In mid-October Mary and I worked to smooth out an area along our south fence line that had been neglected. We determined to plant some perennials including some fig trees, passion-fruit vines, and peanut plants. There were already some palm trees and papaya trees along that fence line.
After quite a bit of working and planting the fence line to looked like this:
Today I got some more pictures of that area and it now looks like this:
The maracuyá (passion-fruit) vines have flourished and now cover the fence.
They have grown up as high as the fence will allow and have climbed up the neighboring papaya trees.
Just lately I noticed that the vines are beginning to be covered with little buds of future maracuyá fruit!
These buds are actually flowers getting ready to blossom.
As they grow and spread out they start to open up.
And, overnight they burst into a regal flower to attract bees or other insects to pollenate the plants!
This next picture will give you an idea of the size and splendor of these beautiful flowers.
We are told that the maracuyá fruit falls to the ground when it is ripe, so there is no guessing there. But, we were not sure how our maní (peanut) plants were doing. Since they grow underground and neither Mary nor I had ever grown them before, we figured that it might be best to just dig around a bit and see if there were any maní in those pots.
A little bit of probing revealed this.
I brought it in and cleaned it up and we think these maní need a week or two more to mature enough to be fully ripe.
(Those of you with a law enforcement background now know that my left ring finger sports a plain whorl pattern!)
The little higo (pronounced, “Ego”) or fig trees we planted in October now have grown to over five feet tall and are beginning to produce figs!
They still have a ways to go, but we are encouraged to see so many little higos growing on our little trees!
So, things keep growing and our little corner of the world gets better and better each day here where…
Life is good in Ecuador!
Lovely pictures…really enjoyed seeing how your garden has flourished.
We are wondering how you are all handling Carnaval and the anticipated hords of people. Hope beauty and contentment continue there in the gorgeous village of San Clemente.
We miss you.
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We miss you two as well. Carnival went smoothly. We went down town a few times, but always had our peaceful home in the north end of town to return to for peace.
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wow, so amazing, congratulations!!! thanks for having that enthusiam
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It is so amazing how quickly everything grows here. We are looking forward to maracuya juice and fresh figs!
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Beautiful garden space! Things grow so quickly in the tropics, don’t they?
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Yes, even after more than two years we are still amazed.
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You have green thumbs for sure!
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We have always loved to garden, but it is so much nicer here where we do not have a dormant season. We will be eating fresh figs soon!
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Amazing how fast things grow there…you can become local farmers for the products that aren’t available there.:)
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Si, por que no? We planted some coconut palm trees after we moved in and I believe we will get coconuts this year or next! As I was saying to someone else, I believe it is the fact that we do not really have a dormant season and it stays warm (about 70F) each night so the plants grow 24/7/365!
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Your garden is beautiful!! I cannot believe you already have figs. Our fig trees are 3 yrs old and we are just now getting a handful off of 2 trees. I’m eager to see how big they get and what they look like. The ones I’ve seen growing down there have been huge and very dark skinned—-and delicious! The passion flower blooms are so beautiful and you will have tons of fruit for jugo! I’m amazed at what a change to that corner of your yard you have made with such lush and beautiful plants!
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When we did some research on fig trees the internet said that it takes a couple of years for the trees to bear fruit. The same for passion-fruit in the north. Not so in Ecuador! I found a maracuya on the plants this morning and I bet we have some juice from those plants before April.
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Those vines will provide some privacy, I imagine. The passion fruit flower is absolutely beautiful and I adore figs, I’m envious 😉
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Yes, there is a story about the passion fruit flower and why the early Padres from Spain named the fruit passion fruit. I will have to one day relate that story. Meanwhile, there is real joy in simply studying the intricate details in the flowers and eating the delicious fruit!
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