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By clare, September 20, 2009

A new batch of figs this afternoon from the same tree, which may be the last as there are few left on the branches.  There are now more fruit on the ground than on the tree; a mottled purple and brown carpet of decaying bounty.  Across the grass is another tree with fruit coming on, so I will be supplied for a while longer.

This week I had a wonderful afternoon gathering green mangos with a friend.  Mango trees are everywhere in Cairns.  Some were planted originally by cane farmers or households long gone, some by public authorities, others feral survivors that have sprung up from the fruits dropped by fruit bats, or tumbled down seasonal creeks by the rush of wet season waters to sprout life away from their parent.

Because we have such a wet Wet season, Cairns is criss-crossed by wide drains, permanent creeks and seasonal flow channels.   It is most often in these places that the mango trees grow, providing seasonally abundant crops to the public.  To me, the scent of masses of overripe and rotting mangos is one of the signature aromas of the wet season, drifting in amongst the smell of rain and wet foilage as I walk streets and green spaces.  Word is that we may have an early and big wet season this year, so the rain may be here soon.

© Clare Richards 2009

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By clare, September 17, 2009

I live at the base of the forested range that sweeps up from coastal Cairns to Kuranda at the ridge and then out across the high plateau that is the Atherton Tablelands.  So across from my home, just past the few blocks not yet carved up and sold, the forest begins, rainforest.

At night I am sometimes half-woken by the sound of dingoes howling across the range to each other, and mid-afternoon this week when a brief shower of rain swept through, they starting calling out to each other.  I walk daily on the edge of this wilderness, keeping an eye out for taipans and wild pigs as I go, and looking for wallabies coming out onto the open ground to feast on the grass.

Yesterday I noticed that the indigenous fig trees (I’m sorry I don’t know their proper name, when I have it I will post it here) were in fruit, and the fruits were ripe.  I dodged the green ants to try one.  Apart from the robust amount of seed they contain, they have a lovely flavour, subtle, and between fig and strawberry.

So today I returned to do some harvesting, mindful of the highly protective green ants, spiders, and as always keeping an eye out for signs of snakes.

So now I have my harvest…

…and I will be trying them stuffed with a few different things for dessert tonight.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

PS. Stuffed with strawberry jam and cream cheese, or chilli sambal and cream cheese, or on their own (sans seeds) they are very more-ish.

© Clare Richards 2009