Morning Mission of Picking Up Durian!

Hi, I am Randula from Sri Lanka. My country is a tropical country bit near to the equator. So we have a very suitable climate to grow Durian.

In our garden, there is a Durian tree which is about 6 or 7 years old. This is the second time it is giving the harvest. Durian is considered as a fruit but half of the world hates its smell. My father, brother and me are okay with the smell but my mother and grandmother feel the smell like stink.

Figure: Durian Tree and fruits

A Durian tree grows tall. It produces fruits after about 2 months of flowers. When the flower season we had to pay more attention about flowers as bats and squirrels are eating flowers and the flowers fall down. So my father tied a bell in the tree and we used it to drive away bats and squirrels. It was really fun as my father always dream to save all flowers but never happened. So after fruits are grown, it is getting ripe on the tree and getting off from the stem. This is the busiest time for me and my brother as we are the ones who responsible to pick them up.

As our garden arranged as a slope it is really challenging to stop Durians before rolling them more far. So we have put some coconut boughs across the slope. Usually we are going to pick Duriams thrice a day. Morning, Afternoon and evening.

Today my brother and I went to pick Durian early in the morning at about 6.45a.m. As there are tea plants in the ground it is a challenge to locate Durian. But because of coconut boughs ridge it is not much difficult now.

Figure: Durian found from coconut boughs ridge

During picking up Durians we met a new guy. The new little puppy of the neighbor house came to us and played with us. He is adorable.

Figure: The Friend We Met

Today we found only one Durian fruit but some days we pick about 2,3 fruits. Last year we sold some extra fruits for about 500LKR per one large fruit. Usually we distribute fruits among neighbors and relations.

Figure: One large fruit

Maybe we can get a good income this year too!