Pomegranates

Throwback Thursday: A Fruit Most Treasured

/ Amie Inman / Leave a comment

 

Pomegranate tree at Harvest Fresh Farm. Photo credit: Kayleigh Levitt

Pomegranate tree at Harvest Fresh Farm. Photo credit: Kayleigh Levitt

With Kayleigh stationed at Cardamom County we’re currently exploring ways to make our organic garden more productive, despite the challenges posed by local wildlife. With that goal in mind we visited a colleague’s farm in Tamil Nadu, in an area where they don’t face monkey challenges, but some of their produce requires special netting to protect against birds and bats.

While there we enjoyed a farm tour that included harvesting a few different species of pomegranate, which happens to be part of my daily menu for many years. (Frequent guests at 51 will notice the healthy and delicious seeds making an appearance in many ways.) Continue reading →

The Tale of Two Pomegranates

/ Amie Inman / 5 Comments

The color red defines the current fruit season in India.  (Bananas don’t count because they are always in season, and yes there are indeed red bananas…)  The fruit stalls are piled with apples and pomegranates.  What lacks in variety is made up in abundance, as well as the flair for display.

But this season pomegranates reign.  Native to Iran (culturally Persia), the fruit traveled through India, mostly in the north of the country (Pune is famous for pomegranate production), but also in our southern state of Kerala.  The Middle East, Mediterranean and southern Europe were also fertile ground for the Punica granatum, and when the Spanish brought it to the “New World” it completed the global circuit nicely. Continue reading →