Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🍴 Banana cinnamon fritters: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes 🍌

• 🟡Dip banana slices in a light batter, fry quickly, then dust with cinnamon sugar.
• 🟡Sweet street-food style snack!

Banana Cinnamon Fritters recipe

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup water (or milk)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• Oil for frying
• Extra cinnamon sugar for dusting

Instructions

1. Slice bananas into thick rounds.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and water to form a light batter.
3. Dip banana slices in batter and fry in hot oil until golden brown.
4. Remove and drain on paper towels.
5. Dust with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.

🛒 For home grown ingredients you will need:
Banana trees
Cinnamon tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Bananas

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Truth about which fruit helps you lose weight faster: Mango or Papaya?

❓ Mango vs. Papaya: what's best for you?

• 
  ✔️ Nutritional comparison

Mango is rich in vitamins A and C, boosting immune health and skin.
Papaya brings more folate and contains papain, an enzyme that aids digestion.
• 
  ✔️ Health perks

Mango may help lower inflammation and support blood sugar balance.
Papaya is known to ease digestion, reduce bloating, and support gut health.
• 
  ✔️ Calories and sugars

Both are low in calories, but mango has slightly more natural sugar.
If you’re sugar-sensitive, papaya might be the better option.
• 
  ✔️ Weight loss support

Mango and papaya both contain fiber and natural compounds that slow digestion.
This helps you feel fuller longer, which can reduce snacking and support weight management.
• 
  ✔️ Which to pick when

Choose mango for a skin and immune boost.
Go with papaya if you want a gentler fruit that supports digestion and gut comfort.

Don't forget about Avocado when planting your fruit garden!
Avocado deserves a spot at the table too. While not sweet like mango or papaya, it's packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, fiber, potassium, and B vitamins. Avocado supports brain and heart health, keeps you full longer, and provides a creamy balance to any tropical fruit plate.

All three fruits are also great for weight management. They're high in fiber and water content, which slows digestion, helps you feel fuller longer, and may reduce overall calorie intake naturally.

🛒Explore Mango, Papaya, and Avocado varieties

#Food_Forest #Mango #Papaya #Remedies #Discover

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🍴 Passion fruit fizz: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes 🍹

• 
  🔴Scoop passion fruit pulp into sparkling water with a squeeze of orange juice.
• 🔴A bubbly, tangy tropical soda!
• 🔴You may add a plash of Rum (optional)

🛒

Passion fruit fizz recipes

Ingredients

• 2 passion fruits (pulp scooped)
• 1 cup sparkling water
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• (Optional) 1 shot rum

Instructions

1. Scoop passion fruit pulp into a glass.
2. Add sparkling water and orange juice, stir gently.
3. Optionally add a splash of rum.
4. Serve chilled with an orange slice garnish.

Shop Passion fruit plants

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🍴 Canistel custard toast: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🟡Mash Canistel (Eggfruit) with a bit of cream and cinnamon, spread on toast, and broil until golden.
• 🟡Like dessert for breakfast!

Canistel Custard Toast: Exotic Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 ripe Canistel (Eggfruit), mashed
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 slices of bread

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Mash Canistel with cream and cinnamon until smooth.
3. Spread mixture on bread slices.
4. Broil until golden and slightly caramelized.
5. Serve warm, like dessert for breakfast.

🛒 Plant your own Canistel tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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💄 Free natural shampoo: squeeze it and see what comes out!

• 💄Pine Cone Ginger (Zingiber Zerumbet), is called Shampoo Ginger due to its unique, milky substance found in the cones. If you squeeze these bright red cones, a fragrant, milky liquid seeps out - traditionally used in Asia and Hawaii as a natural shampoo. Even today, you’ll find it in commercial shampoos.
• 💄 But there's more to it than hair care. All parts of the plant carry a spicy fragrance, the cones make striking, long-lasting cut flowers, and the whole plant adds a tropical vibe to your garden.
• 💄 And here's a fun history twist: Pine Cone Ginger is a "canoe plant", carried across the Pacific by ancient Polynesian voyagers. Imagine - this little shampoo factory traveled the ocean in canoes centuries ago!

Would you try washing your hair with this tropical ginger?

🛒 Grow your own Natural Shampoo Ginger

📚 Learn more:

• 🟡 What Ginger makes a natural shampoo?
• 🟡5 most spectacular Ginger species

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Remedies #Food_Forest

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⛔️ What is Akee - Jamaica's National Fruit - and how to grow it

🛒 Plant your own Akee (Achee) tree

📱

#Food_Forest

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⛔️ Banned Jamaican fruit: why you never see fresh Akee in U.S. stores?

Did you know that fresh Akee (Blighia sapida) is restricted for import into the U.S.?
That's the bad news.
The good news: you can grow your own Akee tree and enjoy this famous fruit right in your backyard!

The reason it's restricted is because unripe Akee (Ackee) contains toxins. Only when the pods split open naturally is the fruit safe to eat, after cooking (video). That’s why it's hard to import fresh – but easy to grow and handle at home once you know the trick.

Plenty of people love this fruit (it's actually a vegetable). It's the national fruit of Jamaica, and a must-have in the classic dish Akee and saltfish. Planting your own tree means you never have to miss out.

⛔️ Why grow Akee?

• ✔️Fresh fruit that you simply can’t buy in U.S. stores.
• ✔️You decide when it's ripe and safe, straight from the pod.
• ✔️A taste of Jamaica in your own garden - both food and culture in one tree.

So don't wait for the fruit that never arrives at the port. Plant your own Akee tree and enjoy the harvest tomorrow!

🛒 Plant your own Akee (Achee) tree

📚 Learn more:

• 📱 What is Akee - Jamaica's National Fruit - and how to grow it

▫️New Christmas ornaments? Ackee monster fruit!

• ▫️Akee deliciousness
• ▫️What is number one tree-grown vegetable
• ▫️Grow Your Own Food: Akee

📱 How to cook perfect Akee

#Food_Forest

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🍴 Jackfruit curry quickie: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 
  🟡Saute young Jackfruit chunks with coconut milk, curry paste, and ginger.
• 🟡Tastes like pulled chicken curry, but totally plant-based!

🍲 Jackfruit curry exotic recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups young Jackfruit chunks
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp curry paste
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

Instructions

1. Saute young Jackfruit chunks with curry paste and ginger.
2. Add coconut milk and simmer until the Jackfruit is tender.
3. Serve hot. Tastes like pulled chicken curry, but completely plant-based!

🛒 Shop Jackfruit varieties

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🍃 Watch this before cooking with black pepper!

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is famous for its berries, but the leaves are edible too, and in some regions they’re used just like betel leaves or bay leaves. Here are a few ways you can use them:

• Cooking wrap: Fresh leaves can be used to wrap fish, meat, or rice before steaming or grilling, similar to banana or betel leaves. They add a mild peppery aroma.
• Flavoring curries and soups: Whole leaves can be simmered in curries, broths, or stews to infuse a gentle peppery note, then removed before serving (like bay leaves).
• Herbal teas: Fresh or dried leaves can be steeped with ginger, turmeric, or lemongrass to make a warming tea traditionally used for digestion and colds.
• Chutneys and pastes: In South India, young pepper leaves are ground with coconut, tamarind, and chilies to make a tangy chutney.
• Medicinal uses: Folk remedies use the leaves for coughs, sore throats, and as a poultice for muscle aches.

🍛 Black pepper leaf chutney

• ♨️Lightly saute 6-8 pepper leaves in a little oil.
• ♨️Blend with 1/2 cup grated coconut, 2 green chilies, tamarind, salt, and cumin.
• ♨️Optional: top with a quick tempering of mustard seeds and curry leaves.
• ♨️Serve with rice or dosa.

☕️ Pepper leaf tea - when you feel under the weather

• Boil 2-3 leaves with a cup of water.
• Add a slice of ginger and a pinch of turmeric (optional).
• Simmer 5 minutes, strain, and sweeten with honey.

Both recipes give a warm, peppery aroma without being too spicy. Pepper leaves are milder than the berries, so you’ll get aroma more than heat.

🛒 Grow your own Black Pepper plant - spice and vegetable!

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ What is Pepper Made From? Black, white, green, and red...
• ▫️How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🍴 Mulberry yogurt swirl: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🔵Layer fresh mulberries with plain yogurt and a drizzle of honey.
• 🔵The berries bleed into the yogurt, creating a natural tie-dye effect.

Mulberry Yogurt Swirl

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh mulberries
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Layer fresh mulberries with plain yogurt in a glass.
2. Drizzle with honey on top.
3. Let the berries bleed into the yogurt, creating a natural tie-dye swirl.

🛒 Discover Mulberry varieties

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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