The first time I saw star fruit growing was in my husband’s brother’s farm in Bannerghatta. It was a large tree and loaded with fruit. It made a wonderful squash and that was that. I never thought to plant them in Hoskote till I went to buy some fruit trees in Lalbagh and found them there five years ago.
Just for fun I decided to buy two saplings in grow bags and put them down in the farm. Over the years they have given a few fruit but I left them for Narsimappa’s boys who loved them as long as they gave me a dozen to make some squash for home consumption.
Then this year I decided that all the fruit trees needed to be well fed with the cow dung which the solitary cow produced and wow! We have a bumper crop. Plenty for me and the boys and probably for him to sell to the cart wallahs. The trees are not grafts. At least I cant see any grafting done on them.
They have delicate pink, small flowers which are produced in bunches on the branches. Soon the flowers turn into star shaped fruit and hang like little lanterns on all the branches, among the feathery leaves.
This year the rains came just in time and galvanised the trees into flowering profusely, aided by the added nutrition and it was so thrilling to see them loaded with fruit. Absolutely loaded, I had not seen so many fruit on the branches before.
To avoid losing out on the fruit by arriving too late to the farm, I decided to take out a bag full of greenish ones to make pickle instead of squash. Anyway being diabetic I cannot enjoy any of it.
I gave some of the fruit to my two great star cook friends -- Sri Devi who is my tenant and Keerti my Shalimar apartment friend. Immediately we got two luscious bottles of pickle. So I know its better to get them when they are green for the ladies to work their magic.
Yesterday we decided to try the Lalbagh Nursery for graft Allahabad guava trees and after ages -- yaay! They had them in stock and a star fruit and a lime which will go down near Narsimappas house so that they get looked after. Saw tons of fig trees but I was not too thrilled because the bats come for figs and so far we are safe from them with our mangoes and chickoos.
