They’re called Fruit Brokers and they make money from harvesting your fruit trees.

A neighbor told me a story of his mango tree which had produced a bumper crop of huge and flavorful mangos. He and his wife had been eagerly anticipating the ripening of one mango in particular. It was big and promised to be heavenly. They checked on it regularly until one day it was gone as were all the other mangos. The tree had been stripped bare.

Apparently a neighbor thinking, well…who knows what he was thinking, had brokered the tree without permission.

Fruit Brokers work this way:
They contract with you to buy the fruit on your tree, harvesting it when it ripens. Usually money exchanges hands, $100 or so from what I’m told, and perhaps a bucket of fruit is included in the payment.

And while that’s pretty interesting in its own right, what’s more amazing is how the mangos grow.

The fruit grows at the end of a long stem which sways in the breeze.
    These mangos are growing high up in the mango tree in my front yard.

Originating in Southeast Asia, mango trees are evergreens which grow to 60 feet tall and require hot, dry temperatures to produce a good crop. 

When I first move here to South Florida, my New England background thought it was so romantic to park my car under the mango tree. And then, in a rough wind, a branch fell from the tree landing on the hood of my car. After that the blossoms, which are similar to lilacs in that each blossom is a series of florettes, so completely covered my car I had to use a broom to get them all off (reminded me of those snowy days in New Hampshire). And now that the fruit is ripening to as much as 8 ounces for each mango, I don’t dare park under the tree for fear that I’ll get bonked on the head by falling mangos.

  Mango blossom.

According to Freshmangos.com, “Most of the mangos sold in the United States are imported from Mexico, Haiti, the Caribbean and South America. Today there are over 1,000 different varieties of mangos throughout the world.”

Freshmango.com also claims that “the mango is considered the apple of the tropics and is the most commonly eaten fruit in the Caribbean.”

I once read that the best place to eat a mango is waist deep in a turquoise green Caribbean ocean. Now there’s a thought. Sounds like it’s time for another road trip to see for myself.

The mangos won’t be ripe and ready to eat until July, but we’ll keep you posted on their progress.

A mango from last year's crop.

For more interesting mango facts, visit:
http://www.freshmangos.com/factsmyths.html

For Mango Chutney visit:


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Copyright 2009 Diana Taylor, Pug At The Beach
Photo credit: Diana Taylor, mangos in the yard & Zoe McGuire, 2008 photo of Mumma with a mango.

Info provided by
http://www.freshmangos.com/aboutmangos/index.html

For copy & paste:
http://pugsnewsfromthebeach.com/2008/07/27/my-first-mango.aspx (mango chutney)