Often especially at weekends and holidays the small traders with produce from their farms come and sell their wares at the markets you can normally tell as they have small amounts of fruits and vegetables which are hand-tied in little bundles. Lucky for me as this is where I first discovered this little known fruit one which is difficult to find and either grow wild or comes from a tree in the garden…Back Yard fruits as they are known here…

The second time I came upon this little fruit and one that I always remember as it was also the day where we pulled into a small roadside eating place and clever clogs somehow managed to leave her fingers in the car door…a painful experience I do not wish to repeat…It was definitely an ouch moment…

It is a tiny fruit quite sour when not fully ripened but one which as I like sour fruit rather than sweet…I also think Lily takes after me as she loves sour and eats limes without batting an eyelid…

Known as Tak̄hbf̄rạ̀ng (ตะขบฝรั่ง), krop farang, ta kob farang, takhop farang here in Thailand it is also known as the Panama Berry, Capulin, Japanese cherry, Jam fruit, cotton candy berry, calabur tree….  in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen a tree with so many names around the world. A huge tree with wide sweeping branches both the birds and the bats love this little fruit.

It bears creamy-white flowers with prominent bright gold stamen. The flowers last for just one day. Fruits are prolific round and green, ripening to red. They actually resemble tiny pomegranates when they mature.

When fully ripe the flavour is said to be very sweet …Fruits fall easily when ripe and may be collected by laying a sheet under the tree and shaking the branches.

These make excellent tarts and jams or can be squeezed for a refreshing drink. An infusion of the leaves also makes a nice tea.

In Brazil, the trees are planted over river banks. The dropping fruits attract fish which are easily scooped up by fishermen lounging under the tree’s shade.

Used in traditional medicine to block pain…I am now thinking it must have been the leaves of this tree which I was given pounded into a pulp to ease my jellyfish sting which it certainly did and that was painful it is said to block your nerves from sensing pain.

Although it perpetually flowers and fruits all year round I am guessing the fruit is slightly sweeter this time of year as it seems the only time I see it on the market or street stalls… it has a high vitamin C content…

So far I haven’t come across a large enough quantity to make jam or tea …as the tree grows too big for my garden it would do well down on the farm which means it is on my shopping list it is also a tree which loves to spread its branches so an ideal tree for shade on a hot day…

Thank you for dropping in today…I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and stay safe…Carol x