Summer is here, rain is here and so is the summer crop of Jabuticaba. But this year it is different as these photos will show.
These ones in Judy's hand are much larger than normal. Also, look at the trees and see big differences.
Notice there are not many berries but some are quite large.
There are not as many clusters as there are in autumn. But still there are many in the trees in our garden.
Here you see three stages of berry development - green, red and black.
Before they are ripe that have a pretty red colour.
But look at the bark on the tree. That may be normal but it doesn't look healthy.
The branches look almost like they could drop off the tree.
We can see we will have a bountiful harvest this summer.
This is the "male" tree. It has very few berries and they also are very small.
But look at the trees in our neighbour's yard. They have very few berries. We do not know why.
Hopefully we will get enough berries to make some more "Geleia de Jabuticaba", if only Judy and the dogs will stop munching on the berries!
Photos by Urso Branco
Jabuticaba February 2008
Picking Berries and making "Geléia de Jabuticaba"
What is happening here? I think she is picking berries in our Jabuticaba trees. *SMILE*
Yes that is what is happening. Look at that box of lovely berries.
She made a thorough inspection of the fruit.
Then a month later Judy made some "Geléia de Jabuticaba".
We then had "Geléia de Jabuticaba" on toast. It was fantastic!
We were so busy making the "Geléia de Jabuticaba" we forgot to take photos of making it. This video shows how to make your own "Geléia de Jabuticaba".
Click here to watch the Video
When we make the next batch I will take photos of how we make it.
Photos by Urso Branco
The Bees Returned - 2007
Early in the morning of August 9, 2007 we were awakened by the sound of a thousand bees at work in the Jabuticaba trees. The scent of the blossoms filled the entire house with a delightful aroma all day. The bees worked steadily from sunup till close to 4 p.m. That was much longer than last year because there were so many blossoms this year.
We have lovely photos of the trees in full blossom with far more blossoms than last year. Even the male tree, which usually has very few blossoms is loaded. Look at rest of this post and see the fabulous video on making "Geléia de Jabuticaba".
These trees are over the wall in the yard next door. Look at thousands of blossoms.
If you look close enough you may be able to see some of the bees.
The bees made an incredible noise.
Look how tightly packed the blossoms are.
This is the male tree in our yard.
You can see there are fewer blossoms but still there are many more than last year.
You can see the bees is this close-up.
Another view with bees.
You can see some little berries beside the blossoms.
Look at this bee hard at work. He paid no attention to me!
Up close the blossoms are very fine.
Here the detail shows the blossoms with emerging berries.
There are many thoudands of blossoms this year and so we are planning to make some "Geléia de Jabuticaba".
It should be fun! Go to this YouTube site and see the marvelous video of making the Jabuticaba Jelly. When we make our own "Geléia de Jabuticaba" we will have photos and hopefully our own video making the Jabuticaba Jelly.
Click here to watch the Video
Come back soon and see more photos as look after and then harvest the Jabuticaba berries.
Big News . . . A month later we picked some Januticaba Berries and made our own "Geléia de Jabuticaba". It turned out FANTASTIC!
Judy made these two jars of "Geléia de Jabuticaba".
It spreads easy on the toast. It also goes down easy too!
Unfortunately we were so busy making the "Geléia de Jabuticaba" that we forgot to take photos. However we followed the steps in the video exactly. We will try to remembert to take photos when we make the next batch.
Photos by Urso Branco
In March it looked like Mother Nature had Crazy Glued the berries to the tree trunk!
March 5
March 5
July 9 Thousands of new fruit blossoms on the trees.
July 9
August 2 Thousands of green Jabuticaba berries on the trees. We expect to have lots of berries.
August 2
August 2
Now it is August 12. We were having breakfast at 8 a.m. on a sunny winter morning. I went into the kitchen and heard a noise.
It was a steady Hummmmmmmmmmm or maybe better put, it was a steady Buzzzzzzzzzz.
There were thousands of bees at work in the Jabuticaba trees. They must have a great Union because there were so many working so hard so early in the morning. So-So bees?
Now look what we discovered! The Jabuticaba trees have three stages of fruit.
One - Black berries ready to eat (even the dogs jump up and pick the berries).
Two - Green berries, another new crop already.
Three - thousands more blossoms and the bees hard at work doing their job.
What an amazing sight!!!!
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
August 12
Maybe we should try to make jam this time!
The Jabuticaba trees produce berries at least twice a year and if you water the trees they get loaded with many thousands of berries.
They are truly amazing trees!
Photos by Urso Branco Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE!
(Ja-boo-chee-caw-ba)
We have two Jabuticaba trees in our backyard. A male and a female tree. What is the difference? It is all a matter of pollination. If you don't have a male with the females you get anywhere from none to few berries.
The first three pics are of our female tree. This is the third generation of fruit this season. That in itself is Amazing, but look at the proliferation of berries and their size. WOW!
These berries are about 1" in diameter (2.5 cm). They are full of juice and waiting for people, dogs or birds to pick them.
This group is out of reach of the dogs but Judy can reach them and she does, a lot! *SMILE*
A friend of ours had a Golden Lab that used to pick the berries and take them to the cat for her to eat. She never learned to pick them for herself. Now that the Lab has died my friend must pick the berries and take them to the cat. Well that sure shows who is boss!!! Our cats cannot reach the berries because there are too many "Viscious" dogs guarding the trees. Hahahaha!
Here is the male tree. Notice how few berries there are. Also, these berries are not as sweet as the ones on the female tree. I tested the theory myself and can vouch for this fact. Yuck!!!
Judy loves the Jabuticaba as do most Brasileiros but I prefer berries I am more familiar with such as Strawberries, Raspberries, Blueberries and Cherries. I find Jabuticaba may be an acquired taste. I do love Jabuticaba jam though. Mmmmmmmmm! Maybe I will get to love the berries and then I can pig out on them too, providing Judy, the dogs and the birds leave me some. *SMILE*
The way you eat them is put the entire berry in your mouth, split it open, suck out the juice and flesh and then discard the skin and the seed that is inside. The flesh has a distinct taste like no fruit I know.
We have many avian visitors to our trees. We have all the common birds from this area such as I See You, Greens (our name for green parrots), Blue Birds and many more. Greens are real chatter boxes. They make a lot of noise and there are many in Águas da Prata. You hear them all the time. They usually fly around in groups of 2 to 16. But the latest visitors were a surprise.
On Thursday (Sept. 21) I heard what sounded like a crowd of Green Parrots in the trees outside my window. Instead it was just one HUGE parrot. It was all green and almost the size of a large Macaw. It took this pic but it is not as good as I like because of the sky in the background. I enhanced it so you could see our visitor. That is a "used" tangerine in the tree in front of the Jabuticaba.
Two days later, Saturday morning, there was a much louder noise. Our new friend brought his mate to look over the Jabuticaba tree. They had an animated and loud discussion about our trees. These beautiful parrots are about 18" long (45 cm).
We have been seeing many new birds including Toucans, in the neighbourhood for the last few days but not in our yard. The Toucans come over the mountain and then fly over our house. They are starting to visit Águas da Prata in big numbers now. Any day now we may have Toucans in the yard also.
Such is life in the Spring in paradise!
We will bring you more about the Amazing Jabuticaba as changes develop.
Photos by Urso Branco Read More, See More Photos and Read the Comments . . . CLICK HERE!
