Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 12 Jan 2026

Cherry of the Rio Grande quick compote: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Cherry of the Rio Grande quick compote over pancakes

Cherry of the Rio Grande quick compote over pancakes

Eugenia aggregata - Cherry of the Rio Grande fruit

Eugenia aggregata - Cherry of the Rio Grande fruit

🍴 Cherry of the Rio Grande Quick Compote

This fast cherry compote is made from Cherry of the Rio Grande (Eugenia aggregata). It is tart, rich, and perfect over pancakes, waffles, toast, or warm bread.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Cherry of the Rio Grande fruit, pitted
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons water

Instructions

  1. Place cherries and water in a small saucepan.
  2. Simmer over medium heat until the cherries soften and release juice.
  3. Mash lightly with a spoon for a chunky texture.
  4. Spoon warm compote over pancakes or bread and serve immediately.

🛒 Plant Cherry of the Rio Grande

📚 Learn more:

Plant Facts

Eugenia involucrata, Eugenia aggregata
Cherry of the Rio Grande, Cere Jodo Rio Grande
USDA Zone: 9-11
Small tree 10-20 ftSemi-shadeFull sunModerate waterRegular waterEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Date: 20 Feb 2026

Top Ten Fruit Tree Winners of Florida 2026 Record Freeze

Avocado tree with fruit

Avocado tree with fruit

Eugenia

Eugenia

Feijoa - Pineapple Guava

Feijoa - Pineapple Guava

Jaboticaba tree

Jaboticaba tree

Loquat tree

Loquat tree

Macadamia Nut tree

Macadamia Nut tree

Prunus sp - Peach

Prunus sp - Peach

Persimmon tree

Persimmon tree

Pomegranate tree with fruit

Pomegranate tree with fruit

Psidium littorale - Cattley Guava tree with fruit

Psidium littorale - Cattley Guava tree with fruit

🏆 Top Ten Fruit Tree Winners of Florida 2026 Record Freeze



These fruit trees had no damage after 3 nights of hard freeze (25F) with NO PROTECTION:

🛒 Explore cold tolerant tropical plants and cold hardy Avocados

📚 Learn more:


#Discover #How_to #Food_Forest

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Date: 9 Mar 2026

Golden canistel cream: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Golden canistel cream

Golden canistel cream

Pouteria campechiana - Canistel, Eggfruit

Pouteria campechiana - Canistel, Eggfruit

🍴 Golden canistel cream: quick-n-fun exotic recipes


Golden Canistel Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe canistel (eggfruit)
  • 2 to 3 tbsp milk
  • 1 to 2 tsp honey

Instructions

  1. Scoop the ripe canistel flesh into a bowl.
  2. Add milk and honey.
  3. Mash until smooth and creamy.
  4. Warm gently in a small pan if desired.
  5. Serve warm like a thick tropical porridge.

🌿 About the plant:


Also called Eggfruit, canistel has bright yellow flesh that is dense and slightly dry when ripe.

🏡 In the garden:


Grows well in warm climates with good drainage. Compact growth makes it suitable for small yards.

🛒 Plant Canistel Egg Fruit tree - grows well in container too

📚 Learn more:

Plant Facts

Pouteria campechiana
Canistel, Eggfruit, Chesa
USDA Zone: 9-11
Large tree taller than 20 ftSmall tree 10-20 ftFull sunRegular waterEdible plant

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Date: 27 Jan 2026

Jackfruit golden hash: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Jackfruit golden hash in frying pan

Jackfruit golden hash in frying pan

Jackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus) fruit

Jackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus) fruit

🍴 Jackfruit golden hash: quick-n-fun exotic recipes



Jackfruit Golden Hash

Ingredients

  • 1 cup ripe jackfruit pods, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter
  • 1 pinch salt
  • Fresh lime juice (optional)

Instructions

  1. Chop ripe jackfruit pods into small pieces.
  2. Heat coconut oil or butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
  3. Add the chopped jackfruit and pan-sear until the edges begin to caramelize.
  4. Toss with a tiny pinch of salt.
  5. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice and serve warm.


🌿 About the plant:


Jackfruit is the world’s largest tree-borne fruit, native to South and Southeast Asia. When ripe, its golden pods are sweet, fragrant, and naturally caramelize when cooked. It has been a staple food for centuries, used both ripe and unripe in desserts and savory dishes.

🌱 In the garden:


Jackfruit is a fast-growing tropical tree that thrives in warm climates with full sun and good drainage. It loves regular water and fertile soil, it's a heavy feeder. Best suited for USDA zones 9b-11, it can be grown in large containers when young and makes a bold, architectural fruit tree in the landscape. The fruit forms at the base of the tree, so trimming it under 7-8 ft makes it easier for cold protection.

🛒 Plant your own Jackfruit tree

📚 Learn more:

Plant Facts

Artocarpus heterophyllus, Artocarpus integrifolius
Jackfruit, Jakfruit, Langka, Nangka, Jaca
USDA Zone: 9-11
Large tree taller than 20 ftFull sunRegular waterEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short time


🎥 We Cut Open a 37 lb Jackfruit - You Won't Believe What's Inside!

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Date: 10 Mar 2016

Do-It-Yourself Support Structure for Dragon Fruit

This interesting do-it yourself project was sent to us by our customer from South Florida. Many tropical gardeners want to grow fascinating Dragon Fruit, and their most common question is - what kind of support I should use for this amazing fruiting cactus? We hope you find this information very useful. Happy Gardening!

Dragon fruit is a terrestrial/epiphytic fruit baring cactus, which may grow fleshy stems up to 30 ft high, given sturdy support. However, downward hanging or horizontal branches stimulate production of flowers at the tips of the branches. Commercial groves in different parts of the world use different method to achieve this. The traditional Vietnamese way is to train the plant into a “fountain”, which consists of a vertical central trunk about 8ft tall and a horizontal structure, such as a wagon wheel on top of it to support the horizontal branches (see picture on the right).

This picture served as my inspiration to build my own structure. I used five 4”x4” 10ft wood beams as the trunk, shaped as a cross. I attached the beams to each other with 10” long screws.

I dug a 2 ft deep 12”x12” hole in the ground and positioned the trunk inside, such that about 8ft are above ground. I covered it with several layers of burlap top to bottom.

The horizontal structure on top is made of four 4ft long 2”x2” wood beams and two 12”x12” wood plates to hold them together. I attached this structure to the top of the trunk.

I used old watering pipe to form two rings around the trunk to support the branches. Here is the result!... See step-by-step full size pictures and the rest of the article...

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