Mango Alipo

(Translation: mangos are available. In Chichewa "mango" is both singular and plural, and "alipo" means available or around or here.)

Even though I have been eating mangos for a couple months now, it hasn't felt like mango season because the giant mango tree in front of my house didn't have any ripe fruit yet.

All that has changed now. Throughout the day I hear ripe mangos falling into my yard. And I find this:

They lay in the grass like yellow Easter eggs, just waiting to be eaten. Which I am doing my best to comply with, but it's difficult. (What a great problem to have, right?) Today about eight mangos fell to the ground. I grabbed a couple for myself and gave the rest to the kids. They love them! I'm eating them Malawian-style now, mango skin and all except the pit. They are so good!

There aren't too many strangers climbing the tree to get ripe mangos now. The kids told me the men did that last week while I was away. Mostly the women come with long branches and bamboo stalks to knock out the ripe mangos, or the kids throw rocks and unripe mangos to knock out the ripe ones. It's a big old mango party here!

I was thinking about making something with them, like mango coffee cake, but we're having a bit of a heat wave now so the thought of standing over a fire for hours is not appealing. Anyways, I'm too busy marking exams and preparing final grades for school. Our new term starts on Monday, 4 January (that's how we write dates here). But there are still a fair amount of mangos to ripen, so maybe later this week.

What's in Season: September

The seasons, they go round and round. I've been in Malawi over a year now, so I've been seeing the seasons come and go. At this point Cold Season is transitioning to Hot Season. Maybe it's Warm Season? It basically feels like a typical Spring in California, with mostly hot days, but cool mornings and evenings. There is a little more daylight too which is nice.

This time of year is really windy in Mulanje. I'm listening to it blow outside right now. It kinda sounds like waves. The wind has really been drying out the ground, including my garden, which is unfortunate because we are going through a bit of a drought here and water is scarce. I had water today, but not the last two days. So my garden is suffering.

My papaya tree is doing just fine though. The kids pointed out the first ripe papaya the other day. It was a little underripe for my taste, but they were so excited that I let them pick it. The papayas are really big and plentiful this year.

Besides papaya, sweet potatoes are also in season, and can be bought along the highway in my trading post. I also saw the first green mangos for sale in the market. They're small still. The kids eat them with salt.

What's In-Season: May

May has been a really nice month, weather-wise. The rain is pretty much over, which I'm bummed about, and there has been a lot of wind, which isn't my favorite. But the mornings are chilly, followed by afternoons that are sunny and warm. So I get to wear long sleeves and snuggle under my blankets and drink tea in the morning, but there is still plenty of sun to dry my laundry and my dishes during the day. It's the best of everything.

In Mulanje we have access to a pretty diverse assortment of produce year-round. At the Boma this weekend I bought green beans, carrots, green peppers, avocados, bananas and a grapefruit. They also had a ton of tomatoes, onions and greens for cooking, since those are staples in Malawi. But not all of it is necessarily from this area.

At this point I consider something in-season if I can buy it in my village market. There are a few vegetable stands in the market, plus a few vendors that sell their produce on the side of the road. The selection is much more limited than what is available in the Boma, but it definitely changes each month and gives a good picture of the crop calendar around here.

So what's in-season in May? Right now the vendors are selling sweet potatoes (mbatata), cucumbers (nkhaka), peanuts in the shell (mtedza) and small bananas (nthochi).

Also, guavas! My neighbor Fanny has been sharing guavas she picked from her tree with me. They are small and green, but then they turn yellow and smell delicious when they are ripe. I've been eating them whole, skin and seeds and all.

But the biggest crop available right now is sugarcane (zimbe). Everywhere you look you see people chewing it, and there are sugarcane fibers all over the ground.

You buy it in a huge stalk, which is way too much for me, so I always share it with my neighbors. Here are the kids posing with their sugarcane.

The kids get really excited about having their picture taken, but then immediately stop smiling for the actual photo. That's the culture here-- people don't usually smile for photos like we do in the States. I forgot the word for "smile", but I told the kids "Sangalalani!" which basically means "Be happy!" Then I took this photo.

Aren't they cute? Just another fun May afternoon hanging out with my neighbors in Malawi!

The Last Mango

Today my mango tree gave up its last mango. You can still find mangos at the market, but mango season is definitely coming to a close.

How do you get a ripe mango out of a tall mango tree? If you are me, you patiently wait for the wind and rain to knock it to the ground. But the neighbor kids are definitely not patient. So when they came over to my house today and spied the yellow mango in the tree, they had a plan. And this was it:

And guess what-- it worked!

In terms of seasonal produce, I see lots of pineapples and a few mangos for sale by the road in my village. Bananas are harder to find, and the price is going up. (K300 for a bunch-- that's over $0.50!) Tomatoes and onions are still available, but they are small and a lot more expensive too. I did find bell peppers the other day for K20 apiece. They were crisp and cheap and really made my dinner taste fantastic. They are definitely my favorite vegetable (even though they are actually fruits in botanical terms, but whatevs). Which is why I saved the seeds and plan to plant my own tomorrow. Yum!

What's In Season - December

Oh yeah, it's pineapple (nanazi) season! I bought this giant pineapple for K300, so less than $1. You know a pineapple is good when you can eat the core too.

I bought this pineapple on Black Friday at the Boma market, along with green mangos, avocados, tomatoes, green beans and bananas.

On Small Business Saturday I supported my local village market by buying onions, eggs and a few sheets of white copy paper. Doing my part, even all the way here in Malawi.

What's in Season - November

I love going to the bigger markets in the neighboring villages to check out the new produce.

This month I have found lychees, avocados(!), these stone fruits that look like green apricots, okra, bell pepper and green beans. And of course the always available tomatoes, onions and bananas.

The lychees taste very sweet and much less slimy than I remember them. I shared some with the neighbor kids and they immediately spit out the seeds and took them home to keep for planting, so I guess they don't grow around here.

The avocados are delicious. The peel is really thin and you can peel it with your hands. The seed is usually loose inside and rolls around. The flavor is a little bit sweet, so I can see why people might eat them with sugar here. But i'm all about the guacomole. Mmm...

Oh yeah, did I mention the mangos? There are two kinds of mangos available now. There are the small yellow/orange ones and then the large green ones. They are both delicious, but I like the green ones better. They are less stringy and have a milder sweetness.

Here is a photo for comparison: