Today I planted another Keledang (Artocarpus lanceifolius) next to the other one I planted. Joe and Mike said that it’s better when there are two or more trees to produce better fruits.
Today is day one of the cacao bean fermentation. Julia, Hilary, and I had a cacao cracking party last night and it took us close to 2 hours to scoop out all the beans from the pods. We filled the cooler box up to the brim.
The first stage of the process is dominated by yeasts converting the sugary fruit pulp into alcohol. Same process with wine, kombucha, or gingerbeer making. The yeasts create a low ph environment where other harmful microbes cannot survive. The liquid is drained out and what you end up with is cacao pulp wine.
Originally posted on 2021-03-27, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.