Author Topic: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth  (Read 7292 times)

luc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2448
    • Mexico , Puerto Vallarta , Jalisco . 20 degr. North
    • View Profile
Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« on: October 03, 2012, 08:07:53 PM »


Luc Vleeracker
Puerto Vallarta
Mexico , Pacific coast.
20 degrees north

fruitlovers

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15883
  • www.fruitlovers.com
    • USA, Big Island, East Hawaii, Zone 13a
    • View Profile
    • Fruit Lover's Nursery
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2012, 10:49:21 PM »
Nice booklet they put out. But i must confess i'm very skeptical (cynical?) of their fruit assesments. For example, they claim in that booklet that the Ndea (Sarcocephalus xanthoxylon) is one of the best fruits they found in Africa. Everybody that's grown Ndea has told me it was very low quality, one person said it "tastes like cardboard". I haven't eaten it myself but don't know anybody that grew it that had anything positive to say about it. So i'm wondering about their other fruit assesments?
Oscar

luc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2448
    • Mexico , Puerto Vallarta , Jalisco . 20 degr. North
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2012, 10:25:30 AM »
Nice booklet they put out. But i must confess i'm very skeptical (cynical?) of their fruit assesments. For example, they claim in that booklet that the Ndea (Sarcocephalus xanthoxylon) is one of the best fruits they found in Africa. Everybody that's grown Ndea has told me it was very low quality, one person said it "tastes like cardboard". I haven't eaten it myself but don't know anybody that grew it that had anything positive to say about it. So i'm wondering about their other fruit assesments?

I had Ndea seeds 3 times , from Dan , Felipe in PR and Jim in Equador , none germinated ....
Luc Vleeracker
Puerto Vallarta
Mexico , Pacific coast.
20 degrees north

red durian

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 679
    • Malaysia, Sabah, Tawau
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2012, 09:52:58 AM »

[/quote]

I had Ndea seeds 3 times , from Dan , Felipe in PR and Jim in Equador , none germinated ....
[/quote]

My ndea seeds germinated well in Belize and then they all mysteriously died about a month later.

tabbydan

  • Washington DC area
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 452
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2012, 09:59:47 AM »



I love that book!  I've had many a drooling daydream looking over its pages.
I take their fruit assessments at face value.  I don't see why they would be inclined to be overly generous to African fruits as they have nurseries where they grow ALL kinds of fruits (like mangosteen, durian...).  Also, they do pan some native fruits (if they we're really in it just to inflate the quality of African fruits I'd expect they'd say all of them were great).
Sadly, I've NEVER eaten any of the fruits they mention.... I really would like to try them.
What's that got to do with Jose Andres $10 brussel sprouts?

Hollywood

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 637
  • Zone 10a - Stuart, FL
    • USA, Stuart, FL 33020, zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2012, 08:49:12 AM »
Where did you get this booklet? My husband and I are in the process of adopting from the Democratic Republic of Congo; I'll have to add this to my reading list. Just for knowledge of my daughter's country of origin, of course ;)

tabbydan

  • Washington DC area
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 452
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2012, 05:38:39 PM »
Where did you get this booklet? My husband and I are in the process of adopting from the Democratic Republic of Congo; I'll have to add this to my reading list. Just for knowledge of my daughter's country of origin, of course ;)

A friend mailed me a copy.  I think if you google it you might find it out there.  The Danforth's are missionaries so they put this book out to raise funds.  I'm not big on the missionary aspect but they did have a cool aspect to their mission- they helped people get fruit trees for sustenance and for generating cash... at the same time they tried to grow native fruits and see what it took to grow them.

I believe their original facility they had to abandon some time ago, I've heard they are still in Africa though.
What's that got to do with Jose Andres $10 brussel sprouts?

Hollywood

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 637
  • Zone 10a - Stuart, FL
    • USA, Stuart, FL 33020, zone 10a
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #7 on: November 28, 2012, 08:51:20 PM »
Har mentioned some missionary/fruit friends in Northeastern Congo just today. I wonder if they are the same people?

mikemap

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 52
    • Puna and Hilo, Hawai'i
    • View Profile
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2015, 01:43:40 PM »
Does anybody have a PDF of that Danforth book? I googled and came up empty-handed.

I have a friend nearby with an ndea tree that's maybe 10 feet tall and at least as wide, but hasn't fruited yet. As far as the poor fruit quality that Oscar heard reports of, maybe it's connected to wetness of the environment since its natural habitat is swamp and fruit collector people might plant it in drier spots?
Mike Parker: kefir fanatic, ethnomusicology hobbyist

Aaron

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 206
    • SWFL
    • View Profile
    • http://nofogroves.com/
Re: Congo native fruits by Roy Danforth
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2015, 03:40:21 PM »
We sell that book and also "100 tropical fruits nuts and spices for the central African home garden" by the same author. He was just here for our annual agricultural conference. The books aren't meant to be comprehensive but more of a starting point for other research. We also sell a poster that's used on the cover of one of the books. it shows a central African harvest of 100 different fruits.