Mastodawn

Today I made a start on a task I usually do around Easter - picking the fruit from my Chilean guava (Ugni molinae) bushes. Love this plant because it’s attractive, easy to grow and has delicious fruit!

My sister was wandering in the botanic gardens one recent evening and met some people picking the bushes there. They gave her some to eat. They didn’t seem to be gardens staff, in which case top marks for some cheeky foraging 😆

#ChileanGuava #gardening #foraging

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugni_molinae

Ugni molinae - Wikipedia

I love how I can click on the Chilean guava hashtag and see my posts from previous years - mainly because not many people post about them!

@simplicitarian , just looked at mine before and they're still hard, not enough sun this year. I get a hint to pick them when I can smell their beautiful sweet scent of being ripe.
What do you make with yours?

@Antigrav Mine are in a sunny spot so that must help! I usually freeze them and use them in anything you might put berries in - porridge and muffins mostly. I know they are popular in jam, but I don’t eat much jam!

🇳🇿 Shayne Parkinson 1d ago

@simplicitarian we have a couple of "official" ones that we actually planted, but two have come up of their own accord in a flowerbed - presumably courtesy of birds. The funny thing is that one's a yellow guava, which we've never actually planted! And we don't have any very near neighbours. The other is a red-fruited one. Both have delicious fruit twice the size of the "official" ones. Those we eat fresh, the rest I use to make jelly - though I leave a fair number for the resident kererū population.

@ShayneParkinson I didn’t know there were yellow ones - nice!

🇳🇿 Shayne Parkinson 1d ago

@simplicitarian they lack the sharpness that makes the (red) jelly so delicious, but very nice to just sit and scoff.

hicksy2 23h ago

@simplicitarian I have one of these in Sheffield, England. It's currently 20-30cm high in a growing on pot. How long before I might see fruit? Thanks. #sheffield #allotment #growyourown #ugnimolinae #chileanguava

@hicksy2 Hopefully it should have ripe fruit in your autumn, around 6 months from now! Wait until the fruit turns from dark red to a lighter red before picking for maximum sweetness.

levampyre 23h ago

@simplicitarian I've heard about that one. But it is frost tender, right?

@levampyre We get frosts here, though not severe ones. It seems okay with those. I’m not an expert though.

levampyre 19h ago

@simplicitarian Hm, pfaf.org says USDA hardiness zone 7 – 11 and UK zone 8. I'm in Northern Germany zone 7b. We do have periods of 2 weeks with –10°C to –20°C here. But figs and walnuts do survive once established. So it might be worth a shot. Will definitely put it on my list of plants to look into.

@simplicitarian
I once had a bush but my dog would pick and eat every berry the moment she discovered they were ripe.

Eugene Parnell 1h ago

@simplicitarian Oh my goodness I had one of these plants for years! And I had completely forgotten about it. I absolutely loved the berries. Really unique kind of floral flavor. In my climate they only ripened at the very end of autumn. I think I lost it in a cold snap a few years ago--they're very hard to find here in the US, my reliable source may not be cultivating starts anymore. I'll have to check. Thanks for jogging my memory!

@eugeneparnell Good luck finding one! Yes, they have an unusual but delicious flavour, I usually describe it as floral too.

The Crafty Miss 33s ago

@simplicitarian Whee, I just bought two bushes this year and can't wait to give them a try in Yorkshire