Every year, I look forward to having red ball ornaments in our front yard in the form of pomegranates. This year was no disappointment.
Our 10-year-old pomegranate (Punica granatum L.'Wonderful') has been giving us loads of fruit year after year. It came to us in a 5-gallon can as a housewarming/anniversary present from a long-time friend. It has given us a lot eating pleasure and more.
It does not need much attention and not much water. It gets about one-third of the grey water from one of three emitters, once a week, from a laundry to landscape set-up.
Earlier on, I read that it needs a lot of drainage, so I planted it on a large berm in our west-facing front yard. It has grown wide, but I have tried to prune it once a year when it is dormant, to where I can pick the fruit with a long-handled pruner.
A few weeks ago, a car stopped by, as I was out front. The driver introduced herself as a cousin of another master gardener who had moved out of state, whom I happened to know. She lives around the corner and asks if she could buy a couple of pomegranates, of course I said no. Instead, I gave her a few poms and she drove home to enjoy her fruit. A few days later, I received a thank you card from her. What a wonderful way to meet a neighbor.
My Pom-eating friends have diverse ways of eating their pomegranate. One friend puts the fruit in a large bowl of water, cuts it up and takes the arils out; drains the water, and they are ready to eat. I like that method.
My new favorite way came from another friend who also grows her own pomegranate and has a lot of fruit to process like I do.
It is fast (60 seconds) for one fruit, great for releasing aggression and not accidentally painting the white kitchen cabinets red. It does require buying a new gadget. But it was worth it.
I know that not everybody likes pomegranate. The hard seeds and the tartness are often the reason. As much as my “Wonderful” can taste really sweet,afriend recently shared a different kind. She doesn't know thecultivar name. The skin is not red, yet it is sweet and the seeds are soft and easier to swallow. I am going to keep looking for this fruit, and find a space for it.
