First it was the figs that I dried, then the corn being blanched and frozen. Today’s glut is mangoes.
We have 2 mango trees, one large one that is about 20 years old and does not fruit. I have no idea why there are no fruit and I am not sure how long we will maintain a non-productive fruit tree when the space could be better utilised. The other tree was planted about 3 years ago and has produced a few mangoes last year and this year there are 2 that have reached mature size so we are waiting for them to ripen. So the glut is not from our own trees.
As we were going out on Sunday I noticed several mangoes lying on the driveway of a property not far from us. I knew that the was a mango tree in the front yard but I can honestly say that I had never noticed fruit on in previous years. Since the owners are not permanent residents I contacted them to see if I could collect any fallen fruit. With a positive response to my enquiry I headed off to pick up the fruit this morning.
I discovered that there are actually 3 mango trees and there was an abundance of fruit on the ground. 2 supermarket bags were filled with rotten and decaying fruit which I took home and put in the compost. The usable fruit filled 5 calico bags!
Some of the fruit were very ripe and others were partly damaged so it as important to salvage what I could before they deteriorated any further. I decided the quickest and easiest solution was to puree the pulp and freeze it. Remember, that I had picked the fruit before 6am and I still had to go to work.
After 30 minutes of furious preparation and a blender I had 2.5 litres of mango puree ready to store in the freezer.
I have taken one of the remaining mangoes as part of my packed lunch and there are still 38 mangoes on the kitchen bench.
Of course, there are still dozens on the trees.
I am really glad that I made the effort to contact the owner of the property as it would have been a shame to see all of this fruit go to waste.
How would you use the mango puree?
organised castle 
What an incredible find! Mangoes are a rarity in our part of the world, but if we had a bunch of them I would probably make fruit leather: http://www.justataste.com/2013/07/healthy-homemade-mango-fruit-roll-ups-recipe/
We do that with the glut of applesauce we have in the fall.
Thanks, Zoe. I will definitely check out the link.
Like you we had a mango tree which my DH grew from seed and did not fruit much at all another one we purchased from nursery (Bowen special) we did prune it a couple of years ago this year we had a about a dozen but in the past when our crop has been massive I have made mango chutney which is really lovely especially with cold meat & salads worth the effort of slicing & cutting up fruit. My recipe is one handed down from my Grandmother.
Mango chutney – yum! I will check my recipes.
Good effort! Looooove mangoes! Currently paying $3.00 each here worth every cent but free would be sensational. Mango and ginger sauce is nice, as is mango icecream an sorbet. Make the most of them.
Fergie – I have made mango sorbet a few years ago when I bought some very cheap mangoes so will definitely be doing that again. Mango and ginger sauce sounds divine – 2 of my favourite flavours. Do you have a recipe?
I’ll take a look not sure. Best sauce I had we bought at Brisbane Southbank night market many years ago. Tried to replicate nice, but didn’t quite match up. I’d google it to be safe.
I just remembered that I have a book of recipes from Buderim (home of the original ginger factory). It includes recipes using ingredients that at some time were grown in the district and I am sure mangoes are in it so I will check it out tonight. Meanwhile, Google is a great resource. Thanks
The mango puree would be good in smoothies, or you could make a simple icecream (Nigella has an easy recipe with fresh cream). Ice blocks for your granddaughters or yourselves. Just poured over yoghurt for breakfast. I think I have seen it used as a salad dressing.
Thanks for the ideas, Gill. My daughter has put in an order for some of the puree for smoothies for herself and iceblocks for the grandkids. They all love mango so plenty will be going their way. It is great to be able to share the bounty.
We often have Mango Chicken at the local Indian, is there such a thing as Mango Butter? I think Golden Circle sell a juice called Mango Nectar – perhaps you can make your own.
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Mango is such a delicious and versatile fruit, you’re lucky to have such a healthy tree in your garden!
Thanks, Ben.
Do jealous of all those mangoes! I bought a case for $15 early in the season (there were about 15) and they were so lovely to eat! NSW doesn’t get so many of them, as cheaply as when I lived in QLD.
This has been a particularly good year it seems. I think it is because we have had a warm, dry start to the summer.