Baobab fruit season

February is a wonderful time to see growing baobab fruit.  They emerge from their showy white flowers in December and take six months to grow into our superfruit. In February they are still growing and the fruit are soft and green.  The inside of the fruit is wet and pulpy, providing an ideal environment for the seeds to grow and mature.  I usually do annual fruit monitoring at this time so that I can catch them on the tree, counting the number of small, medium and large fruit on each of 40 trees that I visit each year .By May they start to dry out and drop off the trees.  This is my 8th year of monitoring the same trees every year.  Must be a record!

 

 

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Truckloads of Baobab leaves for West Africans

Truckloads of Baobab leaves for West Africans

“I always wondered what the fuss was about dried baobab leaves in West Africa,” says Dr Sarah Venter. “In Southern and East Africa baobab leaves are known to be eaten but it is not very common. In West Africa however, stories abound of smuggling and theft of truckloads of baobab leaves from one country to […]

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HOW ANCIENT ARE BAOBAB TREES REALLY?

HOW ANCIENT ARE BAOBAB TREES REALLY?

I often get asked how old baobabs become. There is a lot of myth with most people believing that they live for up to 5000 years. I have been working with Dr Adrian Patrut, who has made it his mission to find the oldest baobab in the world. He has been at this for about […]

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We did it! 50 baobab trees planted!

We did it! 50 baobab trees planted!

We’re thrilled to announce that what began as a dream in November 2013 has become a reality today! We have planted 50 baobab trees in the wild thanks to the help of our wonderful sponsors.  Baobab trees can live to over a thousand years old, are tough and sturdy and can survive near desert-like conditions. So why do we need to nurture baobab seedlings until they are strong enough to survive in the wild? 

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