Wednesday, April 29, 2009

FRIENDS, FAMILY, and MANGOS


It really makes Ciejay happy to be able to share from her garden and fruit trees

It doesn't take long and you've got a box full ready to send off with friends


Here is our friend B-Bie , he wants some to take back to Bangkok for his friend's ,the ones on our trees are so sweet , maybe because I give them lots of water , and also they are organic , no spray, or bug killer or fertilizer at all.



By now I am a ole hand at picking the ripe one off the trees, a good eye, but if you get a green one you don't have to worry , they (the Thais ) love them too.


This little basket on the end of a long bamboo stick is great for picking fruit of the trees.

Mango season is a great time of the year, not only are they good to eat and make fruit roll-ups for the rest of the year, but it's also lots of fun sharing you harvest. And this year I am going to make mango jam , I made lots of different kinds in America, in fact, I won a blue ribbon one year at the county fair for my raspberry ,rubarb jam. And it is a good time for friends and family, to visit and spend a few days picking and eating fresh mangos( with sticky rice and sweet coconut milk) right off the trees, It don't get any better than that,and then sending home a box with them to share with their family and friends . One of the things that I love about the LOS is that when it comes to sharing and giving to friends and neighbors, it does'nt have to be something expensive and showy, it can just be a bowl of rice , a glass of cold ice water , coffee , or a small plastic bag of fresh mangos picked from your own backyard . Malcolm

If you want a jar of my famous (maybe) Mango Jam you'll just have to plan a trip to Whang Pho, just ask anyone you see where does the farang live and they will point you the way .



9 comments:

Martin in Bulgaria said...

Hi Maloolm and CieJay,
It's great you are preserving lots of that delicious fruit.

I love th ingenious contraption to net the mangoes, it must take a bit of muscle power to get to them though.

Great pictures alongside, they really do give all the details.

Take care

A True Friend to China said...

Yet another delightful photo essay, Malcolm. Much enjoyed as always.

I wish my mango trees in Surin were more than two meters high but this year they're producing their first fruit. Very rewarding.

What can you do in the Thai countryside if you can't create mangoes and blogs?

took one of those basket fruit pickers back to UK for my daughter's apple trees. Maybe I should import them.

Andrew Hicks

Mike said...

Malcolm a bountiful harvest. Now I have a question. How many times a year does the mango fruit?

I have been given lots of them lately but I do see them in the market at other times too.

Perhaps its a regional thing because there is a big difference in climate between North and South Thailand?

Malcolm and Ciejay Burgess said...

Martin, I do love mangos and any way I can do to preserve and save them for a rainy day I try to do , wish you were here to enjoy a mango smoothie , that Ciejay just made to cool me off.
Andrew , Two of the mango trees we planted are about 3 meters high and this is their first fruit season too, not a lot but enough to make us proud we planted them , the trees covered (I have two in our yard) were planted by the previous owners , but negelected, we have toped and pruned them and they really put off the fruit the last two seasons, I took a bakket oicker home last year and my son uses it to pick all the fruit around and the neighbor ask him all the time "where did you get that " I think would sell real good to the apple orchards . and at the flea markets on the week-in's there. thanks for the nice comment.
Mike , as far as my knowledge of mango's go and I ask Ciejay and one time a year is all , the reason we see them in the markets in Jan. and Feb, is of course because of the big difference in the weather around Thailand , but I love it, this way after the rainy ,and winter season the mangos start showing up at the markets (very expensive) but at least I can eat them a couple months before our's are ready.Thanks for stopping by and comments , thats what makes blogging so much fun for me . Malcolm

Hoo Don said...

The mango picking basket is a great idea and with the amount of mangoes you have you'll land up with forearms like Popeye. At our village house Wi has a few papaya trees that bear lots of fruit and provide hours of chatter as Wilai and her family munch their way through the eye watering salad. Hope you and Olive Oil have a good day.

lizzie said...

Great pics, I can almost taste the mangoes!

*lynne* said...

Yummy! Mangoes are one of my fave fruits!! Peeled and cubed, they form a major part of my fruit salad... if only I find the time and will to make a bowl of it - the fruit's been sitting in the fridge for a week!! :p

bangkokbuddy said...

you convinced me to eat a mango. hehehe.

AVCr8teur said...

I love mangoes and the mention of mango smoothies just hit the spot. The fruit picking tool looks almost like a tennis racket. :)