Thursday, October 10, 2013

Surinam Cherries


Unexpected harvest of Surinam cherries from the small bush we planted years ago , which has never fruited until now!  We have so few plants growing from the past that this was quite a surprise.

Also, one papaya tree fruited and one recently ripened on the tree...it was sweet and delicious!  Last year's harvest was prolific but we could never get to ripen well and had to eat them green (cooked).

So nice to have actual edible fruit from this little Surinam cherry bush, even if it's just a handful

4 comments:

Sandy Livesay said...

I've never heard of these cherries, are they a sweet or some what sour cherry?

Would you can them and put them away or use them for a pie?

Robbyn said...

hey, Sandy! I haven't cooked any of them down with sugar yet, so experiments are the order of the day. The ripest ones taste, strangely, like a very sweet bell pepper. I will try sweetening one with sugar to see if the flavor changes, but if not, I think I'll use them in a relish or chutney. I'm just surprised they fruited at all, which means that's a carefree shrub we can do something with through the years. A lot of out other experimental plants over the years have been done in by frost or just not thriving in zone 10 for the long term. I need to experiment with canning and condiments because I think this would lend itself well to those :)

Krista said...

These are so gorgeous! I've never heard of them before, but just seeing them in a bowl would make me happy. :-)

Robbyn said...

Hi, Krista! Aren't they pretty? They last unrefrigerated about as long as a blackberry would, so they're in the fridge now. A buddy of mine forwarded some suggestions about chutneys and sauces and I think I might pair these with some apricots in a puree for a sauce, since the undertone of the berries is really a sweet ripe bell pepper-ish one.