How does my garden grow...?

How does my garden grow....?

I'm quite upset that my very large, beautiful rosemary went into a decline and died......we have thoroughly inspected it and can't find any reason for it, but it is as dead as a door nail.... :-(

One day we noticed it looked sad and seems like in less than a week it was dead! We still have several small ones, but none as beautiful or as special as the one lost. It was one we had transplanted when we moved from the Inn property after the fire back in July 2000.

Wreath was made Christmas last year from our (now dead) rosemary

On the other hand, the French tarragon right next to it is coming back thicker than last year's effort...... The two plants of stick oregano are doing great! The creeping marjoram not so great....I keep killing slugs trying to eat it up. I need to move the Cuban oregano.....it doesn't seem to like where it is. At one time you couldn't keep it within any semblance of order and now there is just a little patch struggling to survive.

The land cress is no more........I guess the heat was too much for it, even though I watered it plenty.....but the lemon balm is doing beautifully! The mint is beginning to spread and it's in a perfect area enclosed in concrete, so the roots can't invade other areas.....and it still has plenty of room to grow where it is.

One grape tomato plant beginning to produce sweet little morsels and the cherry tomato is also beginning now to flourish.......Two different parsleys, Italian flat leaf and the curly leaf are doing great!!! We have not had much luck with parsley in the past, so at least for now, it looks promising. The garlic chives and regular chives are doing well...........The arugula bolted too fast....I guess it was too hot here for it.

The peppers are all doing wonderful.... the Habanero and the little Hawaiian chile peppers are full of fruit in different stages and the Cachucha, which is a non-heat relative of the Habanero, is beginning to show flowers....

We have two little Japanese eggplants about 4
inches long and more blooms following.......All the basils, Thai, Italian and lemon basil are also doing wonderful!

The Malabar spinach vine died - seems as if from one day to the next, but the Okinawan spinach has had to be cut back ruthlessly. ...........That stuff is growing like a weed!!! The bay leaf has not grown much but its alive and has a little bit of new growth.

The fig tree looks like it might do something after all....It is now two years old, but it sure has taken its time to even begin to decide it likes it where it is.........(update.....It is finally showing ONE fig!)

Last year we planted something called a naranjilla as a
curiosity....the fruit is supposed to be like a cross between an orange and a kiwi........ The plant is VERY aggressive, with huge purple veined leaves and the leaves, stems and branches are all covered in fine, hair-like nettles that sting like crazy....the blooms are purplish and it is now showing some fruit for the first time. Anthony had to trim the monster back as it was really getting out of hand and growing into other areas of the garden........ I will report on fruit later when and if we get to try it.

The Caribbean papaya tree has two big and several small fruit, none ready yet....but our bananas are producing like crazy. Some of them are down the ravines in the gulches, but thankfully we have a neighbor who has no fear and scales up and down the steep sides like a monkey after bananas.....;-)

He also found an avocado tree down one gulch that was full of almost ready fruit....so we will be keeping our eyes on those. (update....we now have picked lots of avos)

The mango tree is a puzzler. It is big. It blooms like crazy every year. The severe weather we had earlier this year wiped out most of the blooms and developing fruit...;but the tree is now flowering again. In the almost six years we have lived here we have not been able to eat a single mango from this tree.

The Surinam cherry bushes are getting too big and the fruit hard to collect. We need to trim them to a more manageable size before the next fruiting, as the birds seemed to be the only ones enjoying it this season!

The pineapples aren't doing much this year as it seems to be an off year for ours; but the ornamental miniature pineapples are doing great and look really beautiful!

It is a lot of fun and I get a lot of satisfaction from the use of the harvest from our yards in cooking. Following are a few of my favorite recipes using the `fruit from our harvest'

Anyway.........that's how my garden grows.

TROPICAL FRUIT SALAD

For the last couple of weeks we have been making this deliciously refreshing fruit salad. Use any combination of fruit you have at hand.

Papayas
Pineapples
Mangoes
Bananas
Avocados
Oranges
Liliko'i (passion fruit)

Peel and cube the fruit; separate the oranges into segments. Cut the liliko'i in half and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Mix the liliko'i pulp and seeds with the cubed fruit.

Add a scoop of sour cream or yogurt, vanilla yogurt is especially good. Serve with a chiffonade (*) of mixed greens; lettuce, mesclum mix, arugula, basil, spinach or any other favorite green.

(*) Chiffonade is a term used when you cut greens into thin ribbons. Grab a handful of greens wadded loosely in one hand, place on cutting board and with a sharp knife cut the greens into thin ribbons.

COCONUT AMBROSIA

Sometime ago I saw a recipe for fruit ambrosia served inside a half coconut shell. It made for a decorative and impressive presentation.

Take the brown nut and with an ice pick punch out the "eyes" at one end; drain the juice or water, reserving for other uses. With the claw end of a hammer, working along an imaginary line, tap sharply all around the middle of the nut, until both halves come loose.

Scoop out the coconut meat and grate. Fill the coconut bowl with a mixture of colorful fruit, such as mango, kiwi, star fruit, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, and anything else you have on hand; add some of the grated coconut, reserving the rest for other uses. Top with a scoop of ice cream, fresh whipped cream or vanilla yogurt

Of course, one coconut will serve two people, so you will need enough coconuts prepared to serve a larger group.

Check out my food and garden blog

(c)TROPICAL TASTE
By Sonia Martinez - July 2006 - The Hamakua Times of Honoka'a