Health And Fitness Fans: A Very Special Tree

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My dad grew up in Puerto Rico. He came to the states when he was around 16 years old. Since then he has gone back and forth to visit, taking me with him a few times. As I got older I would go on my own to visit. We still have family out there and for the first time this year, I got to take my now 8-year-old daughter there to meet her family and see the island. It was such a beautiful experience. My father came with us which made it even more special. He was so excited to show his grandaughter around the island. We had her taste all kinds of tropical fruits, pick fresh coconuts from the tree, swim in the Atlantic Ocean, listen to music, and see all the sites Puerto Rico had to offer. We are from the far west side of the island from a small area called Aguadilla. It's quite different from the east side of the island, near San Juan, where tourists tend to visit. I often suggest to people who say they are going to visit PR to check out the west because it is Puerto Rico's best-kept secret. During our visit, Kaliah, my 8-year-old, tasted many foods from all over the island but the food she liked the best was the food cooked right at home from my cousin Yari, and my Aunt Maria. We ate good ol' homemade Arroz Con Gandules (rice with pigeon peas), tostones (fried plantains), and some chicken) pasteles (a traditional food...it's a mash of green banana and root veggies which is turned into a pate then stuffed with chopped chicken, olives, peppers, onions, spices, and other goodies, all wrapped in a banana leaf then cooked - they are similar to a tamale). She gobbled it down so fast I don't think she even breathed between bites! Haha. My Aunt cooks with very fresh ingredients. So fresh, she had picked and shelled the gandules (pigeon peas - Cajanus cajan) that same morning from a tree growing right in her front yard. She mashed the yucca, she created her own spice mix. It was all so so delicious and fresh. We stopped at several markets just to show Kaliah the different types of foods that grow on the island. Our family is blessed with many of these fruit trees so we only purchased a few items from the market since we picked a lot of fresh food from the trees on their properties.

It was really hard to say goodbye when it was time to go. We enjoyed visiting the family so much, touring the island, eating all the delicious foods, and of course the beaches. When we got home, I wanted so badly to see that special smile on my dad's face more often. I wanted him to feel a piece of the island here at home. I decided to try sprouting some gandules myself! We are in a subtropical area after all. I knew they likely would not overwinter and I would have to grow them as a perennial but I figured once we get a good crop of them it would be easy to save seeds and start again the next year.

The tree grew and grew all spring and summer. It had absolutely no pest or disease issues. It was a very happy tree. Coming into fall, it finally started to bud with the most beautiful flowers donning the tops of the branches. We watched these beautiful flowers grow, open, and then just fall off. I was concerned they would not produce and here we are coming to the end of October, and the frost is not far away, and yet no gandules....well...until today. We checked the trees and guess what!? We have gandules!! This is so very exciting for us and my dad is acting like a young boy on Christmas day. It's so wonderful to see that smile and energy in him. We are hopeful we get a decent enough harvest to make Christmas dinner with, which is traditional in Puerto Rico. The gandules in Puerto Rico tend to be ready to shell in December, given their seasons are a little different than ours. Once the pods start forming they only take about a week or two to be mature enough to pick. They have been growing for a few days now and we still have about a week left before a light frost so I think we will make it in time!

We have a few trees planted, some at my parents house and some here at my Kindred Acres Homestead. Only one is producing so far. The second of the large trees is flowering abundantly so it too may produce some. The third tree was quite a bit stunted, I assume from where it was positioned. I uprooted that one given it was small enough to bring inside, potted it, and will continue to grow it overwinter inside. I also took some clippings from the good trees to root and of course, we might have some peas to harvest for seed so next year for sure, we will be prepared and start everything much earlier than this year.

While eating healthful foods, getting sun, and all those other things you can do to ensure a healthy body are important.... sometimes the most important thing to do are the things that make your soul leap for joy. Seeing my dad leap for joy at the sight of these beautiful flowers and pea pods growing in our own back yard really touched my heart so deeply. It's the best kind of medicine.

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