Love them or loathe them, at this time of the year are are unavoidable. We have a short 6 metre long hedge consisting of six feijoa bushes that runs along part of the south boundary of our section (residential property). Every few days we gather several kilograms of the fruit.
An over abundance of feijoas!
Today, our granddaughter picked up 8.5 Kg (about 19 lbs) of the very aromatic fruit in around ten minutes. Harvesting is by collecting fallen fruit from the ground – never by picking off the tree, as picked fruit fails to develop as much flavour and sweetness as fallen fruit.
Thanks to methyl benzoate and similar chemicals, the potent aroma is what makes feijoa so unavoidable. It is very distinctive and during harvest season, which for us is May and June, the house positively reeks of it. It’s one of those smells you either love or loathe. I don’t think I’ve met anyone who is indifferent to it.
The picture is one I took a few days ago. The two bags our grandson is holding contain 5 Kg (11 lbs) of feijoas. Five bags of fruit were gathered that day totalling about 12 Kg (26 lbs). The three grandchildren gathered them in little more than five minutes
For those unfamiliar with the fruit, it tastes a little like guava, a little like pineapple, a little like pear and a little like tart berries. Yep, it’s like eating a very flavoursome fruit salad. Delicious! They are best eaten raw, but are very nice in a cooked desert such as apple and feijoa crumble. It also makes a wonderful aromatic jam.
Inevitably, we give away most of our crop to family, friends and neighbours, as do most people with more than a single bush – they’re such prolific croppers. The rest we consume fresh or it’s frozen for making into desserts or smoothies over the next six to twelve months.
As I have already mentioned, it’s a fruit you either love or loathe. At this time of the year, if you visit someone and the place doesn’t smell of feijoa then in all probability they do not like the fruit, and you can be sure they’ve turned down many offers of feijoas over recent days. Don’t risk harming a friendship by offering them any.
Another Spectrum 
26 May, 2017 at 9:44 pm
Hello Barry
Have you been well?
26 May, 2017 at 10:12 pm
Define well.
I’m healthy, not loosing weight, but I’ve been in a semi permanent mind fog over the last month or so, which kind of messes with life somewhat. My migraine diary tells me I’ve been migraine free on 8 days during the last month and each attack averaged 54 hours and 46 minutes. Most days I wake up with what feels like an intense hangover, and spend the rest of the day trying to recover with varying degrees of success. But otherwise I’m in great shape.
Well you did ask 🙂
26 May, 2017 at 10:13 pm
And I am glad you answered. I like your answer.
I can only wish you better days
27 May, 2017 at 6:35 am
I am sad to hear this, and glad to hear from you.
27 May, 2017 at 6:36 am
And- the fruit sounds wonderful.
27 May, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Really wonderful if you enjoy the heady pungent aroma of methyl benzoate. But there’s a significant section of the population that can’t stand the smell. If you’re one of those, you’ll really,really dislike feijoa, and you’ll find being in a room where some are being kept quite unpleasant. We have a large fruit bowl that always sits in the dining room, and at this time of the year it contains a lot of feijoa. The aroma permeates the house, and hits you the moment you come indoors.