Multitude of mangoes

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KAHULUI - Maui is seeing a multitude of mangoes this year.

Arborists, merchants and backyard farmers all report an abundant crop of the luscious fruit.

"There's a whole lot," said Gilbert Silva, general sales manager at the Maui Farmers' Cooperative Exchange. "But there's going to come to a point where about July 21, thereafter, we're not going to have as many mangoes."

Silva said that for him the mango season is nearing the end, but so far there has been a lot to go around.

Arborist and retired agriculture professor Ernest Rezents said that on Saturday he was amazed to see all of the common mango trees laden with fruit in Haiku.

"I haven't seen them so loaded in so many years," he said. "It is full."

He said his niece in Wailuku has two varieties of mango trees that have given an "unprecedented yield this year."

"She has been sharing it with the family," he said.

There are plenty of mangoes to go around, even for people who don't have a tree in the backyard. At the farmers market at the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center Wednesday, eight out of the nine produce stands had mangoes.

Silva and Rezents attribute the abundance to the dry and fair weather conditions.

Rezents said the dry weather is good for the mangoes, which do not suffer from as many fungal diseases on their flowers as they do in wetter weather.

On his Rapoza mango tree in Makawao, Rezents said, his first flowering occurred during a rainy period, and the crop was unsuccessful because the blossoms were damaged by fungus.

But his second flowering occurred during the recent dry spell and his fruits are small but flourishing.

Rezents said his mango tree will probably come into season in October.

The calm weather conditions have also contributed to this year's bumper crop, Silva added. The windier it is, there's more of a chance that the mango flowers will be blown off the tree, yielding less fruit.

According to the National Mango Board's Web site, different types of mango varieties come into season at different times of the year.

The mangoes at the Cooperative Exchange come from two farms in Kihei, which belong to the Co-op, Silva said.

Prices are about $1.20 per pound, down from last year's range of $1.95 to $2.10 per pound, he said.

In April, when all of the fruits hadn't emerged yet, Silva said the cost for a pound hovered around $2.

This year, customers on Maui are not asking for mangoes, but the other islands are, he said.

Silva said another indication that there is an abundance of mangoes is that a local owner of a farmers market has not come into the co-op to buy the fruits, as he probably can get them from backyard growers.

Rudy Viloria, who sells produce at the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center farmers market, had four different varieties of mangoes for sale Wednesday, including some from his backyard in Kihei.

This year, there have been "plenty" of mangoes as compared to last year, and prices for mangoes have dropped, he said.

At another vendor's stand at the center, Rose Honaker, of "Maui Goodies By Rose," said she hasn't noticed an increase of mangoes but acknowledged, "This is the season."

At her stand, Honaker also had freshly baked mango bread, made with mangoes that no longer could be sold.

"I don't waste," she said.

Although the fruit is tasty just coming off of the tree, island residents have found other ways to enjoy it.

Mango bread is one solution to taking care of an overload of ripening mangoes, while other people pick the mangoes while they are still green and make local favorites such as mango seed and pickled mango.

Mango seed preserves the fruit with Hawaiian salt, brown sugar and other spices, with a little red food coloring for appearance.

Pickled mango uses similar spices but also includes vinegar, with some pickled mango recipes also using li hing mui seeds for taste.

Chutney is another popular way to use up those mangoes.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.