Machetes vs Green Coconuts

[owl_girl]

hawaii has fizzy ones. some are sweet and some are not, and some taste like coconut and some taste like sugar water. have you ever tried one that just got the tip of a sprout coming out of it? it has a spongy inside where its normally hollow. that can taste really good depending on how sweet the coconut is. in hawaii they called it samoan ice cream.

[Pict]

I have never tried a sprouted coconut. I imagine you would have to leave the nut on the tree until it was fully mature and drops off on its own. Ours get shipped long before that.

[Batch]

Mac, Thanks for the reply. Most of what I know of coconuts I got from growing up down here and having them everywhere. I just recently started reading about them.

One of the problems I have here is that everybody is an expert. My neighbor from Trinidad and a couple of other people I have known from the Caribbean swear that their are different types of coconut trees. Mostly they say green, brown and yellow. I haven't seen anything that supports that.

I was told when I was young that the juice was called coconut milk. Later, people said that the milk and the water were different. Some said that the water turned to milk. I just read and it appears that coconut milk is made from the meat of a mature coconut.

Also googling coconut laxative brings up more hits for coconut milk than coconut water. So, I wonder if the few books that I have read recently that have mentioned limiting intake to 3 cups a day had not just been misinformed.

When we were kids we opened mature fruit that had fallen from the tree. We were shown to use a hammer and a screw drive and make a dotted line three times down the husk and then pry the husk off of the nut. A very slow process that I would recommend people not use. LOL

I have seen people make quick work of the husk with a knife near the beaches here. They use a regular butcher type knife and cut the husk off of the end of the coconut to expose the eyes and then they open the eyes and stick a straw in to it and sell it right there to people.

I usually let the neighbors take my coconuts. Because, otherwise I had to pick them up when they fell. Last weekend I used a ladder and a push pole to knock a green coconut down and open it with a Mora. It wasn't horribly difficult to open. But, there must be a technique that I am missing. Any tips you can give me there would be appreciated.

I did read where coconut water is listed as both a good hydrate and a good laxative in the same article. I read that the more mature the coconut, the stronger the laxative. I don't know. I have never experienced any laxative effect that I can remember.

Here is one of the articles:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4742587_of-c...-wellness.html

"Coconut water aids people with constipation problems. This natural juice has a laxative effect. Drinking lots of coconut water everyday improves bowel movement by loosening the stools."

The small nut is supposed to be edible. I tried one with a gel like meat that could be scooped out and eaten. This supposed to be good for you as well. I will probably pull a couple out of the tree and play around with them today. I'll snap a couple of pics.

Have you played with coconut husks or shells as fire fuel or tinder? I had better luck burning the shells than the husks. But, I used nuts that had been on the ground for days.

[Rick]

"Coconut water aids people with constipation problems. This natural juice has a laxative effect. Drinking lots of coconut water everyday improves bowel movement by loosening the stools."

Drinking lots of plain water everyday will do the same thing.

[Pict]

I drank a full liter of coconut water yesterday with no noticeable negative effects. here they sell coconut water and coconut milk, which is white and thick, hardly a beverage. The water from a dry, mature coconut is very strong and is most likely what they warn against with the severe laxative effect.

The jelly stuff in a green, unripe coconut is the meat as it is beginning to form. I like it, that's why I open them.

I have never played with naturally ripened coconuts still in the husk. We don't have wild coconut trees around here, they mainly grow in coastal areas. Mac

[owl_girl]

My neighbor from Trinidad and a couple of other people I have known from the Caribbean swear that their are different types of coconut trees. Mostly they say green, brown and yellow.

there are different types of coconut trees.
http://ambergriscaye.com/cocopalms/palmtype.html
http://groups.google.com/group/cocon...81fbc8805aceb1
http://www.cookycoconuts.com/typesofcoconuttrees.html

[owl_girl]

the bf climbing and chopping with our kukri
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[Pict]

That's only a free coconut for you, he paid plenty for them. Great action shot.

[Rick]

LOL. Any attempt I would make in that regard will involve the numbers 911. The are MUCH cheaper for me to purchase at the store.

"Honey, are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?"
"No."
"Then why did you even ask?!"
"Should I call them?"
"Please."

[hunter63]

We don't have coconuts around here, so getting mugged at the store would be the most dangerous part.

[Rick]

Hunter, Rick and AFLIneman after coconuts....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7GdRhj8Vu0

[crashdive123]

When I lived in Hawaii I used to watch the little kids go up to tourists and point to the coconuts in a tree asking if they would like a coconut for a dollar. Every time the zinc coated nose, Bermuda shorts wearing guy with black socks and white sneakers said sure - fully expecting the kid to scurry up the tree and retrieve a coconut - his partner would push the cart over and hand the dismayed tourist a coconut. The kids would gather all that had fallen the night before. They were true little entrepreneurs.

[Rick]

Ha!! That's funny. I've told this story before but it's a good one so what the hey....

When we landed in Nova Scotia the little kids would hit up all the tourists for an American dollar. I saw them hitting the first group and pulled my wife off to the side and said watch this. Those kids went through the crowd like a dose of salts then scurried off to the exchange bank to convert it to Canadian. They knew the drill.

[owl_girl]

this is a sprouted coconut
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if you get the chance try it. its all foamy

oh and have you grilled coconut yet? it taste like ham. no kidding. soak the meat in salt water then fry it and make coconut BLTs

[Batch]

So, the sprouted coconut is a brown nut that fell and sprouted?

As far as I can tell there is only one species. Cocos nucifera.

But, the way the article explained it is how I have had it explained to me before.

[owl_girl]

So, the sprouted coconut is a brown nut that fell and sprouted?

As far as I can tell there is only one species. Cocos nucifera.

But, the way the article explained it is how I have had it explained to me before.

ya its a coconut that spouted. regardless of the color it was it will turn brown when it gets that old. and they will all have that stuff in them when they sprout.

i dont know what causes the color variation as far as the orange, yellow, and green ones go. its not age. it might be light or soil differences. i dont think it has much to do with species. but there are dwarf ones thats for sure. they will produce coconuts at a shorter height and have a thicker trunk for its height then a non dwarf one.

[crashdive123]

Here's some info on coconut http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut As far as the differing colors of coconuts - I was under the impression (could be wrong) that it was varying stages of ripening.

Coconut sprouts - When the seed of the coconut tree drops - once that seed starts to sprout (grow a new tree) the milk in the center is no longer present and the fiberous mass has formed.

Batch - where you live you can make your own. Grab a couple that have fallen and plant them (half burried with the stem end up). When the sprouts are a couple of inches long pull it up, open and eat - or let it continue to grow into a tree.

[owl_girl]

no its not just varying stages of ripening. some start orange and stay orange till they tern brown. others start green and stay green till they tern brown.

you dont need to bury coconuts for them to spout. i wouldnt cause then its more likely to rot or be full of ants.

[owl_girl]

http://www.springerlink.com/content/l3768rk217kw7169/
yes they are all Cocos nucifera. but you can have a 3rd name and it would still count as Cocos nucifera.
for example if you look up Cucurbita pepo you will not find one species but many and you will have to add a therd name to narrow it down like this Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca. Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca is still Cucurbita pepo get it?
so to narrow coconuts down you would go Cocos nucifera var. Spicata or some other one and its still Cocos nucifera.

Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Magnoliophyta
Class : Liliopsida
Order : Arecales
Family : Arecaceae
Genus : Cocos
Species : Cocos nucifera
Subspecies: Spicata

both a wolf and a house dog are Canis lupus but a house doge is subspecies familiaris. (Canis lupus familiaris)

[Batch]

Oh, I guess that makes sense.

Crash, I have a couple out back now.