Monday, May 16, 2016

Gathering nuts in May

..........and fruit as well!




 



Once again, my house is full of noisy tradies, and as the power's off for a while so they can install the new sensor lights, I've decided to retreat to the riverbank with a pot of tea.  It wasn't until I sat down, and looked from that different perspective, I noticed a pawpaw tree down the bank a bit, full of good size fruit.  So I scrambled down and picked a box full, even the green ones, otherwise the bats and possums will come and eat the lot.....or more likely, the possums will take a bite from each one and leave the fruit rotting on the tree. I don't mind sharing with the local wildlife, but don't want to see good fruit go to waste.  I'll leave these in a sunny spot and they'll  ripen in a few days.

Walking along the grass, I could feel the macadamia nuts under foot, so it seemed like a good time to gather them up as well, and I managed to find quite a lot. There's two trees here, and I was told by a local arborist that the one on the left, in the last picture, is part of the original Gondwana rain forest, one of the most extensive sub-tropical rainforests in the world.  It's a lighter green and has a finer leaf than the grafted variety that you can just see on the right of the picture.  Go  here if you'd like to know more about these rainforests and the primitive plant species that have direct links with the birth and spread of plants from over a million years ago.

Back to enjoying my pot of tea, the view and the peace and quiet.....



till next time.......

9 comments:

  1. Nanette so lucky to find such wonderful bounty. Green paw paws are the favorite of my husband. Thai and Vietnamese both make a super fresh salad from green pawpaw. . Just google it. Lucky to have this season's macadaminas. We had a small crop this year and they are gone already so back into last years reserves.
    Enjoy

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  2. I was thinking about using the pawpaws green as I was picking them, shame you're not nearby, I'd share with you. How do you store your macadamias?

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    1. I bought a cheap plastic basket and it sits undercover on the porch. Llke a colander. Oh! First we let the nuts dry in the sun until the outer shell is brown .

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    2. Not sure mine will last long enough to store, some eaten, some in a cake and some shared to friends around the neighbourhood....but thanks Terry, that method's good to know for when there is a surplus.

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  3. I do wish I liked pawpaw, as they're so easy to grow, especially up here, but I just can't stand the smell... I've been told the best way of storing macadamias is to shell them and then immediately vacuum seal them into a bag. It's how MacNuts in Macksville handles the large volumes of macadamias they process in the season.

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    1. These are probably more papayas than pawpaws, as they don't have that strong smell....puts me off too. As I said to Terry above, not sure there'll be a lot of macadamias to store this ime...they're being eaten and shared, but good to know of different methods for when I do need to.

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  4. What a lovely find and such abundance. Living in the southern part of Victoria we don't have those wonderful tropical fruits here. But I've been busy planting up my own orchard which will hopefully keep me supplied in a few years time

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    1. Hello Angela, it's lovely there's so many fruit trees already established here, as well as the odd self-sown from seeds dropped by bats and possums. I had a quick look at your blog, you've made a great start on your fruit trees too.

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  5. What a delightful bounty...and free too!!

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