Papaya harvest... finally!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009


Homegrown papaya
Originally uploaded by sassycrafter
Finally! The little papaya that I've been nurturing since April is ripe enough to eat! Well, almost. I wanted to let it ripen a little while longer, but it developed a soft spot and I was afraid the whole thing might rot.

I brought it into the office and shared it with everyone here. The blossom end tasted like a papaya ought to taste (which in some people's estimation, isn't tasty at all). Georgia really liked it, but I was kind of on the fence. I'm one of those people who don't always like papaya, but I have to say that it was pretty darn cool to eat something I grew myself -- especially since it was seven months in the making.

Here's a shot of the plant back when it was in bloom.

New papaya flowers

You'll notice that there were two flowers. The second fruit is still ripening on the tree. And man, has the tree gotten big. It's nearly as tall as me! Okay, so maybe that's not saying much since I'm just 5'2", but it's pretty amazing to see how it's changed.

A papaya from my very own plant!

6 comments:

Randy Emmitt said...

Kim,

Wow that is cool growing your own papayas. I'm jealous,but not something to try in NC I guess.

Kim Taylor Kruse said...

Randy: You might be surprised. I keep my papaya in a container so that I can pull it inside during the winter months. I'll bet you could grow one successfully in a container, too.

Joy is the key said...

Very nice.
I'm happy for you.

Anonymous said...

waw. i like your post..its cool.. im from philippines. check my latest post.. tnx. godbless you..

SFaith said...

You must be so proud of your home grown fruit!

I've never been able to get a papaya to ripen fruit in a pot. I keep trying to grow one in a container to protect it from the winter freezes.

So far, I've only gotten them to fruit in the ground.

Wicked Gardener said...

Kim - Where ya' been?