The Mango Tree.
As teenagers my brother and I went to the the 1973 Australian film The Mango Tree. As I recall it wasn’t a bad movie and it was set in locations familiar to us. It was with this same brother that I recently revisited the old farmhouse and took this photo of the mango tree, as you can see loaded with fruit; around Christmas time there will be loads of ripe mangoes to enjoy.
I remember my mother planting this tree. It was grown from seed, a Bowen Mango, back then a new variety whose fruit was stringless. My mother nurtured the seed into a small sapling and planted it where the old mango tree had been. The old mango tree was the common variety which produced lots of fruit but it was very stringy and less flavoursome than the new Bowen variety.
Since fruit trees grown from seed take about 7 years to fruit, my dear mother never saw fruit on this tree; cancer had cut her life short. But over 45 years later this tree stands proud, producing crop after crop of beautiful mangoes. And this is why we should never stop planting trees, especially those which bear fruit. They are a memory and legacy of our life which blesses others year after year long after we have passed from this world.
I am trying to find that 1973 film of The Mango Tree as I would like to watch it again just for old times sake! But for today I will enclose my mother’s recipe for Mango Chutney and hope some of those mangoes will find their way into chutney!
Mum’s Mango Chutney.
Ingredients. 24 green mangoes 500gms raisians 1kg sugar 250gms preserved ginger 125gms minced garlic 6 small chillies 600 mls vinegar good pinch of salt Method. Boil sugar and half vinegar to a syrup Add other ingredients and the remainder of the vinegar. Boil to a good colour - about 2 hours. Cool a little and bottle into sterilized jars.
Way leads onto Way 