Papaya

I will write up about Papaya in my Treetop-ics blog, but for now something else about Papaya.
In some countries it is called Pawpaw, but it is a tropical fruit and it is common around much of Tanzania.
In the past the plant (actually a herb, not a tree) was grown for its gum - a sort of white latex which had medicinal value. The fruit is high in vitamin C and can be used to tenderize meat. A poultice of it can draw out sea urchin spikes - and I suppose other thorns.
It is a short-lived plant and it usually grows flowers of one sex, but male flowering plants do have fruit sometimes.

There are a few clones that produce better fruit than others and Joshia took me to meet his friend Stephen at Mateves who grew some really good-fruiting plants.
Like Joshia, Stephen was Maasai and he lived in a tidy compound in the new house he had built for his new wife. Like most houses, there was no ceiling board so on hot days, the radiated heat could be intense. That's why you plant trees - to provide shade! No ceiling board is because the ever-present dust accumulates on ceiling board and the weight eventually causes it to cave in - just one of those small problems that we in NZ find hard to understand.

Stephen was trying his best to make a good life for himself and his wife (and later the baby boy). He and I traded Michongoma and its seed as well as other trees - he was a keen tree planter. Stephen also kept partridge hens (kanga) - they were difficult but interesting.

Stephen would give me some of this big fruit - watermelon size and almost red fleshed. I would give the fruit away on condition that the dried seed be returned to me. There is opinion that the white seeds are male, but that may be - I tend to think they are enviable.

I had a lot of contact with Stephen, his wife and child and was pleased to count them as friends.

I grew the Papaya plants at Sanawari as well as Makumira and also provided seeds to those interested in growing them. The high vitamin C made it a good addition to the diet of rural children.

The first batch of 400 plants was just ready to deliver to the villages but to my surprise, they disappeared during a weekend that I was away! It transpired that Big E was short of cash and had given them to his son's school in lieu of fees! Well I was none too happy, but hey, the plants had served a purpose and were being well used - I could produce more in a few weeks.

Papaya are easily grown and stop fruiting well before the plant dies. For optimum management it is best to have a replacement plant established before removing the old one.

Monkeys steal the fruit and birds - especially mouse birds - eat their share as well.

If you see Papaya (Pawpaw) in the super market - buy it and give it a try.