Benjamin Henion

Here is what I was able to pick from the back yard before work today. On top is a honey tangerine. Left is a very nice mango. The spiny green one on the right is soursop . Right in front is a very much unripened orange (picked by accident). And perhaps the most interesting one is the small yellowish caramay in the front left. This little one is apparently very sour, and great for pickling (according to my Filipino friends). I look forward to collecting them and pickling a jar or two.

I always like the roadside stands in Maui with fresh flowers, on one side of the road and the "Mango man" on the other. Its great to have all these fresh items so readily available. Today however, I no longer need to purchase mangos . We have a huge, beautiful mango tree in the yard that produces an abundant amount of fruit. I picked a really nice one this morning for my wife and little boy to enjoy. It seems that there are always a couple ripe. They haven't seemed to ripen so fast that you can't eat them, but there is almost always one or two to pick. It is really nice to have right out back.

Here's one that took a little investigating to figure out for sure what I had. The home owners that we currently rent from thought this was prickly pear. Well, that is incorrect. Although prickly pear does grow on Maui, it is a cactus, not a fruit from a tree. Anyway. What we have here is a Soursop . Although trying the soursop is on today's agenda, I have yet to try this interesting fruit. After some Internet investigating, I found that its flavor is described as a combination of strawberry and pineapple with sour citrus notes contrasting with an underlying creamy flavor reminiscent of coconut or banana. Either way, many of the people familiar with the soursop say it makes great drink, specifically smoothies. Others say it is really good alone. I figure I will try both. I am very excited about this one.

In the left photo is a new favorite of mine, the honey tangerine. These sweet citrussy fruit are perfect for a Hawaiian summer day. The right photo is your standard lime tree, which can produce a mean margarita mix when the pickens are good. Not pictured, the back yard also has the other new favorite, the calamansi lime. They are quite sour, have an orange flesh, and are much smaller than traditional limes. I really enjoy them in an ice tea or cold Corona. Also, available soon, another tree will have ripe Hawaiian oranges. I have not yet figured out which variety of orange it is, but they are common on Maui.

Looking out my kitchen, there are about 10 Apple Banana trees that seem to have a perfect harvesting rotation going. There is one tree ready to be picked about every 2 weeks. Each bunch produces several apple bananas to keep the family full. Although they are terrific by themselves, we have enjoyed them in other applications such as smoothies, and plan to use them for banana-macadamia nut bread soon.

Avocado trees are pretty common here in Hawaii. This little guy has not yet produced any avocados, but it will be worth the wait. In the mean time, many neighbors are more than willing to share avocados from their over productive, much larger avocado trees. In fact, some of the trees are producing avocados that reach up to 10" in length. Holy Guacamole !!! There is something comforting about being able to make enough guacamole from 1 avocado to feed a football team.