We have five coconut trees on our property. Two of them are dwarf coconuts. They are called this, not because the coconut itself is small, but rather because they start to fruit when the tree is still relatively short. Dwarf trees can get taller, but we were told the variety we have will stay short. We hope this is the case, as it makes the picking process so much easier, and it won’t block our view!
We have our first two seed pods on this tree!! You can see one clearly in the front, and one kind of tucked in on the left hand side. We know we have a golden variety, but aren’t sure if it’s Malayan or Fijian. You can see how close to the ground these are from this picture as the grass is growing up into the trunk.
Right now, we just drink the coconut water and eat the flesh from inside. But, I plan on making coconut milk and coconut oil when we get more coconuts.
Speaking of oil, we’ve been enjoying our avocado oil a lot. My husband likes to cook with it; I love to sprinkle it on salads. We had a couple of batches that unfortunately tasted bitter. We are still unsure what exactly caused it – was there a bad avocado in the batch? did we scrape some of the skin in by mistake? did it sit too long? We’re not positive, but we think it was some overripe avocados. Rather than waste it, I made avocado oil soap. Real soap, with lye and everything! The first batch I made came out a little clumpy. It was good to use as soap, but aesthetically, it didn’t look great. The second batch came out much better, a little soft, but very creamy no lumps. The soap lathers really well and leaves your skin super soft. I love it. I remember sharing my soap making story with someone, and they said when they were growing up their mom made soap. They could always tell which kids had a mom who didn’t make soap well, because the kids always ended up with a rash. I’ve never made soap before, so I consider it a complete success that it didn’t burn out skin or give us a rash!
It’s been pretty rainy for the last few weeks, so I haven’t been in the garden as much. The coffee is still producing, we have oranges ready to ripen soon, we’ve been enjoying eggplant and our greens, and the pineapples are getting bigger!
The orchid grotto needs a good weeding, but I haven’t been in there to get it done because of the rain. The orchids and anthuriums are blooming. They’re just beautiful.
It’s also been a crazy busy month, so I just haven’t had time to do much of anything except play catch up, get the taxes done, and do the necessities, a.k.a eat, laundry, dishes, eat, laundry, dishes, not necessarily in that particular order. And just when I thought I’d finish this post, and have a look see around the farm, I hear the rain starting to come down again (with a little thunder to boot). I’m going to go make some pumpkin soup instead.
Follow my blog
Leave a Reply