The Not so Faraway Trees
An orchard where fruit and family history collide
A grapefruit tree once saved my backside when I was 7 years old. Mum and Dad had gone out somewhere and I was at home with my granny. The old orchard backed onto the house section and was a great place to pick some fruit for afternoon tea and sit in the shade while you ate it. From time to time it was the paddock for one of the stallions that we had on the horse stud. They were fearsome things. Full of testosterone and loathing, one of them had bitten a full grown man once; lifted him right off the ground. That was a tale we loved to scare our friends with. I however; was 10 foot tall and bulletproof, and on this particular day nothing was going to stand between me and the delicious tart, ripe guavas in the orchard. As I was pulling on my gummies Granny Grace threatened “you’ll get a whack with a stick if you go near that stallion paddock !” I pretended not to hear, gummies in place I was out the door as fast as I could go…she was hot on my heals ! We have a saying in our family “you can’t trick an old tricker” and Granny knew exactly what I was up to. I heard her pick up dads draughting stick as she raced through the door after me, I broke into a run, she broke into a run. Over the gate and into the orchard, puffing and huffing, her with a stick and me with my sights on my afternoon tea. I looked back and she was gaining on me, I knew that this chase would end in a sore bum unless I made a plan. The plan came in the form of a big grapefruit tree. I pushed hard and scrambled up the tree as far as I could climb and out of reach of the stick. She stood below, checkmate. “Now what are you going to do ?” she asked. I really had no idea but as I was surrounded by grapefruit I thought eating one of those while I waited for some kind of escape plan was a good scheme. It tasted extra good that day, I think grapefruit go really well with adrenalin !
Turns out I didn’t get a smack. Before my grapefruit was finished I was ‘saved’ by mum and dad coming home. I did get an earful for not listening to Granny Grace however; and fair enough too !
I still live on the family farm, it’s an incredibly special place and memories are everywhere. The people I’ve loved and lost all around me and I can’t walk through that orchard and not think of a worried little granny with a stick and a naughty little girl in gumboots.
Some of the old trees are still there. There’s a lemon tree that always has a lemon for your gin and tonic no matter what the season. There are a few of those ‘butt saving’ grapefruit trees left, an orange tree and 5 fantastic guava trees. This time of year the guava trees are always heavy with fruit and often have 5 or 6 big beautiful kereru in them, fat and full. They are the fruit that featured in my mums guava jelly, it was famous. I remember having to take it overseas for relatives from time to time who just craved that taste of home. Then there’s dads plum tree. It’s sacred to this family and a bit of an in house joke. The plum tree fruits around Christmas time, sweet little pink/red plums with white juicy flesh. To stand under that tree and eat until I had a tummy ache was a regular occurrence, it still is. The little tree had such an abundance of fruit many would fall to the ground and the chooks and birds were there in numbers, happily pecking away. Dad hated waste. His was a frugal upbringing and to see fruit on the ground didn’t sit well with him so whenever the tree was in fruit and we had visitors dad would offer them a bucket of plums to take home. When I say offer I mean force upon them. “No thank” you was not an option and even if you’d told him they made you break out in hives there would be a shopping bag on the backseat of your car full of plums when you left. It always made me laugh and now when I find myself offering the fruit as a take home to my friends I can’t help but smile.
GRAN GRANS GUAVA JELLY
INGREDIENTS
1.5kg of ripe guavas
Water to cover in pot
2 Tbls lemon juice
2 cups white sugar approx
METHOD
Place the guavas in a large pot and squash roughly with a potato masher to release the juices. Just cover the guavas with water and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes.
Place a colander lined with muslin over a large bowl. Tip guavas and juice into the muslin. Allow to drain for several hours. Do not push or squeeze the guavas or the liquid will become cloudy.
Measure juice and place in a clean saucepan. Add the equivalent cups of sugar, and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil for 15-20 minutes. Place a little on a saucer. When your finger runs through it and the jelly holds its shape it is ready.
Pour into sterilised jars and store until ready to use.