If you had asked me 5 years ago whether I ever imagined living in the island nation of Fiji I probably would have answered, ” I wish”. Well here we are spending 4 months in this idilic corner of the world. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, but it is damn close. We are still looking for the unicorns.
Karen and I are living “partially” off the grid in a great little home on the Coral coast of Viti Levu , the largest island in Fiji. This first post on our life in Fiji is going to focus on the abundance of food available on the property.
Our three charges. I don’t know if “a dogs life” accurately describes their life. But these three have it pretty good I think.
Other than having to be very cognisant of our water usage, as we use two 5000 litre tanks for a supply which are filled by rainwater, the biggest challenge is trying to keep up with the supply of fresh fruit on the property.
We have a couple of varieties of papaya growing on the property. It is important to pick them just before they get fully ripe, otherwise the bats come around at night and feast on them.We only have three pineapple plants, but we are very much looking forward to them ripening up. Hopefully just in time for Christmas.The sheer volume of bananas a single plant produces is incredible.There is a LOT of debris left after harvesting a bunch of bananas. You can see the bunch near the top. The whole trunk is taken down when you harvest. Clean up is the biggest challenge.Karen sampling the wares after taking down one of the plants. They technically are not a tree, but a herb. There is your little known fact for the day.This was our first harvest of bananas on the property. Good thing we like bananas.There are an abundance of orange trees as well. We have quickly learned not to judge a fruit by it’s skin. These oranges are awesome!As well, there are plenty of little tomatoes and even some lettuce growing. At times I feel a bit panicked that we can’t eat it all before it goes off. Obviously some issue deep in my psych. lol. It is a great problem to have.A couple of papayas and the muffins I made from the fresh oranges. It is entertaining trying to find ways to use all the fruit.Neither of us are big breadfruit fans. However a local gave us some ideas for cooking it so we gave it another go. It was quite tasty, but alas, I think we will be giving away the rest of the breadfruit on the property.I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the coconuts. Coconut water is quite refreshing, but the true gold is the meat of the coconut. We shred it and add it to a variety of dishes. Or just eat it raw.Once you get the coconut and remove the outer husk this handy tool makes shredding the meat out a breeze.
There is absolutely no reason to go hungry here. We both are enjoying the connection to the land and the bounty it provides. Nature is a great source of food and I look forward to expanding our repertoire of fresh fruit dishes.
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