Fall Week 3 - Fruit Share Newsletter

The September rains are helping mature a variety of tasty fruits!

The mangoes today are picked ready but are still green - use them in a savory slaw or  wait 5-10 days for these tasty fruits to ripen. 

Everyone this week is receiving coconuts - don't be alarmed by the hard exterior, they are easier to open than you might think! These coconuts have delicious, nutritious water inside, and young meat called "jelly". Everyone at the farm has their favorite way to open coconuts - Jim likes using a cordless drill, for efficient and effective access to the tasty coconut water. Nate likes practicing his bush skills by using a sharp machete to chop off one end until the coconut breaks open. Tell us your preferred method!

Keffir limes can be used like regular limes, and the leaf of this tree can be used like a bay leaf in soups, stews and curries - add one or two leaves near the start of the recipe, then remove it towards the end before serving.

Wait until the avocadoes just begin to soften (about 3-5 days) before cutting open.

Genips, similar in taste and related to lychee, are the fruits of Melicoccus bijugatus. They are known by various names throughout the Caribbean - guinep, ginnip, and kenep in Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Belize, the Bahamas and the U.S. Virgin Islands; guaya, gnep, guinep, and skinnip in Jamaica and St. Kitts; talpa jocote, canepa and quenepa in Puerto Rico; and Spanish Lime, limocillo, genepa and xenepa in the Dominican Republic. 

To eat these, just crack open the protective outer shell, then suck the tasy pulp off of the large central seed. The seeds are often discarded, but they can actually be roasted or boiled then eaten like chestnuts. Check out this old newspaper article from the USVI on the nutritional content of genip seeds and some ideas on preparation

Enjoy the harvest,

Claudia & the crew at Ridge to Reef Farm

This Week's Harvest

Keffir Lime - Limes and "Curry Leaf"

Mangoes

Coconuts

Avocadoes

Genips

Papaya