Harvesting Loquat

I know that it’s summer and that I’m a bit late, but I still wanted to share a few photos with you from a few months ago when we harvested fruit from our loquat tree.

Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a fruit tree native to the cooler hill regions of south-central China but has somehow adapted to our Mediterranean climate and can be found in many gardens around the island.

The fruit itself is sweet and great for preserving whether in the form of jam, compote, or marmalade, however we tend to eat it fresh right off the tree.

What has surprised me is how fast this tree has grown. We bought it only a few years ago, as a small stick, not taller then my hip…. and after just three years we have a fully grown tree with abundant harvest.

During the spring, whenever we would see ripened fruits, we would just get out, pick a few, and eat them right away.

But then, at one moment, what seemed out of nowhere, the whole tree was filled with fruits ready for picking.

Thankfully, my younger son was more than happy to help and what could have been a laborious task, turned into a lovely afternoon.

We had so much fruit that we gave some to family, friends, and neighbours, and were even happy when we saw birds helping themselves to the abundance of the harvest.

The tree is now decorated only with its large leaves which can also be used as herbal tea, and is resting through the summer heat and getting ready to hopefully give us yet another abundant harvest next year.

Ivana