Whilst traveling to Belize last summer to learn and document about the Maya people I passed through the hummingbird highway, Its a beautiful yet perilous road going through the mountains and the jungle. Alot of trucks and speeding cars with sharp bends and hilly terrain are a recipe for disaster. I have to say I was holding my breath travelling through this place.
I was staying at a conservation centre half way down the highway and
Everyday I would go visit this roadside stall, as I had no vechile I had to walk to this stall with no sidewalk....again I way trying to stay alert but I have to say it felt a bit hairy, however it was well worth it to be able to buy these delicious fresh fruits.
Starfruit is one of my favourite fruits in a hot in humid climate, its so hydrating, i also learned you can it eat in a savoury style by chopping it into slices and sprinkling with salt and pepper, this works especially well with the bitter starfruits.
The stall also sold other staples like ginger, turmeric and root veggies, like coco yams, which again was one of my favourite dishes whilst in Belize. Its like a healthy mash potatoes but sweater and creamier....It such an abundant and sustainable crop, definitely one i would grow in my own garden since its possible to grow it even at home.
Since I visited this stall everyday for 2 weeks I got to know the owner very well. I visited her fruit forest behind the roadside stall where she said she planted all the trees herself, she said she needed a solution for making money since her husband is much older than her and pretty elderly now, she also has teenage children to look after.
Everyday she was busy and had many cars and trucks stopping to get her fresh produce. All her fruits are organically grown, there were hundreds of different fruiting trees.
Some rare fruits ive never seen before in my life like this red velvet apple, to be honest it doesnt taste like apple, its much more sweet, dense and creamy textured. You cannot eat the skin infact the skin actually gave me rashes because of all the fine hairs, so even though i like the taste of these apples, i hated carrying them home and preparing them, because somehow the hairs would go all over me and cause discomfort.
During this time, I honestly felt the healthiest ive felt in a long time, eating fruits everyday felt extremely cleansing and energizing. I would love to live this lifestyle and have a fruit orchard of my own but I dont know if I would necessarily want to run a stall everyday because the work was quite busy. The lady who owned the orchard barely had enough time to pick the fruits, there was always so much to do she was run off her feet. However its useful to know that its an option (to grow and sell your onw produce) and its literally possible to print money from tree!
Let me know what you think? would you like to have your own tropical fruit orchard? have you ever seen fruits like this before?