In this late December avocado fruit review we look at 3 different avocado fruit; Jim Bacon an "B" flower type avocado tree and very cold tolerant, Hass, an "A" flower type and not very cold tolerant and Lamb Hass, an "A" flower type and not very cold tolerant either. Finding good tasting and meaty "B" flower type fruit is not always that easy. The "B" flower types, other than Sir Prize Hass, are not always that appealing to people. Fuerte is one of the best "B" flower type fruit and a solid performer in colder climates, but people are often turned off by the strong flavor of the Fuerte fruit.
Jim Bacon was once in large scale production in Southern California, older trees dating back at least 50 years can be found in pockets of the Southern Calfornia foothills. On a recent delivery and planting in Sierra Madre my customer there had several old Jim Bacon Avocado trees and said the fruit was among the best he had ever tasted. I took some of his fruit and compare here with the first harvest of the new Jim Bacon trees in my area.
I also purchased some Lamb Hass fruit from a Fallbrook fruit stand and compare the Lamb Hass with the Jim Bacon and the regular Hass for texture, basic flavor and oil content in a totally unscientific and personally biased approach. Obviously I was expecting great qualities from the Lamb Hass, but I have to give the old line Jim Bacon a big thumbs up. Jim Bacon does not have the watery texture of regular Bacon, it was very creamy and smooth in tast. The fruit is also smaller in size to Bacon. In colder climates I would be very much in favor of planting Jim Bacon pollinated by Mexicola for a solid winter harvest of quality avocado fruit.
