Foodie Blogroll

Saturday, May 21, 2011

A Tale of a Sapodilla, my Garden Fruits, and Granola


I bought my sapodilla tree at the rare fruit and nut show that we had in town years ago. I planted it in our extra lot and pretty much forgot about it. The leaves are very pretty and it was a slow growing tree, so I just let it go. I had noticed that it did blossom a few times but I never saw any fruit on the tree...until this year.




I was walking around our yard...we have two lots, and the back boundary is all natural, where I have banana trees, bird of paradise, elephant ears, sea grapes and many more plants.




...then I spotted it, I have fruit on my sopadilla tree!! I immediately picked one and brought it inside. Oh sure then I check to see when the fruit is ripe...




I found a lot of information on sapodilla...I guess it is not unusual for a young tree to take around 8 years before you see any fruit...so there you go...right on time! Here is a little bit of info from Nutrition and you website about the fruit :


Sapodilla or Sapota or chikoo, a delicious tropical fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals and health benefiting anti-oxidant tannins. The fruit is soft, composed of easily digestible pulp made up with simple sugars like fructose and sucrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly.

Sapota is a tropical evergreen fruit bearing tree belongs to the family of sapotaceae of the genus: Manilkara. Scientific name: Manilkara zapota.

So I guess it's okay to pick it when I did...I just have to wait until it is ripe or soft before I eat it., kind of like an avocado. ..



This one was firm but when I scratched the skin it was white or cream color and not green, and it was okay to let it soften before I eat it.





So here it is after a few days on the counter to let it sweeten like it should before you cut into it's tender flesh and dig in.



It is described as brown sugar in flavor or caramel, and it was just that, they also said it had a pear-like texture which really worried me because I don't like pears or their texture, but I didn't see or taste any pear here. It was almost like dulce de leche, yum, more like caramel than brown sugar. Very good.






An up date on how far my pineapple has grown...






...and now for my mango tree... I have a big problem...squirrels! They are going after my mangoes!! I don't know how to stop them! If anyone has any ideas...I am all ears, please let me know...I need help!


One dropped on our pool screen.




This one was already picked by the squirrels and it is not big enough yet. I am going to see if it will ripen, but I was hoping for tree full of ripened mangoes this July when they should be ready.





They don't care how big or little, ripe or not...they dig right in...at least it looks like it did ripen a little...they better finish it. Nothing is worse than going to pick a mango right off the tree and turning it to find a bite out if it still hanging on the tree! darn squirrels!!!








Just noticed my bananas, kinda tiny too!


...and now for the granola...it is the 3rd Saturday of the month which means it's my turn to post on Our Krazy Kitchen so check out my post on...My grandmother's granola recipe.


Thanks for stopping by! Now hop on over for a Relax and Surf Sunday blog hop and enjoy!

38 comments:

  1. Lyndsey, I am coming to your house!! Sapodilla is one of my favorite fruits and I miss it dearly. I was very disappointed I did not get to eat it during my last trip back to visit my parents because the ones I encountered were not ripe and I was leaving soon. I have never seen it here. Are they sold in the stores in Florida?

    The pinenapple is coming along. How exciting! Do kepp us posted on that :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love this post! I had no idea that squirrels loved mangoes so much :) I can't believe you have pineapples and bananas growing in your yard. Amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. How fun! I've never heard of Sapodillas before. I'm a bit jealous of all that tropical fruit you're growing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lindsey, I love your garden with plenty of fruit trees. I remember I planted Sapodilla once(we called it chiku)but always eaten by birds and my mango tree is also visited by squirrels and cockatoos as now is the mango season. My pineapple is growing too...hehee

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds and looks like you live in paradise; thank you for sharing those lovely photos. it must ba fantastic to have these fresh goodies in your yard.
    Rita

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love chikoo (we called it by that name here) Your pineapple looks very happy in your garden too! And the mango tree! You do have green fingers:)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love chikoo (that's what we called them here) and your mango and pineapple trees look very happy in your garden!:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I saw the photo and wondered what kind of egg you were holding? LOL I don't think I've ever tried sapodillas, but they sound great. I used to have mangos, bananas, avocados and guavas in Miami. We just planted a garden for the first time here, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions. I'll let you know how it goes.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Biren, ha! come and visit anytime!! I have so much fun growing tropical fruit (of course that's what grows here) I also have lemon, lime and grapefruit trees. I do miss rhubarb, apples, raspberries, and the squashes that we grew when I was growing up in Michigan though!

    Teresa - I didn't know they liked them either. We used to have a play set out back and when a squirrel would bite the mango stem I would hear it drop and hit the slide. I would run out and get the mango before they would get it hehe! The pineapple is from a top that I had planted. You can do this in pots too.

    Barbara - I do enjoy the fruit, it's fun!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ann - maybe that is why I never noticed any fruit on my sapodilla tree...the birds! It is way out back in an area that I do get to everyday. The birds get my natal plums. Ha! glad you have a pineapple growing too! :D

    Rita - thanks for visiting my backyard! I do enjoy it and I'm happy others do to. I wish I could have everyone over in person.

    Jeannie - thanks, I try, and do enjoy it. My mangoes didn't have a productive year last year, but I guess that is common with mangoes. I'll keep everyone posted on my pineapple hehe!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ivonne - I also have passion fruit, lemon, grapefruit, papaya (just one now). The passion fruit vine is just crazy have to keep trimming that down, not mush fruit. I want to get an avocado tree, but not sure I want the mess. I love to see what others are growing in their part of the world too. I am jealous that I can't grow tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce onions and many more. I can't wait to see your garden...do keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your garden is lovely I love the pineapple and mangos tree, In the summer we have porblems with mouses (yes mouses) we live in country side, and they ate ours almonds! so a person told Gerardo he may wrapped the trees (the base in plastic bags) and they stop something ,because they can not climb the tree .
    }Maybe is good for you because skirrels are the same family of the mouses. Is only and idea. huggs gloria

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gloria, that is a good idea, when I lived in Hawaii they would wrap a piece of metal flashing around the palm trees to keep the rats out. The only problem with that for me is they can get to it from our pool cage, you can see where they wrecked it(a piece fell down where we had to reinforce it)we doubled the screen in that area. I told Wade to trim the tree back from the screen. The get to it from an oak tree on the other side and run across the roof and the pool cage. Screwy squirrels!

    ReplyDelete
  14. sapodilla? first time I hear about this tropical fruit. it resembles a kiwi! and you have a mango tree? and pineapples! Squirrels can be quite aggressive,(we have a few in our backyard and we were warned by our landlord that they will eat/destroy our garden, so we have posted planting anything.)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I dont think I have ever tried that, looks great.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I never heard of this before but I am loving the sound of it! It does look like it would taste like caramel. I hope I can find them here.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow...wonderful to have fruits from your garden! I think I would stay in my fruit garden everyday if I have one and bearing fruits. I can even blog there...haha. Oh, I love sapodilla. In Malaysia, it's called 'chiku'. It's very sweet and delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Never heard of sapodilla! I love it when I learn new stuff! I don't like the texture of pears, either...why is that? Looks like lots of good things going on in your garden!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I have never heard of a sapodilla, it looks like a little brown egg. I am so jealous of that beautiful pineapple I love it how you have so many fabulous things growing on your land. I wish I could do that.
    *kisses* HH

    ReplyDelete
  20. un fruit que je ne connais pas merci pour cette information
    bonne journée

    ReplyDelete
  21. How fun to have a banana tree and a mango tree. I've never heard of a sapodilla but I bet I would love it. I could make a fruit salad out of your yards bounty. How cool!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Holy cow! I am moving in! I promise not to take up much room. Tropical fruits are such a luxury here in DC. Totally jealous. Yum.

    ReplyDelete
  23. What an interesting fruit! I've never heard of it! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Not sure about Sapodilla but it does look like the Chiku I know. Great post!

    *googling if Sapodilla and Chiku are indeed the same*

    ReplyDelete
  25. Lyndz, you have no idea how I love to own a place like this. I love gardening alot. I'm sure you're still enjoying your fruits now. I'm not a chiku person but I believe your tree going to grow more fruits in the future. Chiku is very cheap over here. So, it's not a problem to buy it from the stall. Hope you're enjoying your day.
    Blessings, Kristy
    p/s feeling much better this 2 days but tired & a little cough going on. :o)

    ReplyDelete
  26. How fascinating! I don't think I've ever tried sapodilla. I love learning about new ingredients!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oh, lucky squirrels!! ;) I have a solution to your problem. You can build me a house in that tree and I will guard to mangoes for you...although a few may still go "missing". I'm so jealous of you...do you remember what it was like living "up here"...where we can't go outside and see glorious tropical fruit sprouting from trees right in your own yard? sigh... And sop-wha!? I've never even heard of that one. Jel. Us.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Loved this post, because I love sapodillas! I had my first one 15 years ago in the Cayman Islands. Mixed in with a fruit salad. I asked the chef what it was. You're right, it does taste like brown sugar! How lucky to have a tree in your back yard!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yes, ripe chiku is very sweet and I think they're wrapped up with newspapers to prevent predators. Lovely mangoes too!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Elisa - the skin feels a little different from a kiwi, but the size is right. The texture might be that of a firm kiwi.

    Jennifurla - thanks

    Reeni - I like trying new things

    MaryMoh - I do love it out there, just a tad warm in the summer to blog from outside lol!

    TKW - I am so glad they didn't taste of have a pear texture

    HH - Thanks, I do enjoy it, I wish I could grow veggies too.

    Fimère happy to share about new things

    Melissa - lol! we do have an extra lot

    Debbi - my pleasure!

    tigerfish - I believe it is the same thing, funny how fruits are called different names around the world.

    Kristy - funny how you never really see it for sale in stores, maybe in farmers market. Happy that you are better.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Maria - That's the fun thing about blogging isn't it? learning new things!

    Heather - Ha! you crack me up! Sure come on down, but you'll have to share with Melissa :D But you get to grow all those lovely vegetables and such!

    Barbara - this would be great in a fruit salad.

    Megan - sorry I skipped you. If all my fruit was ripe at the same time it would make a great salad! :D

    ReplyDelete
  32. How wonderful to have these exotic treats right in your own backyard!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Chiko is one of my favorite fruits. How I wish I can grow them in my garden. I love coming here cos I learn a lot about plants and fruits from you.

    ReplyDelete
  34. What a wonderful tropical home you have there! I used to eat Sapodila too in Indonesia back then, and the only name I knew for it was in Indonesian. Sapodila! I`ll remember that, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  35. How cool! I have never had or heard about sapodila before. Amazing that you even plant the mangoes.

    ReplyDelete
  36. A fruit that tastes like dulce de leche...I need to try this.

    ReplyDelete
  37. I'd not heard of sapodilla before - it sounds delicious! How great that you have all these fruit trees!

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear from you, please share your ideas, tips, stories or any questions or comments. Thanks for stopping by...