The Delightful Shaddock

Ask any urban resident outside Manchester, St. Ann , Westmoreland and Trelawny about the Shaddock ( Pomelo) and they will respond, “What is that?”.

True, that will be the response as less than 15% of Jamaicans are knowledgeable about this fruit that was a common crop of the peasantry decades ago.

I want to bring the attention of this fruit as it hangs precariously in gullies across the island.

A very slighted fruit, the Shaddock has been sidelined in favour of its hybrid offspring the grapefruit.

It is rare nowadays to see Shaddock but it is a delightful fruit.

Yes, there are varieties that may be a bit bitter but most are fleshy, firm and sweet citrus fruits. It differentiates from grapefruit in that it is typically much larger.

It is indeed sad that small farmers and rural citizens ignored the Shaddock, failing to plant new seedlings. The fruit is now worse than a novelty as it is near extinct.

By large as a nation the culture is to buy foreign, buy packaged goods due to our lazy approach to replenishing fauna and flora of society.

There are so few even in rural Jamaica who are willing or will attempt to place seeds in the ground of fruits they have eaten or about to consume.

The repercussion is that many fruits that previously abound or were part of our backyard orchard are now non existent or have become novelty.

That is why the mention of shaddock sounds like a word from a foreign language.

We must replant crops like the shaddock whenever we have access to the seeds or plant.

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