One of the things that Ken and I were most excited about when we bought our house was the prospects of a garden. We had managed to make do for years with the tiny terraces in our apartments — we have a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree, a Bearss Lime, and a thriving herb garden. But the possibilities of growing things for ourselves was intoxicating. We were overjoyed to discover the delights already in the offing — ornamental plums (too sour to eat, but good for jam), peach trees, a pomegranate tree, and my favorite, the pineapple guava, which I recognized because it’s identical to the spreading one growing in my grandparents’ back yard.
A garden, it turns out, is a work in progress. We put in blueberry bushes and raspberry canes, planted a second pomegranate tree, and ordered greengage plum, quince and persimmon to plant this winter. Of course, the plants we added will take a few years to bear fruit. We moved in too late for the plums, the peaches dropped all their fruit before it was ripe, and the pomegranate turned out to be non-bearing. But we’ll still have a bumper crop of Meyer lemons this winter, and the pineapple guava did not disappoint.
Pineapple Guava, or Feijoa, is a native of Brazil. The tree sports dark green and silver leaves, with dark red fuzzy blossoms that bloom in the Spring in Southern California. This fall, the tree has been laden with the fruit — ovoid spheres of a pale dusky green tipped with the remains of the blossoms. We’ve had enough that both us and the squirrels have been satisfied.
I eat them the way my grandfather taught me — splitting the skin with my thumbnail, then sucking out the perfumey, sweet tart jellied center and scraping out the grainy flesh with my teeth. When I’m being more polite, I use a knife and a spoon. The flavor is reminiscent of a ripe pineapple, with the balance of sweet and tart, but with a more aromatic edge and a texture closer to guava.
We’ve been pretty happy eating them plain — they’re that good. But if you’ve got any feijoa recipes, I’d love to hear them!
I’ve never seen these before – you learn something new every day
Thank you so much for this post. I live in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains and we have a lot of deer. Friends recommended to plant Pineapple
Guava’s but I didn’t know how to eat them. Thank you!
Gardening really is an adventure, isn’t it? I’ve never seen pineapple guavas before. I hope this is one of those situation where once I learn about something, I see it everywhere–because I’d love to try one!
I love feijoas. I’m from New Zealand. We have feijoa candy and drinks and feijoa vodka.
I was just checking in and enjoying your blog – (that pie and your crust look wonderful) and then I read this fantastic post. I just read about these feijoas recently and wanted to learn more. I love that you have a tree –lucky. The pics of scooping the fruit out are so lovely and I can almost taste that juice. Brava, Kate!
I thought you might be interested in pineapple guava jelly recipe. I inherited it from original homeowner who planted trees in the 1950′s. I have owned since 1987 and have enjoyed them since then (along with the squirrels, raccoons and rats).
Usually I eat, but when crop is prolific I scrounge for uses (besides giving away). Can also make breads, like zucchini or banana.
Jelly recipe from old MCP Pectin recipe sheet (no longer available).
Recipe must be followed EXACTLY otherwise you will end up with a lot of runny juice, too thick for syrup and too runny for use on toast. Uses for runny recipe include sweetener for cereal, etc..
Fruit necessary: 5 # pineapple guavas, 4 lemons
How to prepare fruit: Slice guavas 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick. Place in large saucepan. Add 3 cups boiling water (to just cover) and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Crush fruit well. Bring just to a boil (can simmer up to 10 minutes very low heat for extra yield).
Prepare juice: Strain in cheesecloth or jelly bag, yield, 3 1/2 to 4 cups.
Make jelly (yield about 7 cups): Place 3 1/2 cups juice in saucepan. Must use exactly 3 1/2 cups (add up to 1/2 cup water if necessary). Measure 6 cups sugar in separate bowl. Do not reduce amount of sugar or use sugar substitute. Add 1 package pectin (any brand) to juice in saucepan. You can add oil, about 1 to 2 tbsp, such as grapeseed (neutral flavored and heat tolerant), to reduce foaming. Slowly bring to rolling boil, constantly stirring. Lower heat then slowly and carefully stir in sugar then increase heat and bring to rolling boil again. Skim off foam. Immediately place in jars while boiling hot. Let sit to cool.
Produces clear yellow jelly, reminiscent of ripe guavas. Very unusual and delicate flavor. One of my favorites.
Thanks so much Eric. Unfortunately, the squirrels have been active this year, so we don’t have enough for jelly, but I’m tucking it away for future harvests!
You can eat the skin, too! It is tangy but delicious.
Hi — I understand I probably need 2 trees for fertilzation; does it matter as to if they’re the same variety or not?
Mitch — I am far from a horticultural expert, but I will tell you that we don’t have two trees, and our one is very prolific. I can’t speak for our neighbors though — there may be other trees that are cross pollinating in the neighborhood.
I LOVE MY PINEAPPLE GUAVOS
Can’t find any anywhere is there a place in Orange County to buy them. Reminds me of my grandpa when I was a kid.
We are looking at buying pinapple guava trees, but we an’t find anyone that has a tree. Are they a lot of work? Does the fruit fall off and make a mess, or is it more like citris and stays on the tree until it is picked?
Would you say they are a clean tree over all, or do you need to pick up a lot of dead leaves and blossoms?
Thanks!
When the fruit falls off, it’s ripe. It’s a beautiful thing to discover the fruit on the ground, and not a mess at all. Very clean tree, no mess, but you will want to prune it occasionally. Can be pruned to be a tree or a shrub, espalier, whatever. Takes care of itself, otherwise, and doesn’t seem to have any bugs or other problems.
I have 14 of these trees and we sell the fruit, jam, leaves for a healthy tea and sproutlings. These are wonderful trees. You must have at least 2 though.
If your only going to have a couple of Feijoa trees choose your breed carefully you need at least one that is a pollinator.
Feijoa is very big in New Zealand though I don’t think I’ve ever heard them referred to as Pineapple Guava. They are very aromatic more so than any fruit I can think of. The feijoa is great in smoothies or juiced. You can use some of them to replace apple in a crumble.