Fauche Fruit Update by Cory

Dried up cacao tree, September

When we returned to Haiti last September we flew into Cap Haitian and spent a day at Fauche.  I also made a trip the last week of January but we didn't blog about those visits.

North Haiti had the worst drought last summer that the people there can remember.

Some of the spring crops like peanut were lost and gardens lay fallow until fall.

 Normally winter is very rainy but this year the drought continues, with no rain for the past 6 weeks or more.

Cacao starting to produce again, January

Cacao was the most popular tree to plant in north central Haiti for the past few years, with some nurseries being helped by a USAID program.

 World chocolate prices are good and it is profitable to grow but unfortunately it is one of the most drought sensitive trees.

Most of the cacao trees near the mission are making a good recovery and starting to produce again.

 Some died and most had large branch dieback.

Peach palm planted in '15

The peach palms are doing well.

Production was less due to the drought but a few of the trees from Costa Rica are starting to produce.

I still think they are one of the best trees to plant for quantity and quality of food produced while protecting the environment.

The fruit is rich in calories, vitamins, high quality protein and oil.

Haitians like the flavor, which is a mix of the popular flavors of sweet potato, squash and corn.

Filling, nutritious, good flavor fruit, the floating oil is from the fruit

February 2015

Same garden January 2019. The owner of this rented garden was allowed to farm it normally the first 3 years, then he left it fallow to graze during the drought, the forage peanut we planted next to many

of the palms grew into excellent pasture.

I did NOT challenge to hug the spiny peach palm. I expect the spineless type to be more popular than the spiny.

First fruit (not full grown) from seed brought from Costa Rica in '14

Rambutan seedling, also from Costa Rica

Trees and from Fauche to Delice

Please pray for Gener (below) and his family. His wife and newborn premature daughter have been in the hospital for several days.

Acai, a unique flavored fruit good for juice and ice cream, popular in Brazil.

 Peach palm, acai and cupuassu flavors bring back memories of my time in Brazil. (I think Santarem had a better market for jungle fruits than Manaus and Belem)

 I can't taste the acai in some of the products like acai chocolates sold in the USA.


Champedak, related to jack fruit, has very smelly peel (bad), but pulp has sweet fruity flavor, I think the seeds are the best part at least from the tree we have.

If boiled they are like boiled cashew nuts, which are popular in sauces/stews in Haiti.

Cupuasu [brown and fuzzy] in background, is an excellent fruit for juice and jelly, related to chocolate but it takes longer to start producing.

The fruit on the jar is custard apple. (January photo)

Rainy Week and new fruit

18 inches of rain fell last week with rain every day or night. At least 3 people in our area drowned, including a man riding a horse across the Port Margot river and a child washed away in a ravine. Livestock was also lost. With the month total around 33 inches, the ground was already soaked at the start of the week.

Cory plans to check the far gardens Tuesday.

Wednesday the district board will meet on campus. One of the issues that needs to be dealt with is livestock grazing on campus.  Several families refuse to stop letting their goats forage on campus and getting into the gardens. Some areas still have young trees that can be damaged quickly by goats or cows.

One of the families was very upset a few days ago when Cory took the goat that was tied in a peach palm garden behind the clinic and tied it in the locked mission storage shed.

This isn't the first time Cory put the goat in "prison" but this time she had two young kids, about 2-3 months old and not weaned so it turns into a long story (and a long night for them) since they decided to bring the kids home instead of putting them in with the mama goat as Cory suggested.

 The next morning we found that one of the paddle locks had been pounded with a rock and the latch sawed on with a hack saw.  This is the main storage shed which holds cement, rebar and supplies for the clinic construction which is in progress. We reported this to the district and they said to return the goat to its owner and they would deal with it Wednesday. Please be praying.

Our seedling champedak tree had two ripe fruit recently. Champedak is a closely related species to jackfruit. The first ripening fruit was not noticed for a few days since Cory didn't recognize the odor which is like bad asphalt. The inside smells more fruity but is also strong and fills the house.

[I'm trying to convice Cory and Anna that this fruit needs to be eaten in the gazebo not the house..and storage in the shed!]

The peel pulls off easier than jackfruit but the only edible part is a small amount of pulp around each large seed. It is soft but also has a fine fiber that seems best to avoid swallowing so it is barely edible, even though the flavor is sweet and fruity. We will probably plant a few of the seeds and cut down the tree after the rest of the fruit ripen. Sometimes hybrids are better.

At least the seeds, which are high in protein, can be boiled and eaten.

First week back home in 2017.

The week started out cool and rainy. The last couple of days the weather alternated between rain sprinkles and brief sunshine. Saturday afternoon we returned to cool, cloudy with occasional sputters of light rain-continuing into Monday morning.

Due to the rain the local school didn't start last week but sounds like classes today.  Cory did not get across the river to see the far gardens.

He did make some cuptuasu jelly!

We worked to repair the goat house, as the wires rusted and no longer held it together.

Mom and baby watched with interest.

The cool rainy weather has not been good for the local goats as we hear that one hospital employee lost 4 of his in recent days.

No adoption news or updates on the Délice phase one funding proposal. Getting hard to wait.

We did Skype with our member care folks on Thursday and appreciate their care and prayers.

Most of the items we returned with have found their places, while other items moved during cleaning and organization. Being stuck in the house due to rain provides time for office work as well as cleaning and organization.

The cleaning is always needed after we've been gone for a few weeks or more, especially when it's been raining. Kris's folks will be coming next month, one week after we return from a medical team with the Lutherans, so it's good to get a head start on the cleaning.

Thursday stirred up many memories and feelings being the 7th anniversary of Haiti's big earthquake.

More emotions Saturday with it being the third anniversary of our adoption chart being accepted into IBESR, Haiti's children's social service office. How we pray to exit soon or just hear some news on what is happening with the case.

No real news since we heard of yet another report being requested on Dec. 2nd. Please continue to pray that our family can wait well, praising and trusting the Lord even with the deafening silence of no news surrounding us and reminding us that F is not yet home. More thoughts and prayer requests on our adoption blog.

Saturday, we cleaned and organized the kitchen cupboards. One gets used to using storage containers to protect foods and spices from bugs and moisture [each contains an open container holding calcium chloride desiccant].

Anna also cut Cory's hair. I enjoyed chatting on instant message with Eli. We experimented making 'pulled pork' barbecue from unripe Champedak (similar to jack fruit) while Anna experiments with using jujubes in apple crisp recipes.