I’ve been propagating fruit trees non-stop this summer. As for trees that produce food while also being incredibly beautiful to look at, guava has been my front runner. That was until I got my hands on a few jackfruit seedlings😍! I still have love for all varieties of guava, buuuut… jackfruit has gained an edge in the race for my heart.

The ornamental evergreen native to the sub-tropics grows the largest tree-borne fruits in the world— sometimes exceeding 100lbs each😳. Both the unripe & ripe fruit is consumed.

Unripe jackfruit is sometimes called “vegetable meat” as it has a neutral taste that can easily be amended with seasonings & has a shredded chicken texture. The ripe fruit is naturally sweet & has a subtle banana-pineapple-mango flavor combination. The seeds are also edible.

Jackfruit is low fat & a good source of carbohydrates & fiber, as well as B vitamins, vitamin C & potassium.

I regularly buy canned young jackfruit & the fresh fruit can sometimes be sourced locally. Though I appreciate this access, I look forward to meeting mine & my community’s organic jackfruit needs from my beautiful trees in the coming years🤲🏾