Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 3 Jul 2024

Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Red fruit Kampong Mauve

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Red fruit Kampong Mauve

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Green fruit Thai Lessard

Annona squamosa - Sugar apple, Green fruit Thai Lessard

🍏 Why everyone wants the Sugar Apple?



Annona squamosa - Sugar apple - is considered by many as the most delicious tropical fruit. We introduced the Annona trees earlier.
  • ✳️ Very small, compact tree, perfect for container or small yard, see photos from our Tropical Fruit Tree contest Winner.
  • ✳️ Starts fruiting within 3 year from seed!
  • ✳️ Easy to grow and undemanding
  • ✳️ The fruit is sheer deliciousness, pulp resembling custard.


🛒 Order Sugar Apple

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 7 Aug 2024

Does Red Passion flower produce edible fruit?

Passiflora coccinea - Red Passion Flower

💃 Does Red Passion flower produce edible fruit?

  • ♥️ Passiflora coccinea, or Red Passion Flower, is a spectacular, passion-red variety!
  • ♥️ It is tropical, evergreen vine from South America known for its stunning scarlet-red flowers and edible passion fruit. Yes, the fruit are edible, but they are very rarely seen.
  • ♥️ It thrives in full sun or part shade with fertile, well-drained soils and can grow up to 10-12 feet long.
  • ♥️ This easy-to-grow plant is perfect for trellises, walls, and containers. Minimal pruning is needed, and it blooms primarily in summer and fall.
  • ♥️ Attracting butterflies and hummingbirds 🐝


💻 Do you grow Passion vines? Share yours in comments👇

📚 From previous post: The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit.

🛒 Shop Passiflora plants

#Food_Forest #Butterfly_Plants

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 10 Aug 2024

How to make exotic Passion Fruit Champagne Slush

Passion Fruit Champagne Slush

Passion Fruit Champagne Slush

🍾 How to make exotic Passion Fruit Champagne Slush
  • Halve passion fruits crosswise and scoop out pulp with seeds into a bowl.
  • Sprinkle sugar over the pulp. Let sit at room temperature for an hour.
  • Stir in lime juice and boiling-hot water. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
  • Pour through a fine sieve, pressing on solids, then discard the seeds.
  • Freeze in ice cube tray.
  • Once frozen, add 1 cube per champagne flute, then slowly add the champagne.


Makes 6 cocktails:
  • ✔️ 10 passion fruits
  • ✔️ 1/2 cup sugar
  • ✔️ 1 tbsp lime juice
  • ✔️ 1/4 cup boiling hot water
  • ✔️ 1 chilled bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine


📚 From previous posts:
The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit

🛒 Grow your own Passion fruit

#Recipes #Food_Forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date: 29 May 2024

What can be better than a Cherry? Cherry juice!

Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra)

Barbados Cherry juice

Barbados Cherry juice

🍒 What can be better than a Cherry? Cherry juice!
  • 🍷 We discovered that Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra) we introduced earlier makes an excellent fresh-squeezed juice!
  • 🍷 Barbados Cherry is a vigorous grower that starts producing right away, and by the second year you have so much fruit that you don't know what to do with it - you can eat only so much fruit out of hand!
  • 🍷 Here is our Top Tropicals Signature Recipe -


🍒Barbados Cherry Juice:

1. Collect berries and rinse them with cold water
2. In a bowl, press the fruit with a potato musher, spoon or cup, and drain the fresh juice into a cup - put the juice aside.
3. Add a few spoons of sugar to the mush (optional), push-mush some more to extract more juice.
4. Add to the remaining mushed pulp some hot boiled water, stir, and let sit for a couple of hours.
5. Drain the liquid through a colander (you may add a little extra water in the process of extracting more tasty pulp out) and add to the fresh juice you made earlier. 6. Refrigerate for an hour, then serve in a clear glass to enjoy the color.

🎀 The Barbados Cherry juice made this way tastes very similar to Guava juice. It is very aromatic and tasty, and has a beautiful Baby-pink color!

❤️ Enjoy and stay healthy!

🍊 Remember Barbados Cherry fruit contains 65 times more of vitamin C than an orange
!

📚 Learn more about Barbados Cherry

🛒 Order Barbados Cherry Tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes

🏵 TopTropicals

Date: 23 Sep 2024

How good is Avocado Black Prince?

Black Prince Avocado

Black Prince Avocado

Black Prince Avocado fruit

Black Prince Avocado fruit

How good is Avocado Black Prince?

  • We obtained Black Prince Avocado variety last year and at first didn't know much about it. Until we tried the first fruit! The fruit was large, oval, green and slightly pebbly. We were not sure if it would taste like some green avocados - watery and less buttery?
  • The fruit turned black couple days after it was picked, ripened and softened. We were pleasantly surprised, Black Prince deserves its title!
  • The fruit pulp is thick, and has a rich, nutty flavor. The little trees grew this year vigorously and didn't show any bug or deficiency problems. Superior variety for a backyard grower! Giving it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • We have Black Prince Avocado in 3 gal pots, as well as in XX-Large size for local pick up - for those who want a large fruiting size tree, please contact our Garden Center to pre-order from our Growing Farm (B-Farm). It can be delivered and installed for you!


⁉️ Why grow your own Avocado tree? This is why:



Now we import 89% of the U.S. avocado from Mexico! How much of a difference we could make if we were all growing our own avocados? Support our own horticulture, help Avocado to become grown in the USA!

🛒 Shop Avocado trees

#Food_Forest

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals