Little papayas, big papayas

     The papaya trees were planted from seed less than a year ago and are already loaded with fruit.   
     The smaller, round papayas are about the size of softballs.   They cling to the green tree trunks like Christmas ornaments and are picked and eaten as soon as they turn gold in color.   The white flowers, that also cling to the trunks of the trees, are very fragrant.

     The other variety of papaya growing at False Bluff is much larger and hangs from the tree trunk until showing streaks of yellow near the bottom (most of them weigh more than a beagle).   The fruit is then picked, the top and bottom sliced off, and multiple shallow cuts made in the rind, top to bottom, so that the ripening fruit can 'bleed' and finish ripening:  after four or five days it's turned almost completely yellow.  Then peeled like a big fat apple, it's cut into bite-sized pieces.   Delicious.............