Chilean Guavas (Delicious & Easy to Grow)
Long after all the other berries in my garden are gone, these Chilean Guavas, looking like hot pink blueberries, offer up a sumptuous treat.
They taste like wild, sweet strawberries and bring back fond memories of summer picnics to brighten a cold, wet Autumn day like today.
Mine are grown in large pots in a sheltered sunny spot. They prefer ericaceous compost but cope with any well-drained humus-rich soil as long as it is on the acid side. If you have chalky soil, it's best to grow this compact shrub in a good-sized pot.
The plant is evergreen and produces fragrant white flowers in the spring. By August there will be a host of deep red berries that gradually swell and ripen in October.
You can use them exactly as you would blueberries, but they are much more flavourful.
I stir them into my morning porridge, use them in muffins and make freezer jam. They taste amazing, picked fresh from the plant, in a fruit salad.
They freeze well to use in recipes later in the year. That's if you can bear to put any away. This year I plan to try creating an ice cream with them if my grandson doesn't eat them all before I get around to it!