. I have a really large lot so I am willing to take a chance on things not working out because I need more biomass. Definitely getting paw paws though.
yes, thanks for bringing that up. They are quite thorny (Although not as bad as my sea buckthorns). I have them against a fence for that reason.
Hi Angela, I enjoy your tasting videos very much! Just yesterday I planted two Pawpaws (Allegheny and Sunflower) and a medlar tree in my small garden here in northern germany. The Pawpaw video really helped to make the final decision, since I don't have the opportunity to taste Pawpaws here. I love dried Jujubes very much, but I think my climate in Lower Saxony is to wet to grow them myself. I'm looking forward to more tasting videos. Greetings from germany, Sandra
Hi Sandra, where did you get the PawPaws? I am also in Northern Germany and am currently looking to plant two this fall but have a hard time sourcing them. Thanks!
@@sonjaliving Hi Sonja, I had the same problem and didn't get the varieties I initially wanted. I ended up buying them online at a nursery from Schleswig Holstein, where I had ordered other plants before. They are ok, but I'm not shure, if I should post the name here openly. If you google "Baumschule online" here in germany they should be the top result (below the advertising, of course). ;)
@@sandrat832 I know which one you mean. I had planted one of the non-variety once from them 2 years ago and it didn't grow, however they refunded me for it. Back then they did not have named varieties yet, so they have upped their PawPaws game a bit it seems.
For dry fruits, I think bottling slices in medium syrup might make a good preserve.
Fun meeting your daughters.
So excited for the persimmon tasting! Will you do both the fuyu and Nikita’s gift??? Planted a baby NG in spring and have 4 persimmons ripening on the little tree (so excited!). I’ve never had an astringent variety of persimmon before
Took out shrubs in yard and planted blueberries and pink blueberries. I say pink is pretty and very like sweet lemonade.
I’ve only ever tried a fresh jujube, and to me it was kind of like slightly sweet styrofoam. It wasn’t awful, but definitely didn’t make me want to plant a tree. 😂 I’ll have to buy some to dry, because they sound lovely.
ha! That's a good description!
It sounds like you want a juicy variety. The Honey Jar variety has tons of juice and is never foam-ish. It also is sweeter fresh than the dried fruit. It tastes like syrup.
Many varieties are dry, foamy and lack a high sugar content.
I'm eating fantastic Tunisian dates now, arrived here looking for a cold hardy date to grow in NY zone 5. How do they compare to the dates you buy at the grocery?
Huh. I didn’t realize they grew here. There’s a huge staple in Chinese medicine and they’re used in all kinds of medicinal teas. (I’m an acupuncturist) The idea of eating them fresh never occurred to me! They’re used (most often) as a sort of gentle moderator for potential side effects of other herbs, or a very gentle tonic when combined with fresh ginger and or licorice root.
I live in Oregon and I'm testing my area I have been growing pineapple plants twist off push in pot with soil only during heat out side once fall bring indoors. To get fruit I had to cut a apple and put meat side down and talk the best fruit fresh.
there are different types of jujubes, the one I have , have a floral sweet taste to them and they're very green like mini green apples , they do turn red but not all of them, I do prefer them green and they are actually juicy slightly , it's a great season cleanser fruit
Bea is afronted at Ruth’s insult to her favorite apples 😂
Thanks I think I've figured out I do not want to grow these in south coastal florida. There are so many other wonderful exotic fruits that I could probably grow more successfully. I would like to taste them someday tho.
It is already a wet one here in the PNW this year, huh?! 🌧🌊☔
I think jujubes earn some forgiveness because they are a legit food source unrelated to the Malus, Sorbus, and Prunus fruits we are used to, and are thus not susceptible to many of the same diseases. It would be nice to see some breeding program produce a jujube fruit the size of an apple and be much juicier and sweet, but until then we can just enjoy them as they are, or dried, or maybe even steeped in sugar water for a few days.
I have two varieties and I have a very short growing season in growing zone 6. They grow fine, flower, but do not produce fruit in my short growing season.
I lived in west Africa for 9 years. They had a native tree called jujube (zhouzhoube) , but I don't think it's related to your jujube. It was round, the size of a small marble and had a large single pit in the center. They were very sour and could be dried and kept for a long time. Always wondered what they really are.
Hi can you please tell me we’re I can buy this JuJube fruit. Thank you
They can be grown in Zone 5 and up, if you want to experiment.
COULD YOU TRY SOME DAVIDSON PLUM OR SOME TAMARIND PLEASE ❤
I tried a fresh one for the first time about 3 weeks ago because I'm trying to decide what to plant on a new property. I described it as a completely dry, flavorless apple. My personal opinion, when it's all said and done, at the end of the day, I agree with Bea and Ruth needs to get better apples.
I am floored that even though I grow Hudson's Golden Gem, Liberty, Ashmead's Kernel, Roxbury Russet, and Cox's Orange Pippin apples, my eldest child prefers Red Delicious. Stab me right in the heart!
@@ParkrosePermaculture If that's how she's decided to rebel, consider yourself lucky.
In Oregon testing I'm growing one favorite is pineapple guava you need two but I have 15 the health of them is very important. Seeds hard to eat but good for you the hole thing is wild but I'm not getting fruit yet it's going to take four to five years tell fruit. They can grow in pots. Deer don't like them you can eat the peddles dry for tea . It's not easy to get in Oregon being there rip at dropping from the plant.
Cute family
I actually have a jujube tree in a large grow bag. It never seems to do well though, it puts off leaves, but very little new growth. Any idea what I'm possibly doing wrong? I got it originally to be a living fence.
Firstly Jujubes don’t particularly do well in pots. We tend to water too much for Jujube. You can check that by pulling it out, if the roots are black they are drowning. They really thrive on neglect
I was really optimistic about my potential harvest, now, not so much. I have a 'dong' verity so I hope they have a better fresh flavour profile than those of the ones you didn't like.
Is it impossible to dry yours in the tree, even with a cover or the like?
yeah, the humidity here once the rain starts is just too much. I can bring them in and lay them on the dehydrator trays in the house and they dry nicely. I don't have to plug it in or anything.
Can/ will your chickens eat the fallen and split jujubes?
They don’t really like them. The turkeys have eaten a few!
For Lang, you need to steam/boil them first before you dehydrate them.
Anyone know if jujubes have a high pectin content like apples and pears? I'm wondering if there is a jam-making application for them.
Oooh I don’t know the answer to this but that might be a good use for them if so!
Not sure about your variety/climate but the ones here in Thailand are way better than any apple or pear. Much sweeter and juicier.
Can the slit ones still be dried?
They theoretically could be, but I find they mold SUPER fast if they swell and split.
The internet says eating a huge amount may cause gastric distress. I say eating huge amount of any fruit will cause gastric distress. It also says to remove the two seeds before eating. Duh!
right?? So many unusual fruits come with a warning about stomach upset if you eat too much and I'm like...if I ate four peaches I'd have some serious stomach upset...
Asparagus from green to purple. Purple is so good but have to live it . Learn how to grow and by plugs learn the boob planting .
I have not tasted a single jujube that is sweeter than apple or pear.
Dried Jujubes tend to be used in hot pot disjoin China.
I wouldn't even call jujubees fruit. They are not worth eating. I live in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. A lot of people put these in their gardens. When I see them, I always think "What a shame." There's just better fruit you could grow. I've never tried them dry, tho. But, fresh, they taste like a quince took a poo.
they taste like maple syrup dry! On a cold day, put a couple in a cup of hot water and make a "tea" from them and they're really good (my Korean friend taught me this!)
But otherwise, I think they are overrated!
U really didn't try a good jujube....when ripe- very dark brown thy rally sweet like fresh dates...you have probably tried lang jujube Wich are not that good or even some bad one because they are delicious trust me I have 15 threes and in my country people go crazy and they can reach the price of 12 Eur per kilo plus they are one of the healthiest fruits in existence...in China are extremely praised.... cheers from PIran Slovenia ❤❤❤
without knowing the exact variety it makes no sense.to make a taste test
I think I'd rather just buy dates
GA866