Mango
Mango is native to India and Myanmar (Burma), from where it spread to other parts of the world over millennia with seafarers and traders. It has become the national fruit in the Philippines where it probably has been cultivated since the 15th Century.
The sweetest…
Worldwide, there are hundreds of mango cultivars (cultivated varieties) of different size, shape, color, taste and sweetness. Many countries claim to have the best mangoes. We have visited and lived in several South and Southeast Asian countries and can surely testify that to our taste buds the Philippine mangoes are the sweetest :-)
Carabao variety
There are three distinct types of Philippine mangoes: Carabao, Pico, and Pahutan. The larger Carabao variety is the best known and more widely cultivated. It is also called ‘tuod’ mango in this part of the Philippines. We have planted tuod seedlings, and have some older mango trees, which we are yet to classify.
PS: ‘Carabao’ is also the name for water buffalo.
No bomba
We do not ‘bomba’ spray our mangoes with potassium nitrate or calcium nitrate to induce flowering. It is commonly done in the Philippines, but not compatible with organic farming. Many trees produce only every other year and thus the temptation to spray for more fruits in season or out of season.
We rely on natural flowering and fruit production around April-July (the normal mango season).