Fresh fruits and berries from childhood...

Thanks, Mayor. Time sure flies when you're having fun.
I am going to figure out how to get some pics up one of these days. Two years ago on New Years Eve, a buddy and I made a timpano (as in the film BIG NIGHT) and took lots of pics along the way. It was a 2 day job, and the result was great, if I do say myself. The thing I remember most was that the dough (which lines the huge pot, and then folds over the many layers of fillings from the top) had the exact texture, color and almost "alive" pliability of a puppy's skin. Weird!

My Grandma Estep had a mulberry tree in the backyard along with a cumquat tree. We used to eat those fruits when ripe. I have a mulberry tree in my backyard here in WV and Ava and I love to pick those and eat for breakfast. I don't care enough for the cumquats to plant one of those.

I miss boysenberries, can't find them out here. But the blackberries are really good.

MikeS.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeS.

My Grandma Estep had a mulberry tree in the backyard along with a cumquat tree. We used to eat those fruits when ripe. I have a mulberry tree in my backyard here in WV and Ava and I love to pick those and eat for breakfast.

I had a mulberry tree when I lived in Texas (and it was huge). I loved those berries.

The ONLY problem was that the birds loved them too. And you WOULD NOT believe the MESS that the birds made after eating those mulberries!!

There were purple splotches on every sidewalk and exposed automobile for blocks around.

Oh well, birds gotta eat too. I guess

I miss the fresh guavas and papayas from the backyard. The mangoes from the tree in the side of the yard were not that bad, either. Of course, the fresh toasted almonds and coconut meat from the front yard was really good, also.

Man, it's been a while since I had a REALLY good Georgia papaya!

quote:

Originally posted by Adjudicator

I miss the fresh guavas and papayas from the backyard. The mangoes from the tree in the side of the yard were not that bad, either. Of course, the fresh toasted almonds and coconut meat from the front yard was really good, also.

Sounds like an episode of Gilligan's Island.

I picked and ate wild dewberries and huckleberries. I also picked figs but I gave those to my Dad as I disliked them. We also had four big pecan trees in the backyard, so there was a good source for snacks as well.

I guess I'm a geezer now.

I visited my grandmother in south Texas where it is mostly a semi-desert. We ate these purple berries of the top of ball cactus the locals called pitallas or pitayas, boy were they good. We also chewed on mequite berries but you got the sugar out and spit them out.

joe

We are enjoying watching hundreds of tiny Apricots, Plums, Cherries, and Asian Pears start to take form now that the blossoms are finishing. The Apples and Pears are flowering and Bees are everywhere. This time of year is very exciting for those of us who enjoy watching the fruit form.

I am very concerned about this coming weekend when Temperatures are forecast to drop into the upper 20's here. Our Orchard is on a couple of slopes, meaning the colder air will settle at the bottom of the hills. If we are lucky some of the trees will escape a killing frost. I wish I had one of the SoCal Citrus "Smudge pots" and the Orchard Fan that are so common out there. If we can get thru this weekend it looks as though we will be frost-free after that. I will use some news paper on a few branches, but we will just have to hope that the real cold skips by us !

Oh I hope everything turns out well for you and your trees Al. I miss having fruit trees. I'm looking forward to EAster so I can eat the figs off my husband's grandma's tree---I think they should be ready now.

I feel like a helpless parent watch his puppy play in the street. It is warm and sunny today, again, but the cold front will arrive Wed. and stay thru the weekend. The little fruit will survive if the air keeps moving and the temps don't get down in the 28 or lower area. It is the cold,damp,still air that does them in. I will shoot some photos today and again early next week so I can compare the status "before and after".

I shot the photos and put the vehicles in the garage. Severe Thunderstorms , Baseball sized Hail and (already) a couple of nearby Tornados are in the area. This front is coming in at 60 MPH and is really making the sky look the 'pea-yellow' that only shows up with really nasty changes in the weather.

There goes the Sat. TV. I am pulling the plug here and will surface when things calm dowm.
AL In Southern Indiana (right now !!)

quote:

Originally posted by BunglingBill

Man, it's been a while since I had a REALLY good Georgia papaya!

Georgia??? What does my post have to do with GEORGIA???? I live in Georgia, but that's about it. Keeping in mind the TITLE of the thread, MY post concerned the time in my childhood that my family lived in Puerto Rico.

OOPS, sorry, Adjudicator .

I didn't catch the part about Puerto Rico being your backyard. Now I understand why you had those papayas.

Speaking of which, did you have Mangos in PR? I bought a couple at the supermarket last week (for 99 cents apiece) and they were DELICIOUS.

Cutting around that big seed in the middle is a real pain . . . but worth the effort.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeS.

My Grandma Estep had a mulberry tree in the backyard along with a cumquat tree. We used to eat those fruits when ripe. I have a mulberry tree in my backyard here in WV and Ava and I love to pick those and eat for breakfast. I don't care enough for the cumquats to plant one of those.
I miss boysenberries, can't find them out here. But the blackberries are really good.
MikeS.

We used to get some great fruit when we'd visit Grandma Estep. I have a couple of mulberry trees, too and a loquat in my front yard. It bears gallons of fruit each year, besides its beautiful foliage.

99 cents for a mango? wow, I'm lucky then. here at my supermarket they are 2 for a dollar. I tried this new mango, also 2x1 called an atoulfo mango or something like that and it was really sweet and silky. It's a lot smaller than a regular green/red mango and the skin is yellow like a banana.

quote:

Originally posted by BunglingBill

OOPS, sorry, Adjudicator .

I didn't catch the part about Puerto Rico being your backyard. Now I understand why you had those papayas.

Speaking of which, did you have Mangos in PR? I bought a couple at the supermarket last week (for 99 cents apiece) and they were DELICIOUS.

Cutting around that big seed in the middle is a real pain . . . but worth the effort.

That is the price I pay now around in my area. Mango's are easy to cut, though. Simply slice horizontally & diagonally against the flat part of the seed & then slice same from the contour of the seed; much like you would filet a fish. (The quick & easy method, though, involves NO sharing and eating over a sink ;). As far as mangos in those days, everyone had all they wanted and the rest fell to the ground. Alas, I do REMEMBER the great mango wars of 1967. Believe me, you have NOT LIVED until you have been smacked in the face with a ROTTEN mango thrown from 50' or so.

OXO Brand makes a "MANGO SPLITTER"...Here is one listed on www.amazon.com :

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Mango-Splitter/dp/B000AREB5S/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7912111-9489739?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1175739122&sr=8-1

It's almost fig-eatin' time!! The figs are green right now but they're sprouting everywhere. I hope the darn grackles and mockingbirds don't beat me to them. I also had mulberries a couple of weeks ago and got to enjoy a few cumquats a couple months ago. But I'm really rubbing my hands and salivating waiting on those figs!

That Spring freeze I wrote of in the posts higher up this page destroyed 99 percent of our young fruit. Apricots, Plums and Yellow Cherries were wiped out. We have about 3 dozen young apples spread around about 6 of the trees. I noticed yesterday that my Rome Apple is trying a small second round of late blossum to try to get some fruit going.
While we are growing these trees for our own use, not a business, I think I know a little of how a grower must feel when he loses a crop to nature.

When I was very young a long time ago, I use to pick blackberries in the fields that was adjacent to our residence. I would pick gallons and Mamaw Smith would turn them into jam and jellies. I now see the in abundance along the interstates and highways close to my house. You gotta get them quick to beat other folks and the birds who are also eaglerly awaiting them.

Mamaw Smith has fig trees and raspberries next door. I also enjoy them.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

oh Al...I was wondering about that after I posted my comment yesterday. You're right, a person who depends on their orchard must be just heartbroken when there's nothing he can do when it comes to Mother Nature.
I haven't seen a blackberry bush since I was 8 years old, but I bought a small pint on sale yesterday at the grocery store for 99 cents, they were really good, a couple were overripe but I ate them all in one sitting!

Here in the lower Hudson Valley, I still see a few older folks picking dandelions along the many overused highways that surround us. A long time ago, maybe this was not a problem. But I always wonder now if all the exhaust fumes, oil & rubber residues and the almost certain application of chemical weedkillers, etc. along the roadways make this a pretty nasty salad to be eating.
When I lived in northern CA, along the Russian River, we could just go take a walk in the forest and fill a basket. More than once we happened on morels; they seemed to like rotting apples and there were many old abandoned orchards to be found. My girlfriend used to love the tiny, "newborn" fiddleheads with wild onions and dandelions- a really tasty salad.