Friday, June 18, 2010

Money doesn't grow on trees

It's a hit or miss with our mango trees.

On a good year (when the cosmic alignments are just right), our mango trees yield a plentiful harvest. On any bad year however, either there are too few fruits to pick or the fruit quality is not the very best. That is the cyclical dilemma we experience each year with our small mango orchard.

This year's harvest however was rather good and an exceptional one. The fruits were big, plenty and disease or blemish-free. It took a couple of trucks to haul the cases out of the farm. And that is a very good indication of a sufficient bounty.


Our small mango orchard is contracted to a third party entity. They are responsible for flower induction, fumigation, harvesting and marketing of our produce. Basically all we have to do is nothing but keep the trees alive. At the end of harvest they pay the farm for the agreed price which is also just and fair.

Mangoes are seasonal fruits which usually peak during summer. This means that the trees are done fruiting for this year. Although there are still some fruits left on some of the trees, these are the strugglers and late-bloomers.

Money may not grow on trees, but fruits do and when they are sold, they get converted to cash, something that the farm badly needs right now.