Fruits of Our Labours

After attending a Conference in Melbourne, we were faced with the question of whether to purchase food for the two days prior to the next farmer's markets upon our return? Or, upon arriving home, would we find an abundance of food or an empty pantry?

The following photos will provide you with the answer:

These are Brazillian Cherries. Slightly tart when ripe, and very tart when un-ripe. A very thirst quenching fruit.

This is the bush upon which the Brazillian Cherries grow and at its maximum is about two metres tall.

This is the Surinam Cherry bush which grows  a little taller to the Brazillian Cherry.

In this view we see the fruit with the flowers prior to setting the new fruit.

The fruit is sligly sweeter than the the Brazillian Cherry, although still slighly tart. And whereas the Brazillian Cherry seed is somewhat round and usually consisting of only one seed, and occasionally in the largest fruit two, the Surinam Cherry has usually three rather triangulated seeds.

In this bowl we see the last of the black Mulberry crop, along with the shiny black Jaboticabas. These have a very pleasant flavour along with being slightly tart.

The Jaboticabas grow on a small tree which reaches about five to six metres in height when fully grown.

The Yellow Sapote, botanical name, Lucuma nervosa, or Canistal, not related to the other Sapote's, is a very rich, fruit with dense flesh, quite sweet in flavour.

The Lucuma tree grows from five to eight metres tall with the fruit born in clusters. The new crop forms when the current crop is being harvested. Under the right conditions it can bear two or three crops per year.



The Pomelo is a giant tropical grapefruit. The outer rind is very thick and the inner flesh covering the edible part is quite tough and requires tro be also peeled away before eating. Slightly sweeter than the grapefruit grown in the cooler limate.

The Pomelo tree looks the same as any other citrus tree and hardly grows any bigger in spite of the size of the fruit it bears.

The Jakfruit when opened, looks like crayfish and tastes like bubblegum. In the Asian countries it usually made into curries when still somewhat green. It is a sweet fruit, and can grow to be 30 Kilo's in the right conditions, the fruit growing on the trunk or main branches, and can at times even grow on the roots of the tree.

The timber of the tree is used for building in Asian countries, with the young trees being used for fruit bearing. They are then harvested for their timber as they age.