On Sunday morning, I spent some great time outside with my daughters. We picked some Suriname cherries which were still too red for my liking - they have to turn almost black before I will eat them, otherwise they are unbearably sour and taste like turpentine.
Anyway, they loved it and wanted more, but we could only find 2 each.
Afterwards, I took them on an adventure. We stopped at each of the Myrtaceous plants in my garden, picked a leaf, crushed it and smelt it. The Suriname cherry is the most pungent of them all. I explained how these plants are all related because they have oil glands in their leaves that release the oil when crushed. My eldest daughter likes the Suriname cherry smell the best. My favorite is the Marlierea spp, smells almost like perfume(forgot to include it in my previous post about the Myrtaceous family), followed by the feijoa. The least spicy smell of them all, probably the grumichama.
The grumichama is blooming, very shyly, unlike the Suriname cherry which is covered in blooms and should be laden with fruit soon. I wish it was the other way around as we all just can't wait for the grumichamas and its normally a battle between me, mom, the birds and the children to get our hands on them first. They really are yum.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I envy you. I am up in Central Florida, and I am waiting to see if any of my subtropical fruit even survived, this cold weather just keeps on coming. I found your blog a few weeks ago, and I have been enjoying it. Happy growing.
ReplyDeleteGardening with the kids is always a treat! My daughter loves it, although my son pretty much just humors me! The cherries sound wonderful!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I feel for you, even down here we're still being plagued by unseasonably cold weather.
ReplyDeleteLet me know how your plants do.
Kimberly, my oldest daughter knows most of the exotic fruit names in my garden. Every now and then we take a walk around and I ask her randomly what this plant is called and you'll be surprised how well she remembers.
ReplyDeleteThe younger one couldn't be bothered :)
Maybe some of it will rub off on her.