Fruits for a change

We have many fruits in the property in the province. Some of them are also seasonal in fruiting, while some have fruits throughout the year. Dry season fruits (March to May) include avocado, while chico and citrus are normally harvested in Dec to Jan after the rainy season. Jackfruit and pomelo on the other hand, fruit anytime of the year though more fruits are harvested in the dry season. Mango fruits, due to its high commercial demands are already studied to fruit out of season, so different parts of the country produce fruits at different months of the year. That allows us to eat mango fruits all year round, although of course off-season fruits are more expensive. All these mentioned fruits have available species and varieties available in the country.

avocado (Persea americana)

The above photo is not the very prolific fruiting tree, but i include it because it is beautiful against the blue sky. We also have 2 distinct varieties distinguishable by their colors when ripe. One is green and the other is purple. But variation in quality is so high as many trees come from seeds, which come from highly hybridized seeds. Big fruit orchards however get high quality asexually developed seedlings. Do you know that avocado fruits will not ripen unless severed from the tree? That's just a food for thought! 

chico (Achras zapota or Manilkara zapota) 

Chico (or zapodilla in other parts of the world) are cultivated in most Asian countries and South America. In the Philippines, it was believed to be introduced during the Spanish colonization. We have 5 big trees in our property and the birds and fruit bats have very noticeable activity in time for harvesting. Birds flock there during the day, while fruit bats attack at night. They are very keen on which fruits are already ripe, so they always go ahead from us in harvesting the ripe fruits. To circumvent their habits, the people harvest them at mature hard stage and let them ripen at home. But of course, tree-ripened fruits are always more sweet and delicious.

jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Jackfruit fruits are normally eaten when ripe but very immature ones are also used as vegetables. When cooked with coconut milk and spices, it makes a very good delicacy. The seeds of ripe fruits are sometimes also boiled and eaten as snacks. It is very high in carbohydrates. Ripe fruits are normally processed to sweets as desserts and as ingredients in making ice cream.

pomelo (Citrus grandis)

lanzones (Lansium domesticum)

Lanzones is also a seasonal fruit, which is harvested during the rainy season, August to September. These are tall trees when seedlings are from seeds. We have a few trees around the house, but 4 trees died during the last long dry season. Lansones fruits are best when harvested at already fully ripe stage. If not, it is usually sour and the skin has sticky latex. Because ours are just near the house, we thought we can allow them to fully mature before harvest. However, those fruit bats are really deprived of other fruits that they try to deprive us of our share. They harvest them even at the sour stage which are not yet palatable for humans. In the mornings, a lot of peels are scattered on the ground, which means the bats bit us again in this game. We tried to wrap them with newspapers, but they know how to tear the wraps and get the fruits inside. We also tried putting a light bulb through the night, but they did not let up, they still stole them. They are not really letting us have more of our trees. At any rate we were able to taste a few.