The abundance of Fruit and Vegetables from your garden
Reasons we love living in Taveuni in Fiji.
Tropical climates and rich, nutrient dense volcanic soils combine to bring an abundance of food from nature's pantry right into your kitchen. When you live in Fiji, you can be sure to never go hungry.
Our garden at our home on Taveuni has been nurtured and cared for from the very beginning. We have spent time planting a variety of fruits and vegetables to ensure the garden has something to offer all year round.
October is the beginning of the season of fruitfulness in our tropical garden. The first of the mangos are ripening on the trees. The papaya that has been keeping us going throughout the “winter” continues to do stirling work, especially the sweet Hawaiian variety. Then there are the three varieties of bananas, the large green vudi ( vundi) used more like a vegetable, the regular yellow variety, and the sweet, delicious “ladies fingers”. These regularly produce enormous hanging trusses that can be cut and hung on the kitchen veranda, to be steadily eaten as they ripen.
Vudi is extremely versatile and a useful fruit in Fijian cooking. and is almost like a hybrid between a banana and a potato. Because Vudi are a little more starchy, they make excellent side dishes when fried. Fried Vudi and cassava are a delicious staple of Fijian cuisine. Fried plantains taste great as an appetizer, think of them as island chips! Not only do plantains make an excellent savory dish, they also are used frequently in desserts. A common and easy dish to make is plantains in coconut milk. You can find the recipe here.
In October our passion fruit vine is starting to produce the big purple globes, hanging from the pergola. And, most anticipated of all, the pineapples are fattening up and keeling over, just asking to be picked.
In the veggie patch the pak choi is flourishing and the tomatoes growing into big tasty red fruit. The long beans are delicious raw or cooked and the lettuces are abundant. This is also the time to dig up the turmeric tubers in the car-tyre beds, and, just for fun, cut down a sugar cane stem and munch on that!
As much as the great outdoors has to offer in the way of adventure, sometimes it is the simple things that are the most rewarding. Experiencing Fijian cuisine that has been grown in your own backyard is something that is very special and one of the things we will miss most about our little slice of paradise.