Mango Season!

Warning: no synchro here, just a celebration of mangos!

Mango season is here again in South Florida and this summer, our oldest tree, the one right outside my office window, has produced so many mangos that the branches are sagging. You get a sense of it in the photo above, where you actually have to stoop way over to make your way along the walk. I suspect the summer crop will be at least a hundred, maybe twice that.

For the past couple of summers, the trees have produced more fruit than in earlier years. Our summers here are definitely heating up and these trees love the heat and flourish. For most of June, our daily temps were in the mid to high 90s, with a couple of days peaking at 100 degrees. I can practically hear the mangos singing in this kind of heat.

The squirrels have a field day in our yard. As they knock green mangos from the trees, Rob gathers them up every day and puts them on a porch table, so they can ripen more quickly. He also slices up some of them and freezes them for smoothies. We should be able to enjoy mango smoothies well into the winter months.

Another unusual quality of this summer’s crop is the size. I selected our three largest mangos and weighed them on a bathroom scale – two and a half pounds!  The Hatcher mangos, named after the man who started a local mango orchard,  tend to be the largest.

Here’s a mango salad Rob made. That golden color is emblematic of the best mangos, so delectable they practically melt in your mouth.

A single mango the size of one of those in the photo can easily constitute a full meal. These fruits are loaded with nutrients. They contain more than 20 vitamins and minerals – everything from vitamins A, B6, C, D, E, K to 564 mg of potassium, thiamine, folate, iron, magnesium, plenty of fiber, no cholesterol, just 3 mg of sodium.

These suckers taste so good that you forget they’re actually good for you! Mangos help with digestion, lower cholesterol, normalize insulin in the blood, alkalize the body,  clear the skin, and aid in the prevention of certain types of cancer, are a remedy for heat stroke, act as an aphrodisiac, and boost the immune system.

Now we’re on a hunt for mango recipes. Here’s as recipe we’re trying next. It’s called  Summer Rainbow Salad:

Ingredients:

3 vine ripe tomatoes

2 mangos, peeled, seeded, and cubed

2 avocados

1 cup of fresh blueberries

1 chopped red onion

½ bunch cilantro, chopped

¼ cup fresh lime juice

½ cup pineapple juice

Hope you all can stop by for a taste!

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10 Responses to Mango Season!

  1. lauren raine says:

    Oh, I’m so jealous! I’d love to have a fresh mango, and better yet, a chance to make buckets of mango chutney!

  2. sharon catley says:

    Yummers! Karl marinates mangos in a little soy sauce with salt and pepper. Good with Asian food.

  3. DJan says:

    When I was a girl in Puerto Rico (my dad was stationed there), I remember vendors selling mangoes on a stick. They were peeled, sliced diagonally all around, allowing it to open like a flower. Then you could dip it in a mixture of cayenne powder and sugar. It was delicious, as I remember. 🙂

  4. Nancy says:

    Love mangos! But we usually only buy them in Hawaii. Something about having to ship them to Nevada that makes them less tasty. I envy you the ability to walk outside and pick one. Have you considered dehydrating some?

  5. I’ve never eaten many mangos, they are in our supermarkets now and then but it’s not something we’d probably buy. Next time I see them though I’ll get some. That’s a lot of vitamins and minerals!

    My son grows some fruit. We went up to his house today to do a bit of gardening, as he’s away, and there are strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, red-currents at the moment. Nothing as exotic as mangos, but he is trying to grow a banana tree! Later he’ll have apples and pears and a few others.

  6. I’m jealous! I love mangos and I love to cook. I could be busy for days and pigging out like crazy. Do you freeze some or make sauces or jams?

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