These Mauritius Litchies are doing two things: getting plump, and changing color. Last year, they were ready for harvesting around the end of June. I suspect this year they will be a bit earlier, due to the mild Winter we had.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Split Mangoes!
I'd sure love to know why this happens!
Half of the Mangoes fell due to high winds. I can not afford to lose more to splitting!
anyone have ideas on how to prevent this?
Half of the Mangoes fell due to high winds. I can not afford to lose more to splitting!
anyone have ideas on how to prevent this?
Thursday, May 3, 2007
this week's flowers - first week May
This week the black pepper (Piper nigrum) continues to develop nicely. I'm waiting for one or two berries at the base to turn red, which I've read is when you harvest them and prepare for drying.
The blackberries are in bloom this week as well. Here, you can see both flower, and under it, developing fruit. (note: however hard I've tried, I'm unable to check email on this variety of BB)
It's almost Litchi time! Here is a close up of the developing fruit. I estimate about another 5-6 weeks until harvest.
The blackberries are in bloom this week as well. Here, you can see both flower, and under it, developing fruit. (note: however hard I've tried, I'm unable to check email on this variety of BB)
It's almost Litchi time! Here is a close up of the developing fruit. I estimate about another 5-6 weeks until harvest.
Pomegranate (Punica granatum)
Native from Iran to Northern India, I find it a bit strange that people refer to these as Chinese Apples (well, at least they did in the 1970's, when I first was introduced to them). According to a wikipedia entry , The name "pomegranate" is derived from Latin pomum ("apple") and granatus ("seeded"). If you've ever cut one open, you'll know why. But be careful - Pomegranate juice permanently stains!
Enjoy these photos I took today. If you click on them, the full size image should be displayed, and you can see more detail.
These photos show the various stages of the flower/fruit development. The first one shows a flower before it "opens up."
No more than a few days later, the flower will burst open, as shown here - it's ready for pollination. (If you click/zoom in, you can see the yellow pollen contrasted against the red petals.)
Above is the result you hope for: a developing pomegranate fruit, somewhere near a week old.
Even in Florida, where the Winter was quite warm this year, my pomegranate still lost its leaves (it is deciduous). I have a white variety, but it is quite young still. My friends at the Tampa Bay Chapter of Rare Fruit Council International made it for me from a clipping a few years back. It seems to be a slow grower (for me, anyway).
Well, that's all on the pomegranate until I can harvest some fruit. But before I save this post, I want to share one interesting thing I ran across when researching this fruit: There was an statistical analysis done on just how many seeds a pomegranate has. In their analysis, there was on average 613 seeds per fruit, which is (coincidentially) why Jewish tradition teaches the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness - it is said to have 613 seeds corresponding with the 613 mitzvot, or commandments of the Torah. (amazing what a little About.com can teach you)
Enjoy these photos I took today. If you click on them, the full size image should be displayed, and you can see more detail.
These photos show the various stages of the flower/fruit development. The first one shows a flower before it "opens up."
No more than a few days later, the flower will burst open, as shown here - it's ready for pollination. (If you click/zoom in, you can see the yellow pollen contrasted against the red petals.)
Above is the result you hope for: a developing pomegranate fruit, somewhere near a week old.
Even in Florida, where the Winter was quite warm this year, my pomegranate still lost its leaves (it is deciduous). I have a white variety, but it is quite young still. My friends at the Tampa Bay Chapter of Rare Fruit Council International made it for me from a clipping a few years back. It seems to be a slow grower (for me, anyway).
Well, that's all on the pomegranate until I can harvest some fruit. But before I save this post, I want to share one interesting thing I ran across when researching this fruit: There was an statistical analysis done on just how many seeds a pomegranate has. In their analysis, there was on average 613 seeds per fruit, which is (coincidentially) why Jewish tradition teaches the pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness - it is said to have 613 seeds corresponding with the 613 mitzvot, or commandments of the Torah. (amazing what a little About.com can teach you)
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Summary - last week of April
The cashew flowers have been blooming for about two weeks now. In this photo, you can make out several of the cashews and what will be the "apple", just above the familiar "C" shaped nut.
Avocado flowers are also out. Like with the cashews, some of the early flowers have been pollinated and are developing into fruit.
OK, so I forgot to rotate them (actually, I hoped that blogger would read the rotation in the exif data). Here, you can see (if you turn your head) my huge longan tree in blossom. It just started this week.
One more head turned is this one which shows the surinam cherries.
First signs of canistel flowers.
Key lime fruits forming - you can still see the stamin of the flowers, and other flowers that just opened in the background. This tree is on its third or fourth flowering since January.
A fruit I need to post an entry on is Spondias purpurea, a.k.a. Red mombin (jocote, in Costa Rica). It is flowering now, and since this was a mild winter in florida, there are also fruit developing from a few months back alongside new ones.
Imbe, Garcinia livingstonei, is beginning to fruit. It also is blossoming. More about this East African tree later...
The annona squamosa, sugar apple, flowers are blooming, Here you can see both male and female stages of the flower. I'll leave it up to you to guess which is which.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Inga Edulis - Ice Cream Bean
This week, the Inga started to bloom.
The Inga is native to the Amazon, and grows quite nicely in Florida. However, our sandy soil (combined with the Inga's shallow root system) causes lots of problems. These trees have suffered in almost every hurricane. In fact, the tree you are looking at has been cut to the roots several times after it has fallen in the 80+ mph winds of hurricane seasons.
The Inga makes pods, which inside, have green seeds covered with a white, fluffy pulp. (that's why some folks call Inga the cotton candy fruit).
The best and most in depth info on Inga, and on its utilization, can be found in two excellent books by T. D. Pennington: The Genus Inga - Botany ( ISBN 1 900347 12 1) and The Genius Inga - Utilization (ISBN 1 900347 58 X)
The best and most in depth info on Inga, and on its utilization, can be found in two excellent books by T. D. Pennington: The Genus Inga - Botany ( ISBN 1 900347 12 1) and The Genius Inga - Utilization (ISBN 1 900347 58 X)
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Cashew (Anacardium occidentale)
Sorry it has been quite some time since I posted. I hope you have been checking and will be glad to read that the cashew flowers are in bloom. They are quite beautiful, and their smell reminds me a bit of cinnamon.Cashews are native to the northeast coast of Brazil, and are mostly known for their nuts -which grows externally in its own kidney-shaped hard shell at the end of a pseudo-fruit. Illike the "apple" myself, but you better make sure it is ripe or you'll get a sour surprise :-(
More on the cashew as it matures.
thanks, and please check back. I'll try my best to update more regularly.
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