How cool is it that we have a big mango tree in our backyard? It’s very cool to us. Living in New Jersey our entire lives, mangos were the epitome of a tropical fruit. Wherever they came from, it was surely far away from New Jersey.
Miami is Tropical
Biscayne National Park in Miami, Florida
You don’t need to visit South America to be in the tropics, South Florida has tropical weather. The unbearable humid and wet season runs from June to September. I haven’t lived through the rainy season yet, so this first year will be interesting. This tropical climate is perfect for fruit trees such as mango, orange and papaya.
3 Bedroom House for Rent (with Mango Tree)
When we first moved into our rental home in the Miami suburbs, our landlord told us that one of the big trees in the backyard is a mango tree. Mango is our favorite fruit, for both us, so you can imagine how exciting that sounded to us. In our minds, this was a feature that added to the house. A few months after moving into the house, baby mangos started to appear hanging from limbs. Having no idea of the fruit’s growing and ripening time, we waited patiently. 3 months later, and it’s raining mangos.
A Day's Worth of Mangos
Now that the mangoes are ripening, turning shades of red and yellow, we can see that our yard isn’t that unique. From our backyard we can spot about 7 other giant mango trees.
Raining Mangos
Our Mango Tree in the Backyard
With over 10 mangos falling a day, what can we possibly do with them? Honestly, if you have ideas, let us know. The mango tree is a time sucker, but it’s still pleasant to us. Our tree borders our neighbors yard and they receive a good share of falling mangos, but they aren’t fond of the tree. I cringe when I see 20 or so rotting mangos in their yard. When they aren’t home, we jump over the fence and try to find some that are still edible.
Mango Tree Nuisance
It may be hard to believe, but the mango tree can be a backyard nuisance. We scan the yard every chance we get looking for fallen fruit. If that mango is left more than 2 hours on the ground, sow bugs and many others will have invaded it. And if you leave them for over a day, you will have created an insect haven. Add dozens of them and your backyard becomes bug infested. This is the time consuming part, and why our neighbor hates the tree. If you aren’t out in your yard constantly picking up the fallen fruit and keeping it or discarding it, it can get nasty. Since we love the fruit, we out there a lot, and probably save about 75% of the fallen ones. The others are taken by the bugs and cats.
Mango Meals
Cut Up Mangos As a Snack All the Time
Aracely cuts up the mangos every day and freezes the slices for future use. I am not sure if we will have enough room in our freezer for all of them, it’s still too early to tell. The ones that are extremely ripe and soft get eaten immediately. So what’s on our list of meals so far?
- Breakfast
- Mango smoothies
- Mango in yogurt
- Lunch
- Sliced mango
- Desert
- Mango mousse
Mango Mousse Dessert
For dinner we will be having fish with a mango citrus salsa. I have done some research on the web and there are still plenty of more mango recipes to experiment with.
Wikipedia: Though India is the largest producer of mangoes (Pakistan being the largest exporter), it accounts for less than one percent of the international mango trade, consuming most of its own output.
Our mango tree may not be unique in Miami, but it’s still special to us.
A mango tree in your backyard is quite common here in Queensland, Australia as well. I don’t have one myself, however I know people who do and some make a heap of extra money selling them each season. Even though Australia produces most of it’s own mangos, they still sell for $3-$4 each in the shops. So if you own a mango tree you can sell them for a smaller price and people will buy them from you
Yea, you are right, you can always make money selling them. A lot of people sell them on the street corners here. In the grocery store they are still $1USD each, even though the trees are around. But, like I said you have to be on top of it to get them before the bugs do.
I will keep trying to see how many I can freeze for the winter.
try dried mango, they are super great during winter, so i suggest you go buy a dehydrator and start making lots of dried mango and save them for storage, you can give them as gifts, or sell them. I honestly loved dried mango you can like keep them for more than 5 years and they don’t go spoil, and if a disaster comes, you’ll be glad you have those dried mango.
Woow.. awesome guys! Can I visit??
We have plenty of mangos to go around! Sure!
Another use – Mango Chutney. I would kill for a mango tree.
Yummmy, mango chutney
Yes, I will make that for some fish dishes. Should taste so refreshing.
How wonderful! I love fruit trees and fruit-bearing plants…didn’t used to like mango but it has grown on me over time =)
I think mango is my favorite fruit. I have to admit, I was so eager to eat them initially that we tried eating ones that weren’t ripe, but had fallen. We learned a lesson. We have to be patient, because the good ones will eventually fall. If we get early storms, many will fall off before they get time to mature.
Very lucky. We are going to miss mangos once we take off from our paradise here in Roatán.
I agree with Don. Mango Chutney, goes great with chicken or fish. Recipe is super easy, let me know if you are interested.
You are going from Mangos to Potatoes! Lol Well, they can do a million things with potatoes.
Ohhhh my goodness!!
That all looks delicious and I am entirely jealous of you
It is delicious! But, Aracely has got her work cut out for her cutting up mangos everyday.
The mango tree is a definite incentive since you can use it to make so many different dishes or just eat it on its own. Lucky! Can I have some?
It’s a lot of fun to have so many mangos. I never thought of having a mango tree. Sure, there is lots to share!
Coool, certainly beats whats in the backyard here, mango smoothies straight from the garden, does it get any better than that?
I have planted a bunch of garden vegetables too, but it’s tough to grow anything but fruit trees. The sandy insect infested soil here doesn’t like veggies! So, the mangos are still the bomb in the yard. I don’t think anything else can top that big tree.
Mango is my husband’s favorite fruit (well, it may tie with white guava…)! Getting fresh mangoes here in Ireland is a pricey undertaking! We frequently visit a spice shop that supplies the Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi themed restaurants to buy mango and guava juice. We also pay through the nose for dried mango at some of the natural food shops (we won’t buy it if it was dried or preserved with chemicals).
So… have you considered making mango juice that you could seal up for the time when mango season is over? Or drying slices? We have a dehydrator, but it’s back with all our other kitchen stuff in Rome. You can also make some pretty affordable DIY dehydrators (Google search)! I don’t know if mango preserves is viable, but I know I would totally eat mango jam and jelly if I found it!
Mmm. A delicious dilemma to have. Enjoy!
Oooh, look! http://www.indianfoodforever.com/jams-jelly/mango-jelly.html
I will have to research mango juice, never thought of that. Thanks for the jelly recipe! We are definitely trying that one. We love peanut butter and jam sandwiches!
I used to gather up the mangos from the tree in my yard in Kailua and if they were overripe I would squeeze them into ziplock bags, freeze them and make perfect mango margaritas all year long. Oh, I miss my mangos.
Mango margaritas… added to our list of things to do with our mangos. Thanks!
That post is like moaning about your diamond shoes and the size of your wallet!!
That sounds totally brilliant. If you’re having problems with your mango tree you could:
a) invite me over to build a tree house in your tree, live in said tree house and farm it for you in return for daily beer, some clean pants and the occassional BBQ ribs,
b) point a but allow my girlfriend to live with me in the treehouse
c) the same as point b but instead you live in tree house and we move into your house?
Let me know. Honestly I’m happy to oblige anytime.
I miss the variety of mangoes. I came from Indonesia, where there are many different kind of it. I never see my favourite kind anywhere else… Also, we love to eat our mango with a spicy sweet sauce made of chili, palm sugar, and peanut among other things, crushed together. I miss it big time!
Oh, wow. Dina, that sounds heavenly. We must meet in Indonesia some time! *drooling noises*
Now that sounds interesting. I might have to research that recipe.
Ooh, lovely! I come from the northern world, so mostly apples and pears up here, which is nice, too. But mangos… so soft and easy. And mango chutney goes excellently with a nice curry.
Same for us, these tropical fruit trees are exciting. Now we just need a starfruit tree.
I loved having a mango tree in Costa Rica — except when we got inundated ha. And also my years in Miami… enjoy!
Yup, we are trying to manage about 15 mangos a day, it’s becoming a bit overwhelming.
We have 2 mango trees, bananas coconuts, , an avocado (YUMMM!!!), guabanaba and we think we may have just discovered a guava tree! Come to our hostel and pick your own!
Just saw this on one of my Youtube subscriptions: “Mango Sauce Tease”
http://youtu.be/jLDJ2xsGPCw
Hahaha! A trailer for a recipe video.
In any case, looks like it’ll be Thai Chili Mango Sauce. Sounds really good!
Mango’s are $2 a piece in Los Angeles right now. If I send you my fed-ex account number will you mail me some..lol
I can send you strawberries
we can barter..lol
-dafunny1-
I’m so jealous! I love mangos. I ate them all the time in Australia but they’re so expensive in the UK. I’ll have to make do with my pear tree
Not quite as exotic but they are nice.
Yes, it is awesome to eat free mangoes. Now that the tree has finished harvesting we are tapping into the frozen slices we put in the freezer for smoothies.
Just stumbled across your article. I found it humorous as you spoke of the falling mango’s, but as an Ohioan… i can say that having a free (or inexpensive) supply of fresh mangos I think might be worth the effort, so looking at that ripe fruit hanging from the tree makes me very very jealous lol!