Some Things About Coconuts

On the 25th we paid a man Rs. 20 per tree to harvest and clean our three coconut trees. He cut down 84 coconuts, leaving the ones that are not ripe yet. Half of the 84 had dried, but we can use one or two of them at least for recipes like bisibele bhat that call for dried coconut.

From the balance of the ripe fruits, the kaaikkaaran (vegetable vendor) has agreed to buy as many as we want to sell for Rs. 3.50 each. That means we’ll make…. Um… Well, Mary knows about these things. She's the one who hired the harvester, who shinnied up the trunk with a machete; and negotiated with the kaaikkaaran. If it were up to me I’d forget, and let them rot in the trees.

After we’ve made our fortunes, we’ll use the rest for chutney, which we eat several times a week.

The lower branches droop. Above them, a crown of newer branches grows upward. The clusters of nuts (pale yellow-green, the unripe ones) are surrounded by yellowish, crooked spikes.

The trunk is more grey than brown. Each segment of the trunk is as if stacked on another; each is slightly smaller than the one before. Where the trunk meets the ground it frays out, and extends a few worm-like roots above the soil. The gaps between the sections have more dots than lines. They look like stretch-marks.

Four ways to look at a coconut palm