Today I planted a nutmeg tree that I got from Dan at Hamakua Chocolate. He kindly dug out some keiki trees from under his tree for me several months ago. Nutmeg seedlings take 7 to 9 years to start fruiting and reach maximum production at year 20. 50% are male trees and I have one more to plant. You need both male and female to produce fruits.
The top global producer of of nutmeg is Indonesia, in fact they’ve been exporting it since the 6th century AD to India and then to Constantinople. Until the 13th century the Muslims kept it a secret to the Europeans where it was grown.
By the colonial era in the 15th century the race to control the spice trade was in full effect in Indonesia. Nutmeg was extremely valuable because it was growing only in this part of the world. The Bandanese traded with everyone and they sold to whomever decided to bid the highest price. Basically, free-market capitalism.
The Dutch demanded that the Bandanese sell only to them and they said “no”.
In 1609 the Dutch East India Company launched a war to conquer the nutmeg trade. For a decade they massacred the Bandanese people. With the help of hired Japanese ronin mercenaries, the corporate overlords killed over 14,000 of the 15,000 Bandanese inhabitants. All because they wanted a monopoly on the nutmeg trade…
Originally posted on 2021-12-15, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.