For a while now, Filbert has only heard rumors and seen a few pictures but has wanted to see this “king of nuts” for himself. On the last walk into town, it was fate that almost hit him (there are no monkeys yet) on the head with his first subject. Boy was he excited! This thing was way bigger than him.
From what he has heard, there are many phases of a coconut, and he wants to see them all. This one represented probably the last phase.
It was old, dark on the outside, and even had a sprout beginning to poke out of one end. When shook, it rattled instead of swished. Since it fell out of the tree, it was pretty much ready to sprout a another tree. This is what we want.
He borrowed a sharp knife (wynona 2) and hacked at it for quite a while. It’s husk was tough on the outside, but a bit softer and fibrous on the inside. It trimmed away like a soft wood, but potential for cut fur and his own spilled sawdust was very high so he was very careful. It wasn’t long before it was halved to the hull.
With the aid of a big screwdriver and a bit more work the softball sized coconut ripped from the remaining husk. A few quick raps of the handle of the screwdriver broke it almost perfect in halves. Inside was yet another ball. It was soft and spongy and the source of the rattle. The guess is the milk turns to a solid as the seed gets ready to sprout. Filbert hears that if you get to it right before it sprouts, That milk ball can be quite a tasty chew. 
In our case, since our first subject had already sprouted, the milk ball was a bit dried out. (we did not get pics of that-oops!). However, in further exploring the rest of the nut, the inner side of the hull had the classic coconut meat still quite tasty. It was oily and rich and reminded filbert of a brazil nut.A neat find, and we will keep all eyes open for more of these. The research continues.
After finishing and cleaning up, filbert starts to get another idea...Hmmmmm.
More Filbert later.
7 comments:
Can't wait to get home and show the kids!! A bit on coconuts---technically a fibrous drupe. The liquid inside is coconut juice (haploid female gametophyte) If you scrape the meat and squeeze it, you get coconut milk. If the coconut starts to germinate and is nourished by the endosperm (coconut juice) youget the marshmallow like lump inside that tastes like candy. The coconut juice is isotonic and can be used as an IV solution (not sure I'd try that one though)
Filbert comes all this way out here and all he had to do was come ask you? He had no idea you were so coco-smart. Way fun. Thanks Steve.
B
Well, just recently someone asked what a coconut was. They knew it wasn't really a nut, so I went to wikipedia. Now the visuals you sent really help...
Filbert looks awfully handy with that knife. Better stay on his good side
Diana is hoping you are there in August at Steve's so she can meet Filbert in "person" - hee.
Very cute. Sadly tho, he reminds me a lot of the bunny Robert & I used as a target for your 22's way back when.
I got a photo somewhere...
I'm staying tuned... will Filbert take up coconut sailing or exotic dancing? And check out Steve and all that endo-doomy-flachy stuff. Talk like that will get your taped specks shoved up the bridge of your nose!
Ah--I embraced geekdom long ago. Once I let go it was very liberating. My ability to retain factoids is inversely proportional to its usefulness....
B & P---do you have official titles aboard the Astor? or, is it more informal? Is there a first mate? Scully wench? Cabin boy?
The kids got a kick out of this post. The globe is out now and they're tracking your progress, plus they're looking up St. Thomas right now
Keep 'em coming
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