Mystery of the Wilson avocado

Every Tuesday there is a farmers market at Whole Foods in Fort Lauderdale and there are always amazing local vendors selling fresh locally grown vegetables, homemade vegan foods and desserts, soups, spices, carribean teas, homemade soaps, chocolate, breads and so much more.

My favorite vegetable vendor is Enrique from EasyTropical who has a farm in Homestead.  He grows a lot of fruit and vegetables and also supplements with other vegetables grown in other climates.  This week I saw a gigantic avocado.  He said he grows it on his farm, and it was a Wilson.  I asked him to tell me the history of the fruit but he only knew its name.

When I returned from the market I googled Wilson Avocado and was thrilled with the back story.  I had never even heard of Wilson Popenoe before doing research. I knew Dr. Fairchild was responsible for introducing a tremendous amount of tropical palms, plants and fruit trees to South Florida, and Mr. Wilson Popenoe at the same time was instrumental in introducing avocados.

The Wilson variety was recently the first fruit in all of Florida to be inducted into the Ark of Taste.  Slow Food Miami, an organization promoting locally produced food, along with Dr. Helen Violo of the University of Florida and Mike Winterstein of the USDA are on a mission to resurrect the Wilson Avocado from obscurity.  Apparently they believe there are only a few trees left in all of Florida.  They are not aware of Enrique's prolific grove of trees.  Now it is my mission to introduce the above people to help them save the Wilson Avocado.

What is so special about this fruit?  It is all about the flavor which is unique and unlike other avocados.   It was a super flavor and amazing buttery texture.  As of this writing I have yet to taste mine.  It is sitting on a kitchen counter ripening. Perhaps tomorrow it will be ready to taste.  I can't wait!

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Mango Time in South Florida

Its time to celebrate when it is mango time in South Florida.  We eat them morning, noon and night.  We eat them over the sink, sliced up in oatmeal, yogurt and cottage cheese.   We chop them up for salads, salsas and baked with fish or chicken.  We bake mango bread, mango pies, mango cake and mango upside down cake.

This year there is a bumper crop of mangoes and homeowners are challenged as to what to do with such an over abundance.  Many people bring bags of mangoes to work every day.  Some people set up fruit stands in front of their house and sell them.  Other people bring them to food banks, churches and give them to neighbors who do not have trees.

Squirrels, tree rats, birds, insects love mangoes as well.  So do landscapers working nearby, mailmen, school children.  My seniors at work told me stories of how they would go to work during the day and return home at night to find their trees stripped of  fruit.  Below is a short video on how to pick fruit early from the tree.  Normally when they are ripe they fall down to the ground.

Many of us like to slice them up and freeze them for enjoyment after mango season.  The consistency is never the same as a fresh mango, but they are still great in smoothies.  Here is a short video on how to cut mangoes like a chef.

Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami always has a spectacular mango festival in July, the height of mango season.  Mango season is from May to October.  Here are a few reviews of past festivals.  The festival is a three day event with non stop activities.  There are tastings, fruit sales, chef demonstrations,  displays, outside vendors, tree sales and so much more.  The Sunday mango brunch always sells out early to purchase your tickets in advance.  Mango Festival Information

Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Festival a great success
Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Brunch

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Dragon Fruit

I love my newest addition to my edible landscape.  The first time I ate one was a few years ago purchased at a local supermarket.  The sign for Dragon Fruit intrigued me.  It looked like a red hand grenade.  It was $4.99 and was in the specialty fruit section located on a shelf within a wicker basket.

I took it home and researched it a bit on the internet to learn how to eat it.  It was pretty good and reminded me of a cross between a kiwi and other cactus fruits I had previously tried.  I discovered the fruit is native to Mexico, Central America and South America.  It is a tropical fruit that grows on a rambling cactus.  The scientific name is Hylocereus.

Later on a friend and rare fruit hobbyist gave me a few cuttings of his Dragon Fruit plant.  I planted them amongst the roses in a sunny part of the garden near my driveway.  It took awhile for them to mature and start producing flowers and fruit. The first year it produced only one flower and the fruit rotted on the vine before I was able to harvest it.  This was my first dragon fruit video.

This year the plant is much larger and the first fruit was eagerly watched over and I harvested it successfully. I decided to shoot a video to mark this wonderful accomplishment.  It was so delicious I could not stop eating it throught the video! It was much sweeter and juicier than the store bought fruit I had purchased.

After I shot the video, the plant started flowering profusely.  Here are some photos of the beautiful flowers.  The flowers are short lived, bloom at night and are pollinated by insects or bats.  The next morning they wither away and the fruit starts forming.

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Rare and exotic fruit in the garden

Of the many advantages of living in South Florida, growing rare and exotic tropical fruits ranks up in the top ten.  I love being able to go outside in the morning and pick fruit for my morning oatmeal fresh from the trees.  There is usually something ripe all year round.

In the winter we have citrus, and by mid spring the mangoes are ripe.  As soon as I harvest the last mango, the star fruit are bearing.  The figs ripen as well at this time of year. You must harvest them quickly before the birds eat them.    Papayas ripen throughout the year as well.

My newest harvest is from the dragon fruit.  I am looking forward to many more fruits from this cactus.  The first flower was pollinated and the fruit ripened and rotted before I could harvest it.  Now I will have to wait for more flowers and more fruit.  

My garden is all planted out now and there is no more room.  The next step is to decide what I want to remove.  I need to decide what fruits I can replant.  They need full sun.  Time will tell what future plants I will purchase.  

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How to make the ultimate mango smoothie

I have been inundated with requests on how to make the ultimate mango milkshake. For sweetness use the ripest ones available.  First you need to remove the skin and large seed from the fruit.  Then you slice up the mango as the following YouTube video suggests. 

Add at least one large mango or two small mangoes for each glass of milkshake.  Pour the sliced mangoes into the blender.  Add about a half cup of milk (your choice of milk) per serving.  Add 4  ice cubes per serving.  Add 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (more or less depending upon your taste), 1/4 teaspoon of real vanella bean extract.  Add a scoop of protein powder.  Add a dash of nutmeg.  Blend for about thirty seconds.

You may also make a fruit smoothie without the milk.  Just substitute a half cup of fruit juice of your choice. (orange, cranberry, grape work nicely .)  Enjoy!  This nutritious drink is packed with vitamin A, C, K, and fiber.  You also may add a banana, strawberries, blueberries to cut the flavor of the mango if you so desire.

Next time you have a craving for ice cream, cake, or a high carb snack like potato chips, make a shake instead.  It will satisfy your sweet tooth craving.  The shake is very filling as well. Thank you for stopping by my blog and  see you again soon!


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Going bananas!

Going bananas
South Floridians love bananas and there are many to grow here. There are ice cream bananas, red banana, finger bananas finger banansas and more. In fact, there even is a nursery called Going Bananas located in Homestead, Florida. Homestead is in southwest Miami.
Katie Chafin is co owner of Going bananas. When asked which her favorite banana was, she replied “Whatever is ripe!” With over ninety two different varieties to choose from, it is understandable why one would never tire of them.
Here in South Florida, many people without gardens get their bananas mostly in the supermarket like everyone else does elsewhere in the country. We buy the same ones imported by the big name producers located in Central American and the Caribbean Islands.
Many back yard gardeners also grow their own bananas. They are best started by shoots from the mother plant, divided up by digging the new shoots. If you have a friend with a banana you can get suckers from them, or buy plants from a local nursery. Backyard growers like to try varieties not found in stores.
The top sellers according to Katie:
• Gold finger- is a disease resistant large variety. This hybrid was created in Honduras.
• Nam wa- originated in Southeast Asia and has a delicious pineapple banana flavor.
• Raja puri – has a superb flavor but warns Katie, “You need to feed it like a teenage boy, you can’t feed it enough.” This Indian variety requires heavy feeding for the plant to thrive.
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