Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 23 Feb 2026

Macadamia nut oven crisp

Golden macadamia-crusted fish fillet

Golden macadamia-crusted fish fillet

Macadamia integrifolia - Macadamia nuts and leaves on a tree

Macadamia integrifolia - Macadamia nuts and leaves on a tree

🍴 Macadamia nut oven crisp: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Macadamia Nut Oven Crisp

Ingredients

  • 1 fish fillet (cod, tilapia, or snapper)
  • 1/3 cup crushed macadamia nuts
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Spread a thin layer of mustard over the fish fillet.
  3. Press crushed macadamia nuts onto the top of the fillet.
  4. Drizzle lightly with olive oil.
  5. Bake until golden and crisp, about 12–15 minutes.


🌿About the plant:
Macadamia is an Australian rainforest tree that gives us one of the richest, creamiest nuts on earth. The shell is famously hard - you really earn that buttery crunch.

🏡 In the garden:


Best in warm climates, zones 9-11, cold hardy to light freeze. Needs full sun, good drainage, and patience - seedlings can take several years to start producing (grafted or air-layered trees start flowering right away). Once established, they are long-lived and productive.

🛒 Plant a hardy Macadamia tree to always have your nuts

📚 Learn more:


🎥 Growing Macadamia trees

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Date: 15 Feb 2026

Tamarind date dipping sauce, quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Tamarind date dipping sauce

Tamarind date dipping sauce

Tamarind - Tamarindus indica - flowers

Tamarind - Tamarindus indica - flowers

🍴 Tamarind date dipping sauce: quick-n-fun exotic recipes



Tamarind Date Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

  • 3 soft dates
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2–3 tablespoons warm water

Instructions

  1. Soak the dates briefly in warm water if they are firm.
  2. Add the dates, tamarind pulp, and salt to a blender.
  3. Blend until smooth.
  4. Add warm water gradually until the sauce reaches dipping consistency.
  5. Serve with snacks, roasted vegetables, or grilled foods.


🌿 About the plant:


When combined with dates, tamarind transforms into a sweet-sour chutney common in Indian street food.

🏡 In the garden:


Tamarind (Tamarindus indica) flowering occurs in warm months with small yellowish blooms. Pollination leads to the familiar curved pods.

🛒 Add Tamarind tree to your garden

📚 Learn more:


Tamarindus indica in Plant Encyclopedia

#Food_Forest #Recipes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 13 Mar 2026

Tamarind shrimp stir-fry: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Tamarind shrimp stir-fry in skillet

Tamarind shrimp stir-fry in skillet

🍴 Tamarind shrimp stir-fry: quick-n-fun exotic recipes



Tamarind Shrimp Stir-Fry

Ingredients

  • 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp water (to loosen tamarind pulp if needed)
  • Optional: sliced green onions or chili flakes for garnish

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl mix tamarind pulp, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, and water until a smooth sauce forms.
  2. Heat oil in a very hot skillet or wok.
  3. Add shrimp and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes until they begin turning pink.
  4. Pour the tamarind sauce into the skillet and toss shrimp to coat evenly.
  5. Cook about 1 more minute until the sauce becomes glossy and slightly thick.
  6. Serve immediately. Garnish with green onions or chili flakes if desired.

🌿 About the plant:


The pulp of tamarind can be used fresh from the pod, pressed into blocks, or sold as concentrate. Its acidity works like citrus but with more complexity - slightly fruity, slightly caramel-like.

🏡 In the garden:


Tamarind trees - Tamarindus indica - are drought-tolerant once established and surprisingly hardy in brief cool snaps. They develop a beautiful spreading canopy and fine, fern-like leaves that close at night.

🛒 Plant a Tamarind tree

📚 Learn more:


Tamarindus indica in Plant Encyclopedia

#Food_Forest #Recipes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 26 May 2021

Jasmine for a fence

In the photo: Jasmine Maid of Orleans

Q:We are looking for a jasmine variety without thorns that we can grow on a wire fence...

A: All true jasmines (Jasminum spp.) are thornless. So you are safe to get anyone you like. The most vigorous, fast growing jasmines that grow into a vine, are:
Jasminum dichotomum
Jasminum pubescens
Jasminum nitidum
Jasminum officinale
Jasminum sambac Maid of Orleans - the most fragrant!

In the photos: Jasminum nitidum (Star Jasmine)

Date: 30 Aug 2020

Healthy Plant Food

Q&A from Mr Booster

How to make Mango tree fruit

Q: Hello, I have a five-year-old Lemon Meringue tree that has only given me fruit one year. It put out about 50 mangoes and has done nothing for the past three years. Do you recommend any vitamins or any of the nutrients that you guys sell to help with this for next season?

A: We've had very similar problem with our Nam Doc Mai Mango tree, fruited once and no more next year. Usually the reason is nutrients deficiency, here in Florida we have poor soils. We applied Mango-Tango tree booster and it started flowering within a couple of weeks.
Generally, Mango flowering season is over by now, however, we recommend to feed the tree starting now, during active growth season. This way it will get better established before winter and also will store away all elements necessary for triggering flowering and fruiting. So by late Fall through Winter it will be ready to flower.
Along with the fertilizer, additional micro-element supplements will be beneficial. For improving fruit quality and increasing number of flowers, we also recommend to use SUNSHINE-Honey - sugar booster

SUNSHINE Mango Tango - Mango Tree Booster, for healthy mango trees and profuse fruit production.

SUNSHINE Honey - a natural supplements that makes fruit sweeter, and increases fruit quantity and quality.