Haiku 229
Oh Pomegranate
Used to eat you with a pin!
Full of seeds art thou
.
Hooray! I found a flower on my newly planted pomegranate tree. This was completely unexpected, as the tree is tiny.
Now when I was a kid my Mum sometimes bought one of these exotic fruits and cut it open for my brother and me to eat. I remember very clearly, she gave us a sewing pin each and that was how we were told to eat it.
As the flower began turning into a ‘fruit’, I regularly checked on it to monitor its progress. I couldn’t wait for it to grow into a large round fruit.
Then sadly one morning I found it on the ground!
Something had chewed it off! You can see how tiny it was here in my fingers.
So no fruit this year!
.
Side Story – Pomegranates in Kuruman
When the girls were young, we stayed for a year in the middle of the country, in the middle of nowhere. We were 100 kilometres from Kuruman.
We’d drive there many weekends, mostly for something to do, but it was a wonderful place. Kuruman has the best pizzas we have ever eaten. I remember it being very hot. About an hour north of Kuruman is a place called Hotazel; so you understand!
In Kuruman there is a natural spring of fresh water welling up out of the ground, called “Die Oog” – “The Eye”. It was always a lovely cool shady place to visit for respite from the sun.
There was also the Moffat Mission; where Mary Moffat had lived. She married David Livingstone.
We visited the Moffat Mission and the first thing that struck me were the enormous Pomegranate Trees, growing in a long avenue. I’d seldom even seen a pomegranate before then, and those were always bought from a shop.
Here were so many trees, all laden down with fruit. The ground underneath them was covered with fallen over-ripe fruit and you squished it as you walked.
Apart from the awesome pomegranate trees, I can highly recommend a visit to the Moffat Mission – if you ever happen to find yourself in the middle of nowhere. If nothing else, it will be a totally unique experience; you can walk where Livingstone walked!
Loved the poem and side story and absolutely enjoyed learning more about your country.π
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Thank you so much. π
I think you’re the only one to read it! – So I appreciate your comment very much. Thank you π
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π
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I’ve never eaten a Pomegranate, but now you have me interested! I’ve also never seen a Pomegranate tree before. So you’ve not only entertained me with your photos Sci, you’ve educated me as well! Thank you.
Ginger
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haha I think you Still haven’t seen a pomegranate Tree! Mine is so tiny! π
Well, if you see a pomegranate now in the supermarket, you’ll have to give it a go! π
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What a pity. There will be more next year.
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I hope so. π
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I also have a pomegranate tree (at home, inside, cuz itβs cold in Sweden π). I got a fruit 1 year ago, too π
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How lovely. π Maybe next summer you’ll get more fruit? π
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I hope so, I need to move it tho :/… it likes the sun, but also water π¦
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Oh yes, have to pamper to the little fruit tree. π
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My next Pom will be my first. Had no idea how to eat one. I grew up eating watermelon and spitting out the seeds. Love the picture and the poem.
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Thank you very much. π
I googled how to eat a pomegranate – it did not involve pins! Still, we had fun as kids! π
Enjoy your first taste of one. π
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We have a little pomegranate tree in a pot. Not many chances of fruit in the near/distant future but the leaves look beautiful.
Pomegranates are in plenty here and the seeds fairly easily removed. How much patience to pick at them with a needle! π
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I guess you’ll have to wait a bit for spring! π – But my little tree produced this flower after only one season – so there’s hope. π
As to eating it with a pin as a child – I think it just kept us busy and we had a lot of fun. π
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Yeah, mothers’ brainwaves! π
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haha Yes π
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I have never seen a pomegranate outside a store. It’s quite pretty, beautiful shot. I have wonderful memories as a child eating it for the first time. Loved it.
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Thank you very much π
I’m glad you have fond memories of eating pomegranates too. π
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Did you know that the pomengranate leaves are widely used in lil red dot as a lucky leave? Peopld would break a sprig of it and dip it in water to sprinkle blessings for new homes or put in pails so that the lucky water can be used to wash faces of those who attended a wake so that the spirits would not follow them home. Many homes would plant a pot outside their homes for this purpose.
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No I did not know – How interesting! π
Thanks GH π
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My pleasure to share our local customs/traditions.
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