Loquat Time

 A number of years ago I went into the old Ocracoke Trading Company and saw a small plant for sale in a number ten can.  Foy Shaw was working there and he told me that it was called a loquat tree and that’s all he knew about it.  

I bought it and set it out in the side yard.  Now the tree is at least thirty feet tall and each year bears an abundance of yellow fruit after it after it blooms in the winter.  I had never done anything with these fruit, but, Trish decided this year it was time to explore the possibilities of the loquat.

Native to Southeast Asia, the loquat is cultivated there for both its fruit and its leaves which are used for making a kind of tea.  It also grows in Gulf Coast states and up the East Coast to South Carolina.  Ours just happens to like Ocracoke and thrives here.

After finding recipes for loquat jam, we headed outside to pick the loquats.  Trish did the picking and I was the ladder holder.  She got pretty high up into the tree and for a nice bucket full of the yellow fruits.

Then it was to the kitchen to take out the large triple seeds and then cook them down on the way to making the preserve.

She added cardamom as well as sugar and finally filled the jars and processed the jam.

The taste is described as a cross between peach and mango.  I would agree with that with a tiny edge of citrus.  The cardamom is the perfect spice addition.

I think that  next year we will be looking for harvest time and do this again.