Fruit trees for Uganda

The first time I heard of a giant passion fruit I was ESTATIC! I mean- passion fruits are delicious little shriveled nuggets of heaven- but a passion fruit the size of my head? My mind was blown. And of course I had to grow them! Eventually I managed to get a fruit and it was amazing. The seeds were the typical sweet and tart passion fruit I was used to, and it was encased in an amazing melon-like capsule. The skin was much softer and more easily damaged, and the ENTIRE THING was edible! 
We kept the seeds and propogated them. Our first vines were grown at the farm as a trial to see how they would work. The vines grow thicker than standard passion fruit vines, but to hold fruit that can easily weigh 7 pound thaat is understandable. After about 16 months our first fruit were started to ripen. We invited villagers passing by the farm over to try them and they were both suprised and excited as most had never seen them before. We cut the melon portion into slices and it is so soft and juicy that with the first bite the juice started dripping off our elbows.
Fortunately, the villagers were also eager to try growing this bizarre new fruit so again we harvested the seeds, and when the seedings were about 12 inches tall we started distributing them to the villagers.
Now, a couple years later, the vines are huge and healthy and fruit about once per year. Most of the villagers just eat them at home as they are delicious and SUPER healthy as they are full of antioxidants, vitamin C, and a plethora of other vitamins and such. A few bring them back to us to sell and we sell them at farmers markets and to a local high-end Japanese restaurant. 
I love success stories, and our giant passion fruit adventure has been 100% successful. 

Links:

• Grassroots Uganda Facebook Page

When I first came to Uganda back in 2006, I was visiting Rwo-Tek Women's association in Gan-Diang, a village in Kitgum. They showed me around, introduced me to people in the village, told me stories about their lives, and at one point a lady pointed to a tree and said "Those leave are what we eat when we are starving." WHAT?!?!?!?!? Of course I prodded her for more information and basically she said that Kitgum is often very hot and dry. Everything dries up and food is extremely scarce- bordering on famine. She said when this happens, one of the few things readily available to eat are the leaves from that tree as no matter how dry or hot it is, the tree is always growing well. The ladies had other stories about surviving the dry season as well- such as catching mice/rats then hanging them on sticks in the sun to dry out and become mouse-jerky; and learning how to kill wild birds- but for this report we are focusin on the tree. It wasn't until years later that I learned the english name for the tree- Moringa.

While not necessarily a fruit, Moringa is an amazing tree and nearly the entire tree is edible! Moringa is able to grow in tropical and even dry arid places making it extremely versatile. The leavs of the tree taste like a mix between leaf lettuce, arugula, and kale. I often sprinkle them on salads and mix them into stir fried. They are bursting with nutrition- fiber, iron, other vitamins. The flowers are sweet and can be eaten off the tree or mixed into salads, though personally I prefer to leave them for the bees. 

The flowers turn into long bean pods. When picked young and tender the pods are chopped up and cooked a lot like okra (though less slimey.) When the seeds are mature and dried they can be roasted similar to peanuts, or eaten raw. But be careful as these buggers are a natural laxative! Base- Chairperson of the MUMYO Women's Group in Naggalama lives with her elderly mother who- as many people do- gets a bit stuffed up. Base's mom carries a handful of moringa seeds wrapped in a small cloth with her so if she needs to, she can nibble a few and get things moving!

The roots of the morninga tree are spicy- similar to horseradish. I'm sure you can munch on the wood and bark as well, though I never have.

As an added bonus, these trees are part of the legume family so they have nitrogen fixing bacteria on their roots which aids other plants. The small leaves alow light to filter through, helping protect crops planted underneath  from the harsh African sun without hurting them with too much shade. Also, the morninga tree grows extremely fast so if a farmer plants 365 trees around her property, after they mature she can cut down one tree per day as it will provide enough firewood for her to cook 3 meals per day for her family. A new tree grows from the stump of the old one, so after a year when she comes back around to cutting that tree again- it will already be grown back to its mature size! This is awesome as it helps cut back on the charcoal and firewood industry combating deforestation and aiding in sustainability.

We are pround to say that Moringa is one of the trees we distribute throught the villages of Uganda. We beleive that every home should have at least one. Or maybe 365...

Links:

• Grassroots Uganda Facebook Page