You say: papaya, I say: papaya...

Even the most gringo of gringos can pronounce papaya with the ease and elegance of well-spoken español. Try it: PAPAYA
So easy, si?
Papayas are tropical-loving plants all the way. Dr. Seuss has nothing on this tree--look at it! From their long giraffe-like trunks all the way to their enormous frog-fingery leaves, these guys make truffula trees look like your average joe oak. Not to mention those wild groovy fruits!!!

Carica papaya

If you had never seen the inside of a papaya, you might be startled by its vivid orangey innards, and even more so by the plethora of slimy black semillas. this is not the most flattering photo, but honestly papaya is a delicious fruit!

Like your other orangey-red fruits and veg, papaya contains antioxidants, as well as the digestive enzyme papain--which means that somehow, papaya is good for your digestion! The flesh isn't the only medicinal part, the SEED of papaya has also made a name for itself. Ground up maybe, or just nibbled, the seeds are reported to expel intestinal worms (around here, this is critical info, i should know),,,and others (raw foodists, who else) claim that the seeds' flavor mimics that of black pepper. i am currently drying some up to give it a try.

Over at the farm, i employed papaya seeds (from the tree shown above) to fulfill the One True Destiny of all seeds: PROPAGATION! Following the advice of friendly online tropical gardeners, i deposited somewhere between 50 and 100 seeds into a shallow, fertile bed with ample sunshine, the idea being to thin out the more scraggly guys after germination.

After almost 2 months of impatient watering, we've got papaya! In keeping with their bizarre atypical appearance, papayas are one fruit tree that will produce fruit within the first year--the countdown is on!

you can already recognize the frog-fingers on this one!