Our fruit trees have been relatively well behaved this year here at Struan Farm, delivering in sequence rather than all at once. I'm meant to tell you that I planned it all that way, that this was based on careful research, picking varieties timed to ripen at certain points in the season. But I won't pull your leg. This is purely thanks to the grace and goodwill of Mother Nature.
Now that peaches, quince and apples are done (except for Monty), it's time for feijoas. The fruit is related to guava, and a New Zealand thing. I'd never seen a feijoa before I travelled to and lived in NZ. And it's taken me years and years to like them. They have a rather musty, unique flavour. People tend to enjoy them or not. It turns out that different cultivars have somewhat different flavours. I planted a "Kaiteri" down by the back gate at the Homestead and found myself actually liking the fruit. They are large but don't taste quite as musty. They are meant to be the feijoa for people who don't like feijoas, although I hadn't known that when I bought the tree.
Feijoas are ripe when they fall to the ground, and I've just found the first one with more to come. We're a bit later in Piopio that areas to the north, but that's fine since it gets us through the other fruit in the orchard first. Right now we're enjoying feijoas and figs, both rather slowly.
The fruit can be eaten fresh from the shell, bottled/frozen, used in baking, or made into jams and jelly. We eat them fresh since these are still relatively small trees, so not huge numbers just yet.
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