Tag Archives: papaya

Abundance

26 Nov
The towering papaya tree in our garden

The papaya tree towering next to the frangipani in our garden has been fruiting in abundance! Whee. Maybe the rainy season has contributed to the spurt and growth. This means we will have papayas again after a dry spell.

In the early stages, we put up nets to protect the fruits from the garden squirrels, and it worked when there were fewer fruits. However, as there have been more fruits, the netting protection could not cover the whole lot. So, hubby resorted to covering only the bigger fruits.

Two days ago, one rascal managed to eat a fruit on the tree. Ugh. So, hubby placed a trap on the ground to snag it, using the half-eaten papaya as bait.

This morning, the rascal was nabbed! Yay. We will relocate it to another area. Hopefully, it will stay away and won’t return to help itself to the abundance of fruits available.

I look forward to having papayas again from the garden.

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The Wrath of Mother Nature

16 Jul

We have been having some inconsistent weather lately. Last week, when we returned from the East Coast, we came back to strong winds and pelting rain.

Luckily, we were home already when the weather changed for the worse. It was scary as the tall trees in the area were swaying spinelessly with noisy leaves rustling, and the rain was pounding the windows. Our garden bamboo blinds were flapping like crazy. It was alarming, but we could not do anything.

The next day, we discovered the wrath of Mother Nature when we surveyed the garden. Besides leaves and branches everywhere, creating a mess, our second papaya tree was uprooted. This unfortunate mishap happened despite the tree being protected by a wall and in a narrow garden space.

There goes our second papaya tree!
Salvaging the papayas from the tree

We had no choice but to cut down the tree. And there were so many young papayas on the tree. Oh well. It looks like I can make pickled papaya or give them away. As for the space, we will leave it empty for now, and it’s been hot like a furnace.

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Fruiting Again, Part 2

2 Jul

It looks like the effort to safeguard the fruits paid off. Hubby has managed to pluck one papaya a day from the tree, and it’s just a matter of time before they ripen and we can eat them. Yum.

From our papaya tree.

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Fruiting Again

28 Jun

After several months of waiting, the new papaya tree in the garden is fruiting in abundance again! Yay. There was a time when we had papaya fruit to eat daily. As time passed, the tree grew old and stopped fruiting – we had to chop it down. Hubby decided to plant a new papaya tree.

Months passed, and the new tree flourished well with the weather that we had been experiencing. But it has also attracted some unwanted critters to our place. No, it’s not the garden squirrels but the civet cat!

The civet cat has helped itself a few times to the exposed and unprotected fruits, as there had been evidence of half-eaten papaya on the tree or fruit droppings on the ground. We must protect our fruits!

Yesterday, we put our plans into action by wrapping the fruits on the tree with the new PVC netting mesh. I think I did a good job. But we will only know in the next few days to see if the fruits are well protected.

Protecting our papayas on the tree!

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New Fruits

1 Dec

After waiting for what seems like forever, the new papaya tree has finally matured and is fruiting! Yay. I miss eating home-grown papayas, and papayas bought from the stores can’t beat the taste of the home-grown fruits.

Before this new tree, the old tree gave us a lot of fruits to enjoy. It was a bumper harvest period until we had to give away to family and friends. But once that phrase was over, we were papaya-less for some time.

The wait period is over now that the new tree has stabilized and fruiting. Unfortunately, the garden squirrels got to the first fruit ahead of us. Hrmph. Looks like we have to start protecting our papayas from the uninvited guests. Otherwise, we will not have the opportunity to enjoy the new fruits.

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A New Beginning, Part 2

25 Oct

The papaya trees from the nursery are ready! Recently, hubby planted two of the little ones at two prime spots in the garden.

It is a good beginning for us to have papaya fruits again. But we need to be patient, for it will be a long road for them to grow and bear fruit.

A new beginning

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A New Beginning

11 Oct

Last week, hubby finally removed the stump of our last papaya tree. It has been sitting on precious land while we are undecisive about what to plant there. Perhaps we can transfer the little papayas from the nursery, or the fig plants can have a permanent spot instead of being in a pot.

The old papaya tree

Whatever we plant in that place, we must guard the fruits of our labor when the plant starts fruiting. Or else, those darn critters in the garden will get to it first before us.

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Darn Those Critters

7 Oct

Our fig plants are growing well. Yesterday, hubby saw one fruit ripening on the tree, and he thought it would be ready for us to eat the next day. But guess what? Those darn garden critters got to it before us! Argh.

The fig must be really good, almost gone!

Remember when we had that pineapple that ripened, and the garden squirrel helped itself to it, standing precariously in between the blades of the pineapple plant? Double ugh.

We have to be more vigilant when it comes to our precious fruits in the garden. If we see one ripened, we’d better wrap it, protect it or do whatever to prevent those darn critters from eating them before us.

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No More Papayas

1 Aug

It is official. We will not have papayas from the garden anymore. Last week, hubby said we had to cut down the tree as the tree is old, sick, and no longer fruiting.

The task at hand was quite a challenge. Even the tall ladder did not help. In the end, hubby sawed two sections of the trunk so that it would break at two points instead of one. Also, with two breaking points, the tree fell at a shorter distance, thus less damage to the garden space. The tree was pulled with a rope and fell safely towards the open area.

What’s left of the papaya tree

So now, we are papaya-less. At some point, we have to remove the remaining three-foot-tall trunk and find something else to plant in that spot. Otherwise, it is a waste of precious space. By the way, the baby papaya trees are not ready yet to take over. Boo hoo hoo!

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The Chili Reaper, Part 2

28 Jun

It looks like I am wrong about the Chili Reaper that comes to our garden. Two days ago, the Yellow-vented Bulbul came a-calling, and it wasn’t the chili plant that it went to but the papaya fruit that we left out for the squirrels!

The Bulbul also likes papaya besides chili, it seems. We never knew. I guess we have to rethink its given name now. It’s wrong to call it the Chili Reaper if it eats papaya fruits besides chili, right?

The Papaya Reaper!

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