There are two trees that I really wanted to plant for a while and I recently I found both! First one is nutmeg which is essential for baking and pastry making. Dan from Hamakua Chocolate Farm in Papaikou was very kind to show me around his farm filled with exotic plants he’s planted for more than 10 years. He dug out nutmeg seedlings from under his tree for me (mahalo Dan!) and today I potted them up. I also got to see the epic treehouse up in the banyan tree!!!
My friends Orlando and SuiLing on Oahu spotted a cannon ball tree and I asked them to grab me some fruits so I can attempt to sprout the seeds. I got 5 in the mail and man these things are heavy (thanks guys!). Each one weighs a good 4 to 6 pounds. I really want to grow this tree for the epic looking flowers. The downside is that the tree can get really tall and heavy cannon balls can fall down at any moment.
I used a hammer to crack one open and within seconds the flesh turned into this unusual blue jade color that I haven’t seen in a fruit before. I had a hard time tearing the flesh apart to find the seeds it seems like the fruit was still under ripe like a green papaya. As kind of a science experiment I planted 32 seeds in small pots to see if any will sprout.
People on the internet say it’s best to wait till the fruit is pretty much rotten and then to plant the seeds. Have any of my friends tried sprouting cannon ball tree seeds before?
Orlando and Sui even put in a few peanut butter fruits in the package! I got to try it for the first time. It wasn’t too sweet and it had the consistency of thick peanut butter. I would say that the texture and sweetness was similar to adzuki beans. I like it! I potted these seeds also.
Originally posted on 2021-07-21, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.