Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - red durian

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 25
1
Extraordinary!

2
I have an abandoned 4 acre fruit farm on a Dominican rainforest plateau with only jakfruit, cacao and borojo surviving the return to jungle.  Farm is surrounded by miles of forest on 3 sides and a 20 min walk through the forest to the road on the civilized side.  Coconuts, cinnamon, coffee, cacao and vanilla still grow in the jungle where other farms were abandoned 30 yrs earlier.

3
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Patented fruit variety's
« on: December 26, 2014, 07:45:44 AM »
I recently grafted 2 types of patented apples in Canada.  I had to pay an additional 15 cents per scion to the creator of the varieties and sign a contract that I would not sell or give away trees or scions.  I will be able to graft from my own trees, but for each tree I will have to pay 15 cents more to the patent holder to be legal.  If I lose a tree I can replace it, as the patent holder has on record the maximum number of trees (=scions purchased) of the patented varieties I have on my farm.  I pay nothing annually and can sell the fruits without paying anything. 
This was my first encounter with patented plants.  I've not encountered it in the tropics yet.  Hopefully it is just as cheap there.

4
Recipes / Re-textured chempedak
« on: August 25, 2013, 03:44:23 AM »


If you find chempedak too slimy, you can always dry it.  No special equipment is needed. 

5



Now 5 months old, these plants are in no hurry to produce flowers.  Leaves are enormous and covered with thorns.



6


I got these from Oscar a few months ago, but now need the money more than the books.









USD250 including shipping to anywhere in the world.

Please contact my wife if you would like to order or ask about the books.  deyuawork at gmail dot com  I don't have much free time at the moment so can't answer any questions or take the order.


7
Is it "lie-chee" or "lee-chee" (lychee)?  Is it true Chinese dialects pronounce it differently?  I like "lie-chee" because it doesn't sound like those nasty things that can cling to your body.  Then there's Hass avocado.  Those that knew Mr. Hass say his pronunciation rhymed with "ass."  (But he was not an ass!)  Others say it can be pronounced "hahss."
My guess is that since it is a SE Asian fruit and since SE Asian languages tend not to have the vowel sound in lie, it probably was originally pronounced lee  English is allowed to change, though, so if enough people say lie, then lie becomes an accepted pronunciation.

The funniest mispronunciation that I know of happens in Hawaii where a lot of people say tumeric instead of turmeric.

8
One of Belize's top collectors is Heinrich Friesen.  You can find him in Springfield which is about 2km off the road to the west,  8km south of Belmopan on the Hummingbird Highway.  Springfield is only conservative Mennonites, so everyone will know who you are looking for.  If you are traveling with a woman, put long sleeves and a long skirt on her or you might not get much love from the folks in Springfield.  There are no phones there, so you just gotta go looking.

9
When is the season for Durio Graveolens?
In Tenom and surroundings, in the last 2 seasons it started in Dec one yr and Jan the next.  For a month they are common and then become scarcer and scarcer for the next month.   Saw a few in Oct one year from a few off season flowers that set.

10
This second one looks exactly like a Poona Kheera cucumber.
Thanks for that name.  I think that is what it is. The first and second photo might both be Poona Kheera.  The pretty one may just be a more mature version of the first.  My seeds from the yellow one germinated, though, so it wasn't immature.

This link has info describing Poona Kheera.

http://www.anniesannuals.com/plt_lst/lists/general/lst.gen.asp?prodid=3507

11
Great link.  Just spent 2 hours going through it.  With bitter acorns and pounded tree bark to enjoy, it is a great motivator to remain in the tropics!

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Home made solar dehydrator .
« on: March 31, 2013, 04:23:01 AM »
It's clear Red , surprised that warm air pulled down is more effective than going up .

Thanks

I was surprised too.  It is because the system is not static with warm air.  Once in the cabinet, it starts as hot air and proceeds to becoming cool air, picking up moisture and becoming denser due to decreased temperature. 

Painting the chimney black at the top will make it work better too. 

There is probably some ratio that is ideal for the cross section of the air intake : chimney, but I don't know what it is.


This is some excess fruit I dried before my Sarawak trip.  I just put it under the awning in the day and under the ceiling fan at night.  Dried in 2 days with very little direct sunlight.


13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Ground Cover for Barren Lot
« on: March 30, 2013, 09:31:41 PM »


Woody Harrelson's football pitch (soccer field) is a no-mow Arachis pintoi.   [GOOD]




This football pitch, with no Forest Gump to manage it, is a habitat for venomous snakes  [BAD]

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Home made solar dehydrator .
« on: March 30, 2013, 09:22:12 PM »
The simple solar dehydrator is a sheet of roofing metal or plastic with food on it, drying in the sun, but I am assuming you want a dehydrator that protects the fruit from UV or insects or which can function without your input during rain showers.

About 15 yrs ago I made one.  It worked well in Nova Scotia in the summer for apples.  The inovative thing about the design was to have the air moving down while doing the drying.  This had been proven more effective in design trials.

So here is what you need think about when building it:

Fruit sits on a non-reactive screen in a frame.  If you already have framed fiberglass mosquito screens, you are on your way.
These frames sit one above the other in a drying cabinet.  (put door on front so you can slide screens into place)
Hot air enters cabinet at the top and exits at the bottom.  (chimney needed to pull cooled air out)

To get the hot air, build a long, shallow box, the same width as the cabinet, open at the top and 2 short sides.  Paint bottom and sides flat black and cover with a window or clear plastic.

Leaving out many details (like how to hinge doors or keep out insects), so you can see the basic idea without being overwhelmed with info.  Please let me know if the basic idea is still unclear.





15
Today, I bought another village cucumber.  I love the pattern on the skin.


16
This might be the Chinese winter melon which is not a Cucumis species but belongs an allied genus Benincasa. I would have to see the leaves and flowers to confirm. Winter melons, also called wax gourd, are traditionally used to make soups and sometimes candied or added to pastries.
Chinese winter melon is also sold here.  This is not a CWM.

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help putting names to Borneo Fruit
« on: March 30, 2013, 06:38:59 AM »
1. Artocarpus odoratissimus
2. Artocarpus integer
3. Durio zibethinus
4. Durio zibethinus
5. Nephelium mutabile
6. Baccaurea macrophylla
7. Rollinia mucosa

Look again, that ain't no regular pulasan.
The pulasan here is so variable that I would need to see some evidence that it is another species before dropping the pulasan label.

18
Tropical Fruit Buy, Sell & Trade / Re: Wanted: Vitex payos seeds
« on: March 29, 2013, 09:46:39 PM »
I'm interested in getting Vitex species as well, but Silverhill doesn't have them on their list.


19
Here in Malaysian Borneo, where a dwarf coconut is quite normal, there is a dwarf that people are very eager to buy. I am still trying to find out what is so special about it, though.  Possibly, people think it has a medicinal benefit.  It is small and tastes only average.

20
Here are the 2 eggplants side by side for contrast and comparison.   This morning my wife read on a blog from Sarawak that there is a belief that only indigenous Sarawakian tribespeople can grow the domestic sour eggplant.  Perhaps this simply means it is harvested before the seeds are mature.  I will try to get germination before I offer any for sale.



21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: WHAT IS THIS FRUIT?
« on: March 27, 2013, 06:20:56 AM »



I don't think the Dialium that is sour (left) is an unimproved member of the same species.  The one on the right is available all over Sarawak.  I don't know the range of the sour one.  We only saw it in Bintulu.

22
Now, 950km into the journey.  So far found 2 species of Dialium and 2 new-to-me Solanaceae; a big yellow one that you might call a yellow-orange eggplant.  It has been at markets for hundreds of km so far.  Today bought a small yellow Solanaceae that grows wild around Miri.  Its local name translates to little eggplant.  It is cooked with chicken.  Below is a photo of it.  I have only seen it once on the trip.


23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Help putting names to Borneo Fruit
« on: March 21, 2013, 07:21:00 PM »
1. Artocarpus odoratissimus
2. Artocarpus integer
3. Durio zibethinus
4. Durio zibethinus
5. Nephelium mutabile
6. Baccaurea macrophylla
7. Rollinia mucosa

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: New Borneo Seedlings
« on: March 21, 2013, 07:09:53 PM »
I wonder if there is another Baccaurea membranacea in a California collection.

25
This is the next fruit I am excited about at the Tenom Horticultural Park.  It had lots of flowers a few months ago and I calculated the fruit to be arriving in May or June I think.


Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 25