Backyard Wonderful pomegranate harvest with fruit measurements

Backyard Wonderful pomegranate harvest with fruit measurements

December is the time of year you’ll see pomegranate appearing on supermarket shelves. But did you know that pomegranates you can buy right now were harvested two months prior in September, or even sooner?

It’s not easy to ship fresh produce, and involves several supply chains. It’s even more challenging by the supply chain bottlenecks we’re experiencing right now.

So, you shouldn’t count on your pomegranates being fresh from the orchard. Unless that orchard is your own backyard where you can enjoy it right off the tree.

Freshness aside, growing your own pomegranate offers many benefits. One of which is the longer harvest season.

When Wonderful pomegranate ripe?

In the US, pomegranates ripen around September and that’s when the harvest season begins. It’s approximately 6 to 7 months from blossoming to harvest.

Wonderful pomegranate ripe 6 to 7 months from blossoming to harvest.
Wonderful pomegranate ripe 6 to 7 months from blossoming to harvest.

How to tell when a Wonderful pomegranate fruit is ready for picking?

By the time you get into harvest season, the fruits will turn from green to dark red, even purple. Inside of the fruit, the arils are plump with juice and have enlarged. The pressure built-up inside causes the shape of the fruit to deform going from round to squarish. Splitting can happen to the outer skin. The skin of a ripe pomegranate becomes soft and easy to scratch. The fruit also feels heavier relative to its size.

My 1.5 pound (667 grams) Wonderful pomegranate harvest

Back in September, I harvested one of the largest fruits from our 6½ year old Wonderful pomegranate tree ever produced. The largest fruits were comparable to commercial pomegranates found in supermarkets. The fruit size seemed to have doubled compared to the previous year’s harvest. This year’s monsoon was a complete turn-around from last year’s so called “non-soon”. It ended as the third-wettest monsoon on record. 12.79 inches in total amount of rain received compared to 2.5 inches in 2020. Changes to climate conditions did affect fruit size and quality.

Fruit Measurements

Measuring Wonderful pomegranate
Measuring Wonderful pomegranate

Here’s are some fun results from my home measuring kit of a string, tape measure and kitchen scale.

Measuring the circumference around a Wonderful pomegranate
Measuring the circumference

Measuring the circumference around a Wonderful pomegranate fruit.

Wonderul Parfianka and Red Silk pomegranate measurements
Wonderful, Parfianka, and Red Silk pomegranate measurements

I also measured fruits from our Parfianka pomegranate and Red Silk pomegranate trees to see how the Wonderful stacked up.

Aril Color

Pomegranate aril color varies from almost translucent white to deep red. Some pomegranate varieties will have fruit where the arils, never develop a dark red color.

What are the edible parts of pomegranates?

The edible parts of pomegranates are the arils that are the juicy coating around the seed. You can eat the seed together with the arils. Juice is another popular way to consume pomegranates. Hand juicing is the generally recommended method for extracting juice from a pomegranate. Pomegranates provide high amounts of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, vitamins, potassium, folic acid, and iron.

Ray Garden

Ray Garden Day

I discovered I have a knack for gardening. In 2015, with my wife, Marina, I embarked on a mission to turn our urban backyard from barren to a bountiful oasis. Our goal was to create a functional outdoor space, that is distinct yet unified, a space for outdoor living and recreation and garden space for me to grow food. Within a few years, we’d established a garden consisting of raised beds and fruit trees and vines. Our family grew and we were blessed with an extra pair of little hands to help in the garden. The following year we’d completed living space with an installation of a gazebo and artificial turf. Play structures for our kids and cats will complete our garden transformation.

From the outset, I documented my experiences and have started a blog, this site, to share our trials and tribulations in the hope to inspire and help you to create the garden of your dreams.

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2 Comments

  1. Love your website, unlike you I do not have a knack for gardening but love people who invest the time to grow their own. This is has excellent benefits to your health and the environment too.

    1. Ray Garden

      Hi Pat,

      Thanks for commenting.

      Do you have herbs or vegtable garden? I recommend starting with herbs as they are useful in almost any dish.

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