GreeNZ Peace: Feijoa Fantastic

Size difference between our feijoas

So, eating seasonally can have it's challenges - none more acute than feijoa season! Feijoas, or pineapple guavas, are indigenous to Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina and have acclimatised to growing in our little New Zealand garden with a vengeance. They have these striking little fluffy red flowers which the blackbirds seem to love. During the first flowering season, I spent a most of my time running out and shooing away the birds as they voraciously “devoured” and tore apart our feijoa flowers! Later, I found out that the very little blighters I was scaring away, were responsible for pollinating our fruit!! So now I smile in Spring when I see them ripping the flowers apart - each one will be fruit for us in Autumn!

Feijoas have a relatively short fruiting season - roughly 5 - 7 weeks, when they drop their ripened fruit onto the ground. A daily harvest usually yields anything up to a full bucket of fruit. This of course, has to then be processed! So feijoa season is an intense mammoth industrial kitchen affair, what with 8 trees in our garden! I dehydrate them, puree them, compote them, crumble them (substitute feijoas for apple), fruit salad them, jam them,chutney them and palm them off on any unsuspecting neighbour or visitor before they can politely refuse!

A clutch of God's little Egg-shaped Delights at Easter!

A great chutney recipe worthy of sharing, from Digby Law:

1kg feijoas

500g onions

300g raisins

500g pitted dates

500g brown sugar

1 Tbspn ground ginger and 1 of curry powder

1 tspn ground cloves and ¼ of cayenne pepper

4 tspn salt

4 cups malt vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)

Wipe feijoas, trim ends and finely slice. Finely chop onions and coursely chop dates. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and cook very gently for 11/2 to 2 hours until chutney is thick. Spoon into hot, clean jars and seal. Makes about 3 litres.