Hi Sands
                I have pineapples in my garden.  I use side shoots for planting (removing the bottom leaflets and exposing the young roots). They fruit faster (in aprox  one and half year). Sometimes I pick a new variety of pineapple in the market,. If I plant the top shoot, the pineapple takes longer to fruit. That is my experience.
                                                                               mangaba
                                                                                  Recife. Brazil

Next time you have some guanabana,  put a cupfull of pulp in Osterizer. Add equal amount of water. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Filter using a sieve and you have a  nice thick soursop juice. You can also make icecream. Be carefull  to remove seeds before blending as they are toxic.
                                        mangaba

Whilst  visiting Panjim, the capital city of Goa, in India I came across vendors selling this fruit by name of matoma:
            https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=mattoma+joegoauk

  The fruit has a  cream coloured sweetish pulp.  Any help in identifying the botanical name would be appreciated.
                                                               mangaba

Quote from: rovha on July 29, 2013, 12:38:31 PM

Quote from: nullzero on July 29, 2013, 12:33:36 PM

Have you thought about spraying your plants with hot chili pepper water to discourage the dog from digging them out?

no I didn't i might try that next weekend. Do you have like, a recipe for it i don't want to overdose because of the dog.

A couple hot oily peppers in a blender with water. Should be enough for a 32 oz bottle. I would think that would be enough to deter the dog. All it would take is a few licks and he would be turned off from the heat of the chili peppers. As far as I know and read online, chili peppers are not toxic to dogs.

My two belgian shepherds love "hot" (not in temperature) Madras curry with meatballs. Are you sure dogs are sensitive to hot peppers (Bhut Jolokia and similars) ?  A command or shout I think would be more effective in the dog not messing with the plants

Howdy mangaba the Spondias dulcis comes in a number of forms including the dwarf, ultra dwarf and large standard. The large tree types has a number of varieties and some have larger or sweeter fruit than others.
I have some Spondias tuberosa,mombin and S.purpurea popping up now.I think there are a couple of undescribed ones in Latin America including one in the Lorenzi book.
             No doubt Lorenzi´s books lists many Spondias. I think we have two types of collectors of rare fruits :  One type collects fruits to challenge his taste buds , the other to challenge his colleague and show  all the varieties he has. In the latter, space is an important factor.

Hi Luis
            Cupuaçu home made ice cream  and juice are delicious. If you give me a choice , I would rate Mangaba no 01, Cupuaçu 02. Did you receive the mail I sent you ?
                                    um grande abraço
                                         mangaba 

Hi
    I believe you use lemon in making your jam because of its citric acid content and it acts as a preserver. You can make jam as per your recipe or you can make guava jelly. Appearance looks like apple jelly but taste is different. If interested how to make drop me a line at cperesc@oi.com.br.
                                                                          um abraço
                                                                        mangaba

Olá Ric 
 Boas Festas
              Ainda não recebi as sementes de jaboticaba que me ias mandar ? Esquecestes??
                                                       
                                     
                                                                              mangaba

                                                      Carlos Peres da Costa
                                                           Recife

I have some malay apple trees  (dark pink variety) in my garden. I miss the light rose variety. The fruits I get are not the size reported by Mike or Oscar.
            What I admire in the Malay Apple tree is their  beautifull conical shape it displays. Last rainy season , a strong wind broke a whole big branch of a tree. Within 10 mos the tree is back in its beautifull profile. My question what makes a malay apple tree adopt a nice "silhouette" whilst the cashew apple tree next to it grows all  auckward. Wind cannot be a factor if both these trees are next to one another. Any comments??
                                                        mangaba

I live in northeast of Brazil where sugar cane is planted and processed in sugar mills. The sugarcane variety for making sugar is different that for making  fresh juice . Fresh sugar cane juice is sold in stalls /shops along the roads and markets. Most of these juicers are powered by  small  diesel or eletric motors. The hand cranking juicer is more for small domestic use. No big maintenance needed except a good wash after use. As most of the hand cranking units are of cast iron, without daily use they pick up rust due to the wet tropical weather.
           Person interested in purchasing is advised to send an email  (can be in english) to supplier,  enquiring cost of equipment, packing and shipping charges.  Companies ship by Express Post (called SEDEX in Brazil), DHL  and Federal Express . Another option is to enquire with the supplier if they have a representative in the States and contact the representative.
           Remember that the cost of shipping  from Brazil , will be more than the cost of the  hand cranked juicer which is quite heavy as it is of cast iron.                               
                                                                       mangaba

This Dymo labelwriter can do metal labels.
    I have a Dymo labelwriter quite similar to the one pictured. It does not do a good job on strips of aluminium cans. The plastic embossing wheel does not emboss well on aluminium.
    I am looking for a metal embossing system or metal letter punch. Any suggestions on models and aprox price ?
                                                       
                                                          mangaba   

 Bilimbis are always sour. Never come across a  variety which is sweet.  Bilimbi juice as it is rich in oxalic acid is used to remove rust from your clothes. In some cultures it subtitutes lime juice/ vinegar in cooking. Any easy way to germinate bilimbi seeds ?