Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 1 Sep 2024

When you are in the mood for something special - you need a Loquat Liquor

When you are in the mood for something special - you need a Loquat Liquor
When you are in the mood for something special - you need a Loquat Liquor. This is what you do with so many loquat fruit.

🍑 Loquat tree is an excellent choice for any garden, as it is quite cold hardy, drought-, poor soil- and salt tolerant. The delicious fruit look and taste similar to apricots, but there is only one problem: there are too many of them! Make Loquat the perfect fruit for an easy home winery...

🍹 Loquat Liquor recipe

Wash loquat fruit and slit in 4-5 places. You may leave seeds in for Apricot-nutty flavor similar to Amaretto. Combine fruit with vodka and sugar in a wide mouth jar and cover. Stir fruit once a day until sugar is dissolved. Then stir once a week for 4 weeks. Drain liquid and strain through fine cheesecloth. Enjoy!

You can dispose the used fruit but we usually give it a second life: add water, bring to boil, let sit, chill, and it will make another (almost non-alcoholic) drink!

  • ✔️ 3 quarts of loquat fruit
  • ✔️ 1 quart vodka
  • ✔️ 3 cups sugar
  • ✔️ vanilla to taste (optional)


📚 From previous posts:
🎥 YouTube video about Loquat
📁 Overlooked fruit: tasty Loquat recipes (PDF)

🛒 Shop Loquat varieties

#Recipes #Food_Forest #Loquat

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Date: 1 Feb 2025

Ten best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

🏆 Ten best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes.
# 9: Jackfruit Tree.
  • 🍐 Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) is a giant, eye-catching fruit tree and is the largest fruit grown on a tree, making it a showstopper in your fruit tree collection. Everybody wants to grow this giant Nature's Wonder - the biggest fruit in the world grown on a tree!
  • 🍐 Nutrient-Packed: Highly nutritious, Jackfruit is often used as a meat substitute in South Asian cuisine, as well as in curries and chutneys. Dehydrated jackfruit chips are a delicious snack.
  • 🍐 Fast-Growing and Ornamental: Jackfruit trees are fast-growing with large waxy leaves and ornamental value. They can be maintained at a compact height of 7-8 feet since the fruit grows at the base of the trunk. Keeping it short also makes it easier to protect the tree from cold if needed.
  • 🍐 Cold Tolerant: While cool temperatures can reduce fruit production, jackfruit trees are relatively hardy and can survive light frost. Established trees are more cold-hardy than young seedlings.
  • 🍐 Fast Fruiting: Jackfruit trees start producing fruit within 3-4 years from seed. Varieties come true to seed, so grafting is unnecessary, however, can be done when you need a particular variety.


📚 Learn more from previous posts:



🛒 Shop Jackfruit varieties

#Food_Forest #Jackfruit

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 28 Feb 2025

How Avocado trees set fruit

Flowering Avocado tree

👍 How Avocado trees set fruit

  • Similar to Mango trees we mentioned earlier, Avocado trees start flowering from late Winter to Spring, depending on variety. During this time, avocado trees produce small, yellow-green flowers in clusters, and the pollination process is crucial for fruit set. Avocados have both male and female flower parts, but they open at different times, requiring cross-pollination between flowers for successful fruit production. During flowering, avocado trees need warm temperatures and plenty of sunlight to encourage pollination.
  • There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.


📚 For more information on Avocado varieties, including fruit color and size, tree habit, season, and much more - check out our interactive Avocado Variety Guide. It will helps to choose the right variety for you. With its interactive tool, you can sort cultivars by fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, crop season, flower type A or B, tree habit and more.

🎥
This tiny avocado tree is covered with hundreds of flowers soon to become lots of fruit

🛍 Shop Avocado Varieties

#Avocado #Food_forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 26 Feb 2025

When does Sapodilla start fruiting and what is the best variety

Sapodilla or Brown Sugar fruit, fruiting trees

🔥 When does Sapodilla start fruiting and what is the best variety

  • Sapodilla or Brown Sugar fruit, is one of the most favorite tropical fruit trees. It produces juicy, brown-sugar-sweet fruit. The tree is compact, easy in cultivation and starts producing in small size.
  • Grafted and air-layered trees start fruiting right away.
  • Hasya - extra large, football-shaped fruit native to Mexico where it is the number one commercial cultivar grown. The fruit has a reddish hue throughout the pulp. The tree is a large upright grower, and it is a prolific producer.
  • Ripens from November to June.
  • Makok - the best producer, the fruit is long, pointed, and one of the best tasting in the world. It is native to Thailand. The tree is a small compact grower, perfect for limited spaces.
  • Ripens from May to November.
  • Molix is a football shaped large fruit native to Mexico. Similar to Hasya, darker brown, the tree has curly leaves. The pulp is exceptionally sweet with a fine pear texture.
  • Ripens from February to May.
  • Oxkutzcab (or Ox) - "gigantic sapodilla" - is originally from Oxkutzcab (Yucatan). Extremely large (up to 28 oz), roundish fruit with speckled, light-colored skin. Heavily productive tree.
  • Ripens from May to September.
  • Silas Woods is an outstanding variety with dwarf growth habit and adapts well to a container. Highly productive, producing year round, providing bright light and warmth. The branches often require support as they get very heavy loaded with fruits. The best variety for small yards and container culture.
  • Thai Browny that we mentioned in earlier post, was brought by TopTropicals from Thailand in 2005. Fruit is oval, medium size, and very sweet. The tree is a heavy producer.


🛍 Shop Sapodilla varieties

#Food_Forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 5 May 2025

Is the Sausage Tree from Africa edible?

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

Sausage Tree - Kigelia pinnata, fruit

🌭 Is the Sausage Tree from Africa edible?



Despite the tempting name, the sausages that grow on the Sausage Tree don't actually taste like the sausages you're thinking of, but... in a nutshell, they are still edible! Let's dive into the details...
  • 🌭The Sausage Tree (Kigelia pinnata, also known as Kigelia africana) is a striking tropical tree native to sub-Saharan Africa, renowned for its large, sausage-shaped fruits that can grow up to 2 feet long and weigh up to 15 pounds.
  • 🌭While the Sausage Tree's fruit is technically edible, it is toxic when raw. To safely consume the fruit, it must undergo specific processing methods:

  • Drying: The fruit is dried thoroughly to reduce toxicity.
    Roasting or Baking: These methods help neutralize harmful compounds.
    Fermentation: In some cultures, the fruit is fermented, often with sugarcane juice or honey, to create traditional beverages like muratina in Kenya.
  • 🌭Even with these preparations, caution is advised. It's essential to consult with local experts or traditional practitioners before attempting to consume Sausage Tree fruit.
  • 🌭Various parts of the tree, including the fruit, bark, and leaves, have been used to treat ailments such as ulcers, skin infections.
  • 🌭In some African cultures, the fruit is associated with fertility and is used in rituals. The tree's presence is often considered auspicious.
  • 🌭Although the Sausage Tree might not be winning any awards for your dinner table, it's definitely a showstopper in the yard. Think of it as the ultimate conversation starter and the weirdest, most fascinating collectible you'll ever grow!


🛒 Grab your Sausage Tree now - impress your guests!

📚 Learn more about Sausage Tree:


Meet the tree everyone's talking about: sausages growing on a tree!

#Nature_Wonders #Trees #Discover

🏵 TopTropicals