Cashew apples must be cooked...

[Mary Terry]

Dragon fruit was sold in Hawaii. Quite delicious. My mother-in-law had a lychee tree, so my daughter as a young child would enjoy these. I do wish to get a avocado tree in my next house but l have to special order it.

You can easily grow an avocado tree from a seed. Just buy an avocado at the store, remove the seed, put it in a container or jar of water so only the bottom half of the seed is submerged, put it somewhere out of direct sunlight and wait. The root will start growing, the seed will split in two, and the trunk will start growing out. I've also rooted avocado seeds in damp soil without first putting it in water. In fact, avocados grow voluntarily in my compost pile every summer from the seeds taking root there.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

Are you sure they are edible? Cashew is in the same family as Poison Oak. I had always heard that the husk (apple) of the cashew has the same sap on it as poison oak. But, I don't know for sure. I have never seen a cashew tree.

 

[Outdated]

Are you sure they are edible? Cashew is in the same family as Poison Oak. I had always heard that the husk (apple) of the cashew has the same sap on it as poison oak. But, I don't know for sure. I have never seen a cashew tree.

They're a bit of a weird plant. The nut isn't inside the fruit but attached to the bottom of the fruit. Aboriginal people don't eat the fruit, I was told it would make me sick. But the fruit makes a handy timer to tell you when the nut is cooked.

They taste a lot better when you buy them commercially, properly roasted and salted.

 

[Outdated]

People eat many foods that are toxic. In western society we're used to eating a lot of tomatoes and potatoes, but eating the leaves from these plants will kill you.

Throughout the tropical regions around the world there's a family of plants called Cycads that grow large nuts. They're poisonous unless treated properly but people eat them when other foods are scarce.

First the nuts are peeled, then they're left in running water for 5 or 6 days to leech most of the poisons out. You still can't eat them after that, they need to be roasted, but even after that they're a bit dodgy, so the people grind the roasted nuts in to a type of flour used to make bread and it gets cooked once again.

There have been cases of entire populations on small islands wiped out because the cycad nuts weren't properly prepared.

 

[Mary Terry]

People eat many foods that are toxic. In western society we're used to eating a lot of tomatoes and potatoes, but eating the leaves from these plants will kill you.

Throughout the tropical regions around the world there's a family of plants called Cycads that grow large nuts. They're poisonous unless treated properly but people eat them when other foods are scarce.

First the nuts are peeled, then they're left in running water for 5 or 6 days to leech most of the poisons out. You still can't eat them after that, they need to be roasted, but even after that they're a bit dodgy, so the people grind the roasted nuts in to a type of flour used to make bread and it gets cooked once again.

There have been cases of entire populations on small islands wiped out because the cycad nuts weren't properly prepared.

View attachment 130733

Taro root is poisonous unless the skin is removed, and the root is thoroughly washed and cooked. Yet it is the mainstay food of many places. Poi is made with taro root in Hawaii and Polynesia.

 

[Lemon Zing]

Speaking of healthy food...

I heard Edinburgh's 'Organic Jim' passed away last week.

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/new...residents-devastated-local-character-29284212
He met me along the Union Canal once with my friend, years ago. I got him to dance to "Every Day Hurts" (a 70's UK hit). Loved to collect records and chat about healthy eating. Was very popular among the locals in areas past Tollcross.

Rest in peace, sir.