Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🍴 Carambola sparkle salad: quick and fun exotic recipes

• 🟡Slice starfruit into star shapes and toss with cucumber, mint, and a splash of lime.
• 🟡A crunchy, refreshing mix that looks as good as it tastes.

🛒 Explore Carambola varieties

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🍴 Lalot beef wraps: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🔵Mix ground beef with garlic, shallots, and fish sauce.
• 🔵Wrap spoonfuls in Lalot leaves (Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese pepper)
• 🔵Pan-sear or grill, until the leaves are crisp
• 🔵Serve with rice or noodles

🛒 Grow Lalot Papper for tasty, peppery recipes

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Zero Sugar fruit: forget lemonade - new perfect summer drink discovered!

• 🍋 Costa Rican Guava, or Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum) is the boldest fruit you can grow for refreshing drinks. Its flavor is sharp, tangy, and unforgettable - perfect for anyone who loves acidic fruit. Cas Guava has sugar at all, unless you decide to add some.
• 🍋 The trees are super prolific - even young ones fruit heavily, and we make gallons of juice at Top Tropicals.
• 🍋 The best part? You can freeze the fruit or boil it into a concentrate with a bit of sugar. That drink lasts in the fridge for months without going bad, thanks to Cas Guava’s natural antibacterial punch.
• 🍋 Cas Guava juice is Costa Rica’s traditional Agua de Cas - tart, refreshing, and perfect for summer heat. And if you save enough, you’ll still be sipping it through the winter.

♨️ Agua de Cas Quick Recipe
We boiled this fruit and the drink lasted for months!

• ▫️Boil halved fruits in water with sugar to taste
• ▫️Simmer 5-10 minutes, let sit, then mash the softened fruit to release all the flavor
• ▫️Strain through a colander, bottle, and refrigerate - just dilute with water when serving

✔️ Why choose Cas Guava?

• • Packed with vitamin C - four times more than lemons - for a powerful immune boost.
• • Rich in antioxidants to combat stress and inflammation.
• • Hardy and low-maintenance, thriving in poor soils and resisting pests.

🛒 Grow your own Cas Guava

📚 Learn more:

• • What is the best fruit for summer drinks and wine?
• •  What fruit is more sour and has more vitamin C than a lemon
• •  What fruit can you drink? Costa Rican Cas is the Guava for Drinking
• •  Costa Rican Guava

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Guava

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🍴 Guava grilled cheese: quick and fun exotic recipes

• 🔴Spread fresh mashed guava (or guava paste) between slices of bread with cheese
• 🔴Grill until golden.
• 🔴Sweet and savory twist on a classic sandwich!

🛒 Explore Guava varieties

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Guava

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🍴 Avocado pineapple salsa: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🟢Dice avocado, pineapple, and red onion.
• 🟢Toss with lime juice and cilantro.
• 🟢Sweet, creamy, tangy, and perfect on fish or just with chips.

🛒 For home-grown ingredients you will need:
Home grown Avocado
Home grown Pineapple

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Avocado

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🍴 Papaya lime smoothie: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 
  🟢Blend ripe papaya with fresh lime juice, a splash of coconut water, and ice.
• 🟢Super refreshing and naturally creamy, no dairy needed.

🛒 Pick a perfect Papaya variety for your yard

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Papaya

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🍴 Katuk egg stir-fry: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 
  🟢Saute chopped Katuk leaves (Sauropus androgynus) with garlic and a touch of soy sauce
• 🟢Shen scramble in eggs.
• 🟢Fast, simple, healthy, and full of flavor!

🛒 Add healthy Katuk to your perennial vegetable garden

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🍴 Mango chili salt bites: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🟡Slice ripe mango into wedges.
• 🟡Sprinkle lightly with chili powder, salt, and a squeeze of lime.
• 🟡Sweet, spicy, salty, tangy - all in one bite!

🛒 Explore Mango varieties

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Mango

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🍴 Avocado cacao mousse: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

• 🟢Blend ripe avocado with cocoa powder, honey, and a splash of vanilla.
• 🟢Chill and serve like chocolate pudding.
• 🟢Nobody will guess the secret ingredient!
• 🟢Healthy and tasty!

🛒 For all-home-grown ingredients you will need:
Avocado tree fruit
Chocolate tree fruit
Vanilla Orchid Beans

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Avocado

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🍒 Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge

• 🍒 Most people think Cocoplum is just a boring hedge plant: Bahamas Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco). Thick, green, easy to trim - great for privacy. But hidden in all that greenery? Super-sweet plum-like fruit that are edible and very tasty! They look like small plums and come in pink, purple, or white when ripe.
• 🍒 Cocoplum is native to Florida and has been quietly feeding people for generations, long before it became a landscaping go-to. The fruit is mild, a little sweet, and great for snacking or making into jam.
• 🍒 Cocoplum isn't just a tasty surprise - it comes with some health perks too:

▫️Rich in antioxidants - especially anthocyanins, which give the purple fruit its color and help fight free radicals in the body.

• ▫️Good source of fiber - helps with digestion and keeping you full.
• ▫️Contains vitamin C - supports your immune system and skin health.
• ▫️Low in calories - great for snacking without guilt.
• ▫️So when you bite into a Cocoplum, you're not just tasting Florida - you're getting a little wellness boost too.

🍯 Quick Cocoplum Jam:

• 🔸2 cups ripe Cocoplums
• 🔸1 cup sugar
• 🔸1 cup water*
• 🔸1 tbsp lemon juice
• 🔸Mash it all up, cook on low 20-30 minutes until thick. Cool and enjoy!

*To make a delicious summer drink, add 10 cups of water and just get to boil. Let sit 2 hrs, mash up, drain fruit and cool to enjoy.

So next time you walk by a Cocoplum hedge, check for fruit. There might be a free snack waiting for you!

🛒 Get your edible hedge Cocoplum: privacy with perks

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