Fruits on the Farm

Although we left Mae Mut Garden a few weeks ago, we still reminisce about the fresh fruit that we had every day, even during the dry season. Thailand experiences three sort-of seasons: the dry and cool (Nov-Feb), the dry and hot (Mar-May), and the wet (June-Oct). Apparently it's so abysmal in April that everyone tries to leave! Hence we've planned our trip to Burma during that period.

The dry season is the only time that watering is necessary, and even then, it's important to neglect the fruit trees a bit, because they need to feel dry in order to flower, and later bear fruit. But while we were there, plenty of fruits trees were flowering, ripening, or already giving us ready-made snacks (no pesky going to the supermarket). I took most of these photographs in one morning, with the exception of the pineapple photograph.

ทุเรียนเทศ | A new one to me, from South America, the soursop is a part of the custard apple family. Early research has shown that the leaves could have anti-cancer properties.

มะละกอ | Perpetual papayas. We pick one or two every day from the dozens of trees on the farm. There are two groups on the farm: "native" papayas, which require no help whatsoever and grow enormous, though slightly less tasty, than their cousins, various cross-bred varieties with sunrise-inspired names. The native ones are the best to use for papaya salad, which I believe is the only appropriate use for papaya.

หม่อน | Ripe mulberries are dark purple, almost black, quite sweet, and hardly sour at all. When I was on babysitting duty, Serena and I would stroll through the mulberry bushes and eat all of the ripe ones. I train kids from an early age to be thieves.

มะเฟือง | Starfruit is so abundant in Thailand, and apparently so annoying, that bags of the stuff sell for 10 Baht (30 US cents) at the market.

เสาวรส | The passionfruit is a little bit on the sour side, but still delicious, whether yellow or purple. The fruit can be mashed up with fish sauce and chilies to make a bizarre but delicious sour/salty/sweet/hot dish. The rinds are also famous for being the only thing that chickens won't touch.

มะกอกฝรั่ง | A native of Polynesia, the ambarella is a crunchy, slightly sour fruit. It tastes better than it looks!

มะนาว | A staple in the Thai kitchen, the limes we pick from the tree are so fresh that the citrus oil rubs off on your hands. We also grow kaffir limes (มะกรูด) but don’t have any on the tree at the moment, though the leaves are a frequent, amazing addition to many dishes.

ละมุด | Like so many tropical fruits, sapodilla is native to Central and South America. It’s exceptionally sweet, according to Wikipedia and Marco. The fruit comes twice a year, but alas not while we were there. :( (ETA: In March we tried some in Chiang Rai, and found it tastes sort of like fruity pumpkin. Not really to our tastes, alas.)

ฝรั่ง | We grow two varieties of guava: pink and white. These two aren’t quite ready to be picked yet, they’re quite astringent when green.

พุทราจีน | The jujube: Empress Serena’s absolute favorite fruit, of which she requires two per day. Minimum. Also a favorite with Phil and me; we snacked on them freely while fertilizing and mulching these puppies.

กระเจี๊ยบแดง | After flowering, roselle curls up into these seed pods. The red parts, when dried, make a delicious sour tea, especially prized in Burma.

กล้วย | Bananas, they never let you down.	สับปะรด | Although pineapple will provide fruit year-round, this one was picked in late December. There are a few baby pineapples sprouting, too.

A baby pineapple in the works.

And here's a picture of Phil with a wee banana we found one morning, since it is my responsibility to make him look as silly as possible.