Good morning, and glad to have you guys once again for a quick tour of my backyard.
Today I will show you 2 tropical fruit bearing trees: Kamias and Atis.
Kamias
The kamias, also known as bilimbi, is a short tree whose green fruits grow in clusters. The acidic fruit is juicy and is rarely eaten raw. When I was a child I would frequent the kamias tree that grew at a vacant lot behind my grandma’s house, and bravely eat the fruit raw, dipping it in salt. As I got older I came to realize that the fruit is best used as a substitute ingredient for tamarind, for sour soup dishes like sinigang, pinangat, and paksiw. I have also been able to have a taste of kamias candy and jam. Didn’t like these much though, so I stuck on just using kamias for home cooked dishes. 
In olden days, elders boiled the kamias leaves and cool the water to be used for bathing mothers with newborns. I don’t recall what the ritual is for though…
Speaking of that old tradition, the next tree I wanted to show you is the Atis tree, whose leaves are also used for new moms’ baths.
Atis
Atis, also known as sweetsop or sugar apple, is a fiber and protein rich, custard-tasting fruit. A fruit has multiple black seeds. It is also ricg in vitamin C and B6, manganese, iron, magnesium and potasium.
Our atis tree was also a pleasant surprise. We were using the seeds from a consumed fruit as part of our compost, when all of a sudden a seedling emerged. The photo above capturesthe first 2 fruits produced by our atis tree – that’s six years in the making! So I am so excited it finally yielded fruit!
What fruit bearing trees do you have in your backyard and are they also easy to maintain?
Living Free and Making a Difference 