Pomegranate



The pomegranates are ripe now and will split open showing off the ruby-like seeds (see picture 1) if not harvested soon. The tree I have is call "Wonder". The fruits are huge (see picture 2 with a quarter for size comparison) with very red skin and dark purple-red seeds. The seeds are delicious although it is a pain to get the seeds out from the white membrane they attach to. I like to put the seeds in a tray and just savor the flavor one by one while watching TV. The seeds have a tangy sweet flavor and they look like a plate of precious jewels.

The pomegranate is symbol of fertility and is often used in Chinese wedding as a blessing for the bride and bridegroom to have hundreds of sons and thousands of grandsons. Nowadays, nobody really wants to have a lot of children. So, maybe pome is considered old-fashioned. Not to worry, the pome juice is supposed to have one of the highest amounts of anti-oxidants and have all kinds of health benefits including reducing plaque of blood vessel to prevention of cancers. I am not sure the health claims are all true. It surely does not hurt the enjoyment of the fruits. It is nice to eat something that is beautiful, delicious and good for your healthy. It is almost a perfect fruit if there is a way to get seeds out easily.

The tree is easy to grow. It is a small deciduous tree with small leaves. It does not attract too many insects. The leaves tend to curl up in early summer, probably due to aphids or whiteflies. A spray of soap water 2 or 3 times usually takes care of the problem. The flowers are orange and quite attractive. The fruits are very ornamental. The fruits form from the new growth near the tips of the slender branches. As they grow bigger and the branch hung low down so they are easy to harvest.

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