Bumper Crop of Bell Fruits is in the making

Our garden has many fruit trees and this is the time for them to show off their produce.  The mango trees already have signs that they will yield well this time.

Because of the fruit trees our garden is a haven for birds and squirrels.  Their number increases when it is the fruit season here.

Of particular interest is our Bell fruit tree. The yield of flowers and buds  is so dense that I will not know what to do with those fruits.

Bell fruits are ideal for summer as they are juicy and  sweet.  I normally make juice and preserve it as they yield only once a year.  This juice lasts for the whole year.  It is normally kept in the fridge.

The happiest are the squirrels.  Their dainty feet are the cause of fruits falling.  The stems of the fruits are delicate and just a touch is enough for them to  drop down.  Despite this we have enough that we fill our compost pit with them after we get our fill and distributing it to friends and neighbours.

Making fruit juice is easy The fruits are chopped fine  put  in the liquidiser along with crushed ginger.  The juice is then drained out.  Sugar syrup is separately made.  The syrup is cooled and then added to the juice. A liquid preservative is added and the juice kept in the fridge so that it does not ferment although the preservative normally takes care  of that.

Adding ginger to the juice gives it a great flavour as ginger has that in it.

Bell Fruit trees need very little maintenance. Once they get matured even watering is not required.  But vigil needs to be kept for any termites that could attack their roots as it happened to our cashew tree. It was too late for us to save our cashew tree and it died in front of our eyes. We will not let this happen to any of our trees.  We also have a pesticide that takes care of any intrusion of termites in our garden.