Never heard of jujubes? Try Chinese dates. Some folks from China or India call they jujubes, some call them Chinese dates. So take your pick.
Anyway, we have a tree of jujubes in our front yard that has produced proficiently again this year. These dates are smaller than the dates one would buy in the store, but in the ripened stage they taste very much like them. We begin eating them just as they start to turn from green to brown. At this time their texture and
taste is very much like an apple. As they ripen and become darker the flavor changes, as does the amount of fruit as they begin to wrinkle up and become smaller in size. The seed inside seems larger in proportion than the common dates we normally use.Since we had the leaning top limb trimmed off, our tree is probably about 15 feet tall or so. With a small ladder we can pick the "dates" fairly high but there are always quite a few left for the winter weather to take care of.
Last year we learned from someone here how to prepare candied dates. We made a large batch last year and have already done two batches this year. While we enjoy them as they come off the tree, we especially enjoy them candied. A by-product of this process is a honey like syrup which we like to use on our morning serving of hot cereal. We also just put the dates into the cereal, remembering when we eat them to pick out the seeds.
Another thing we enjoy about this tree and its fruit is the opportunities it brings to talk to people who stop by, and to give them away to interested persons. Some people really like them, and others eat one or two and make no effort to get more. These dates keep so well that we had some left over from last year in our frig when the new ones were ready to eat. We are well stocked again this year, but I doubt any will last through the winter.
So now you know what jujubes are! - if you've read this far that is. In case you would like to read more about this interesting, and delightful, fruit, you copy and paste this website - http://www.tytyga.com/category/Jujube+Trees?gclid=CMXPrPyI848CFSgKIgodyWf7FA
Pilgrim on the way
2 comments:
you should learn how to insert a hyperlink into your blog so you don't have to type in a web address :)
in the posting page, there's a button that sort of looks like a green globe with goggles [right inbetween text color and text alignment]. if you highlight a word, or phrase, and then click on that button, you can then copy&paste any web address. then it shows up in your blog nice and pretty!
ex: on my blog nov. 18, click on the word "elf"
just a tip from the not too tech savvy granddaughter!
That's OK, Wayne...I didn't know how to do that, either, and I've taught computer classes in the not too distant past. They didn't include blogs, however....
JAY
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