Well folks, the crop is in! Our mango tree has had a bounteous harvest this year; close to 100 mangoes. It is probably a 20 year old tree and quite tall. Many I could pick with just the help of the ladder. Others required a much more sophisticated technique; a closet rod with a hanger duck taped to the end. A quick yank and then do your best to catch it on the way down. Maybe I should have worn a catcher's mask - as one time I dropped the pop fly and it nailed me on the nose. Only minor damage.
The size of the fruit is amazing. The 'king of fruits' is one nickname I've heard. We had a "weigh in" just to see. Our biggest mango weighs 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds. Tell me that's not impressive! It is over 8 inches long and over 5 inches wide. It's a whopper. And many are just like it.
Gregg wondered what on earth I would do with 100 mangoes. Last year our tree bore about 15 mangoes and I made and shared mango jam. Sharing with friends and neighbors comes first. Also, the birds, bats, and bugs love mangoes and nabbed a few; they pretty much help themselves. It is not uncommon for the locals to help themselves but I have been policing the harvest pretty close this year.
In addition to fruit salad we are trying mango yogurt, mango shortcake, mango tapioca, mango muffins, mango bread ... you get the idea. Once cut, mangoes also freeze well for future fruit salad. I haven't tried a mango pie. What do you think? It couldn't be that different from fresh strawberry pie - or could it?
Our banana tree has just announced that it will be bearing fruit for the very first time. This will be fun to watch. And, yes, the neighbor behind us installed a 5 wire electric fence on top of the block wall. We might end up with cooked bananas!
