Mahaba Farms began on land that was barren except for 3 mango trees planted along the south side many decades ago by my great grandfather. The largest of the 3 trees is a Turpentine mango. I know there are people who like Turpentine mangoes (known in the Caribbean as “Stringies”), but I’m definitely not one of them🤢

Initially I’d resigned to the fact that I’d simply appreciate the large trees for providing the only shade on the entire lot😪. During my first mango season on the land, I noticed little mango seedlings popping up in the grass around the mango trees. These are known as “volunteer” plants. As fruit falls to the ground, it rots; leaving the seed exposed to the soil, facilitating germination. Later, a little fruit tree reveals itself.

I had enough work to do that first mango season, so I simply composted the seedlings or mowed over them.

This past mango season was less fruitful than last which I didn’t mind since I don’t want to eat that variety of mango anyway. Then it occurred to me: Why not use this bad tasting, but vigorous tree to produce mangoes that I actually want to eat?

“What kind of magic am I talking about?” you ask.

✨That magic is GRAFTING!✨

Grafting simply involves identifying a tree that grows well in your area & using that as ‘root stock’ to then attach, i.e. ‘graft,’ the branch of a tree in the same family but of a more desirable variety. Once the 2 trees are successfully combined, you’ve created a “Frankenstein” tree that- say, in this case- has a Turpentine mango root stock, but produces delicious Haden mangoes🤤

Following my epiphany, I had a new mission for mango season 2024: gather & pot up volunteer mango seedlings in order to use them as root stock for grafting on desirable mango varieties the subsequent Spring/Summer.

As I worked on the farm, I kept a bucket of water nearby so I could quickly dig up any mango seedlings I discovered & set them into the water while I worked.

Later in the day I would pot the seedling into soil & place it in my nursery area for safe keeping.

By the end of winter I’d accumulated more than 20 volunteer mango seedlings🤲🏾

As temperatures warmed late last month, it was time to acquire scions (plant cuttings used for grafting) from my desired mango varieties. I purchased scions from 5 different mango varieties: Valencia Pride, Orange Sherbet, Lemon Zest, Peach Cobbler, Pickering.

I gathered my grafting equipment & spent hours carefully grafting each plant material to its root stock.

I pray that some of the grafts will take & I can look forward to delicious mangoes on the farm in the near future. Regardless of the outcome, I found great joy in the process. That is its own gift🙏🏾

Have a great week on purpose!