Mmmm.........Grumichama

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by bushy, Dec 20, 2005.

  1. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    Yep, thought that'd make you click. We've just harvested our first crop of grumicharma. WOW! They are very nice, just about the top of the list of tropical fruits in taste and ease of looking after, all I did was throw some mulch around the tree. They also look good, dense,with shiny oval leaves.OK I'll stop raving, wish I could work out that photo posting thing.
    Lot of requests lately by new starters planning their fruit trees, well in the tropics I'd strongly recomend the Grumicharma
     
  2. Cornonthecob

    Cornonthecob Junior Member

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    Which sort do you have Bushy, black or yellow?
     
  3. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    Corny........I forgot to describe the fruit, it's almost black with orange flesh and 1 or 2 grape size seeds, the whole fruit is the size of a big cherry. There seems to 2 varieties.
     
  4. Cornonthecob

    Cornonthecob Junior Member

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    I have a long list of tropical fruit trees I intend to plant..they're one of them. There's two...black and yellow...was thinking of getting one of each.

    From what I've read they taste good!

    :)
     
  5. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    :( Why aren't mine fruiting? The tree was pruned last year, maybe too much? Hmmm, maybe the lack of water? It relies on rain, as it always has. I am a mean farmer, there are many trees in our little world that simply have to wait.

    I have the dark purple grumichama, it's flesh is dark orange and it has 1-3 seeds within. It tastes a lot like a cherry. Kids can shake the tree and scrabble around under for their harvest. I collected about 20 baby trees last year and potted them up. I've a heap left, was thinking of hedging with them. I gave lots away too. They're very pretty. I love the white flowers.

    Bel
     
  6. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Congratulations there bushy, those grumichamas are one of my faves. I have fond memories of breakfasting on several trees that were totally loaded for several weeks running at Rob & Annie Swain's down at Crystal Waters. So good!
    Bella, how old are your trees? They can take a long time. 8 years? I think that is how old Rob's were. Maybe Bushy can tell us how long his have been in the ground. And Bushy, were yours grafted or seedlings?
     
  7. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Another cool thing about the Grumichama, which is of course Eugenia dombeyii, is that they will be quite productive under a partial canopy, even though they do eventually get pretty tall themselves.
    I haven't seen a fruit here on Maui yet, although there are a few trees around.
     
  8. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    Uncertain if ours is grafted or not, but my info is they can be, but also grow well from seed as Bel can attest, ours is 6yo. Other info i've chased up says they have been tried all over the world commercially but fade out, except in Brasil, which is their home, hence the name Brasil cherry. Were introduced to Hawaii in 1796.
     
  9. bazman

    bazman Junior Member

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  10. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    As I do. Anything I am not sure of I put into google.. Richard provided me with the opportunity ... Eugenia dombeyii.


    I found a link attached to an excellent newsletter. The site probably isnt new to many of us.

    https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/newsletter/august2002.htm

    That's a newsletter about grumicha [sp??] along with some other great notes..

    Cheers
     
  11. Guest

    Managed to get myself really confused with this thread. Which isn't hard when folks start talking plant names, as I am terrible with them.

    I have two Brazilian Cherries...which look more like bushes, and thought I must have mixed something up and was calling them the wrong names. One is about 4m and the other 2m, and they have small oval leaves...so they weren't tying in with the above info at all.

    And they taste...well, certainly not great. Quite bitter, but its funny watching people taste them!

    Have just found them online, and they are apparently Surinam Cherries, known as Brazilian Cherries. Just thought I would throw it in, in case people race out and buy these. Because I don't think I could recommend them as great fruits, but locals do make jams with them.

    https://www.tradewindsfruit.com/surinam_cherry.htm
     
  12. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    RF......your surinam cherry is a Eugenia uniflora, and considered a wind break hedge plant not to be confused with the grumichama which I can assure anyone that it is a worthwhile addition to a tropical garden. There seems to be variations in the fruit with some having large seeds.
     
  13. Guest

    Yes :lol: Took me quite some time googling and lots of head scratching to work that out. It was the words Brazil cherry that confused me, as I only know it by its common name...but it seems theres a few that go under that name.
     
  14. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    This all illustrates why it is worthwhile learning and remembering botanical names rather than stumbling around like fools with common names!
    But Rainbow Farmer, your other Brazilian cherry, the uniflora, is indeed a treat. The trick is to get them when they are fully ripe. There is a specific moment when they turn from sour to sweet, and then they are pretty damn good. You can actually develop a taste for that tart under ripeness, but the fully ripe stage is genuinely sweet.
    Again, Rob Swain has a bunch of those guys. I remember mixing the concrete for the footings of his house, and in between mixer loads or whenever I had a spare moment, I would back up to his hedge and pick a few. They really helped keep me going...
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  15. sabine

    sabine Junior Member

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    about the sour-type of brazil cherry - the uniflora - they can be gross hey? i thought i was being poisoned the first time i ate one! but as Richard said, they are better when very ripe. mine still taste pretty weird until i've had them in the fridge overnight. also - they taste fine after eating a miracle fruit!

    peace,
    sabine
     
  16. Guest

    Well, that was very Rooooode, Richard!
    Is it your turn to be obnoxious now? Did you exit of the incorrect side of your chamber this antemeridian? :lol:
     
  17. Peter Warne

    Peter Warne Junior Member

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    Hardly obnoxious since he didn't exclude himself from the foolishness.

    I got really mixed up with Brazilian cherries too, I bought one which is two years on only about 1.2 metres high. Then I read somewhere that Brazilian cherry was a rampant rainforest invading feral in our sub-tropical region. I moved the tree back into a pot and put it on our verandah, thinking I would get every fruit on it before the birds, then found out that it was not the type that goes feral. Now it resides in the chicken run. It's as hardy as hell but does not produce all that much fruit. What it does produce is very small, and when ripe gives a very distinctive berry like taste from the little squirt of juice you get, then a heap of skin which I spit out. I have forgotten its botanical name so I remain stumbling in the dark, like a fool. Can anyone help with a guess at the name, and does anyone know if grumichana is the offending one in sub-tropical Australia?
     
  18. bella

    bella Junior Member

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    Richard, my tree is maybe 14 years old or more. It has fruited a few times before, but it did take about 9 years to fruit. I think the pruning and lack of water are the problem. It's all on its own in the scheme of things, having come here before us, and I don't think to water it much...

    Bel, who also has Brazilian Cherry and kinda likes them!
     
  19. Richard on Maui

    Richard on Maui Junior Member

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    Ah yes, sorry if I caused offence. I definitely include myself in the foolishness... I am as much a part of this foolishness that is humanity as the next man or woman... but I do love the grumichama.
    What is in a name?
    That which we call a Brazilian Cherry
    Would by any other name taste so sweet (or sour?)
     
  20. Guest

    :lol: rofl. You know, when I eat those things...my face looks quite posh.

    No offence. If I misunderstood, I apologise.
     

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