I am trying to keep a captive audience (Ha-Ha) but it isn’t always easy to come up with a catchy title…you know, one where you will definitely click to read the rest of the post! Well, I do have some interesting pictures…if you want to have a nosy…

This one is called a kiwano (Cucumis metuliferus) which is originally from Africa. It is a very unusual fruit because it has horns…the horns are actually very sharp and one fruit is considerably heavy at about 1/2lb in weight.

(Gnome says that it would make a very dangerous fruit weapon. I told him not to worry and that I wouldn’t try to throw one at him even if I got into a bad mood!!)

This fruit is an annual vine in the cucumber and melon family. This is our first planting and we have found them very easy to germinate and grow in Belize. They are highly productive but prone to caterpillar infestation. So far, we only have the unripe green ones. They have the same texture as cucumbers. At this stage, they still have a mild tropic fruit flavour which makes them more flavour-some than a cucumber. We have a lot of them right now so we have just been eating them raw as shown in the picture. They are supposed to turn orange-yellow when they are ripe…seems to be taking ages. We can’t wait to try them because they are supposed to have a passion fruit/banana/ tropical fruit type of flavour. We will keep you posted on this one.

Okay, the next picture is amazing. We have been waiting two years for this vine to flower and it was well worth the wait. This is plant is from the Aristolochia genus and this particular variety is called Dutchman’s Pipe.

Wow!! It really does look like a pipe and it is so pretty. The origins of the name comes from a Greek individual called Aristolochos who dreamed that the plant could be used to treat snake bites. Apparently, this plant was an ancient remedy for uterine problems. Now, it is considered toxic and poisonous. This is one of the few ornamental plants that we have. That’s it for now…

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