There are only 5 major growers in Australia, mainly around the Byron Bay area. They are all having to let their fruit drop to the ground as their major buyer Tropico, hasn't bought from them this year.
If the consumers don't buy it off the supermarket shelf in juice etc they won't be buying it next year either. That means these growers will be closing down their orchards. Which will be a terrible shame.
700 tonnes of guava fruit is rotting on the ground at the moment. That is the whole of Australias guava crop.
Oh By the way I'm watching Landline at the moment.
jules47 said
07:22 PM Jul 15, 2012
Oh yeh - guava and champagne - delightful on a hot day!!!!
antigoon said
09:18 PM Jul 15, 2012
it's not like people won't buy fresh guava but it has to be available before they can buy. It's a pity the growers didn't get together and organise to go direct to consumer or better still add value buy juicing them and selling the juice or turning it into jelly. Left over pulp can go to compost or pig food.
Happywanderer said
10:59 PM Jul 15, 2012
Totally agree antigoon, that was suggested to them on the program. One is selling it fresh, must be at a local market. They interviewed a lady who had ideas on how to make by products that would sell, eg a lovely gel block that would go with cheese and bikkies.. She was talkinng to them about branching out and maybe saving their business.
Cruising Granny said
11:16 PM Jul 15, 2012
There are drinks and confectionery with guava, and it's not my favourite fruit. The growers need to do some marketing.
Gerty Dancer said
11:49 PM Jul 15, 2012
I made some guava jam last year, luckily the kids didnt like it, cos we really enjoyed it! The guavas came from a local backyard.
Rip and Rosie said
02:21 AM Jul 16, 2012
I have a guava tree and love it !!
Try this one for Happy Hour
2 litres chilled guava nectar 3 fresh guavas, cut into thick slices, for garnish (optional) 2 chilled bottles Champagne or sparkling wine
Combine guava nectar and champagne in a punch bowl. Add guava slices; serve over ice.
neilnruth said
02:31 AM Jul 16, 2012
We'd buy guavas if we could - we love them -but they don't send them down here.
Happywanderer said
02:40 AM Jul 16, 2012
I think I will have to scout out the markets here. Maybe Eumundi Market will have them.
Sheba said
05:45 AM Jul 16, 2012
Don't forget to check for Fruit Fly strike Marj. They're very prone to it. Nothing worse than biting into one, and finding it's full of little wormy things.
Cheers,
Sheba.
Rip and Rosie said
02:58 PM Jul 16, 2012
Even as kids we knew to break the fruit open BEFORE the first bite! However, these days I keep my tree fruitfly free, and I pick up fallen fruit, so haven't seen a grub for a number of years now (fingers crossed).
Happywanderer said
03:00 PM Jul 16, 2012
Thanks for the warning guys, will remember that when I find some.
Rip and Rosie said
03:18 PM Jul 16, 2012
lol, Marj.... hope you remember BEFORE the first bite, Nothing worse than finding half a grub!!!
Gerty Dancer said
03:32 PM Jul 16, 2012
They are sometimes called Feijoas, if you are looking for them by name Marj.
sandsmere said
04:28 PM Jul 16, 2012
We used to grow them . They grow wild in the Sunshine Coast hinterland .
Feijoas are the pineapple guavas . there are also cherry guavas , which I reckon are the nicest .
There is an old saying . . . "he that eats the most guavas , eats the most grubs " .
The ordinary guava makes fantastic jelly .
BohemianGypsy said
05:47 PM Jul 16, 2012
Rip and Rosie wrote:
lol, Marj.... hope you remember BEFORE the first bite, Nothing worse than finding half a grub!!!
That has happened to me actually
I near brought up the meal I had the day before that is how sick I felt when I realised that I had eaten half a grub
If I even see a blemish I cut open before sinking the teeth into fruit now lol lesson learnt after one time grub eating lol.
Michelle
BohemianGypsy said
05:49 PM Jul 16, 2012
sandsmere wrote:
There is an old saying . . . "he that eats the most guavas , eats the most grubs " .
The ordinary guava makes fantastic jelly .
Oh now see that just turns me off even trying them LOL. Knowing you have all those horrid little grubs inside OMG Yukkkkk!!!!!
Michelle
Bent Axle Bob said
07:57 PM Jul 16, 2012
Just luv dem feijoas!. In Auckland the councils plant them on the nature strips. As kids we would sit down at the tree and eat them, cant remember seeing any half grubs though. Ahhh well.
Bent Axle Bob said
08:01 PM Jul 16, 2012
They can also be made into a very passable wine.Have had the odd glass or 3 on a number of occassions
neilnruth said
03:47 AM Jul 17, 2012
Gerty I thought feijoas were totally different. I like guavas but not feijoas. We have cherry guavas and I could stand at the tree and eat stacks of them. By the way. My hubby says it doesn't matter about the grubs - they are full of guava anyway!!! Yuk.
Happywanderer said
04:40 AM Jul 17, 2012
Guavas and Feijoas are not the same fruit. Love Feijoas too. Back in the old days I used to do peoples tax returns. They would pay me with boxes of Feijoas from their gardens, In NZ.
Bent Axle Bob said
04:46 AM Jul 17, 2012
Just Googled FEIJOAS. Yes, a member of the GUAVA family, known as Pineapple Guava, but IS NOT a Guava. The internal of the feijoas fruit is segmented, pale green/yellow to a pale purple. The Guava is not so distinctly segmented and is a rich red/ crimson color
Happywanderer said
04:48 AM Jul 17, 2012
And tastes and smells completely different.
Beth54 said
09:28 PM Jul 18, 2012
I don't think I've ever tried either. Although I'm sure Mum had a Guava tree when I was a kid.
There's a Feijoa tree growing near my porch. (I rent my granny flat at the back of the main house.) I watch the birds eating the nectar from the flowers, then the fruit gets strewn around everywhere...don't know if it's possums or birds. My Kiwi friend says the tree needs some TLC.
-- Edited by Beth54 on Wednesday 18th of July 2012 09:28:57 PM
Rip and Rosie said
04:35 PM Jul 19, 2012
The possums love my guavas, and the fruit bats. I often find fruit on the ground with teeth marks in -like little kid teeth. Can't leave fruit on the ground as it attracks fruit fly. Every year or so I cut the tree back, and it comes back again better than ever. Haven't done it for a while I have been enjoying its shade.
A few years ago we had some asian refugees who settled up the street, and they asked if they could have some fruit. Nice people, and the kids would come in and climb all over the tree to collect fruit. Seems they used it in cooking, but becasue of the language problem we never swapped recipes.
If you have a glut of fruit, you could offer it for free.
There are only 5 major growers in Australia, mainly around the Byron Bay area. They are all having to let their fruit drop to the ground as their major buyer Tropico, hasn't bought from them this year.
If the consumers don't buy it off the supermarket shelf in juice etc they won't be buying it next year either. That means these growers will be closing down their orchards. Which will be a terrible shame.
700 tonnes of guava fruit is rotting on the ground at the moment. That is the whole of Australias guava crop.
Oh By the way I'm watching Landline at the moment.
Oh yeh - guava and champagne - delightful on a hot day!!!!
The growers need to do some marketing.
Try this one for Happy Hour
2 litres chilled guava nectar
3 fresh guavas, cut into thick slices, for garnish (optional)
2 chilled bottles Champagne or sparkling wine
Combine guava nectar and champagne in a punch bowl. Add guava slices; serve over ice.
Don't forget to check for Fruit Fly strike Marj. They're very prone to it. Nothing worse than biting into one, and finding it's full of little wormy things.
Cheers,
Sheba.
We used to grow them . They grow wild in the Sunshine Coast hinterland .
Feijoas are the pineapple guavas . there are also cherry guavas , which I reckon are the nicest .
There is an old saying . . . "he that eats the most guavas , eats the most grubs " .
The ordinary guava makes fantastic jelly .
That has happened to me actually
I near brought up the meal I had the day before that is how sick I felt when I realised that I had eaten half a grub
If I even see a blemish I cut open before sinking the teeth into fruit now lol lesson learnt after one time grub eating lol.
Michelle
Oh now see that just turns me off even trying them LOL. Knowing you have all those horrid little grubs inside OMG Yukkkkk!!!!!
Michelle
Just luv dem feijoas!. In Auckland the councils plant them on the nature strips. As kids we would sit down at the tree and eat them, cant remember seeing any half grubs though. Ahhh well.
Love Feijoas too. Back in the old days I used to do peoples tax returns. They would pay me with boxes of Feijoas from their gardens, In NZ.
Just Googled FEIJOAS. Yes, a member of the GUAVA family, known as Pineapple Guava, but IS NOT a Guava. The internal of the feijoas fruit is segmented, pale green/yellow to a pale purple. The Guava is not so distinctly segmented and is a rich red/ crimson color
I don't think I've ever tried either. Although I'm sure Mum had a Guava tree when I was a kid.
There's a Feijoa tree growing near my porch. (I rent my granny flat at the back of the main house.) I watch the birds eating the nectar from the flowers, then the fruit gets strewn around everywhere...don't know if it's possums or birds. My Kiwi friend says the tree needs some TLC.
-- Edited by Beth54 on Wednesday 18th of July 2012 09:28:57 PM
Can't leave fruit on the ground as it attracks fruit fly.
Every year or so I cut the tree back, and it comes back again better than ever. Haven't done it for a while I have been enjoying its shade.
A few years ago we had some asian refugees who settled up the street, and they asked if they could have some fruit. Nice people, and the kids would come in and climb all over the tree to collect fruit. Seems they used it in cooking, but becasue of the language problem we never swapped recipes.
If you have a glut of fruit, you could offer it for free.
I love my guava tree.